Portal:Earth sciences

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Introduction

Earth sciences (also known as geoscience, the geosciences or Earth Science) is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. They are a special type of planetary sciences which deal with the structure and composition of the Earth, its origins, physical features, changing aspects, and all of its natural phenomena. Earth is the only planet known to have life, and hence the only planet with biological processes and a biosphere.

The major disciplines of Earth sciences use physics, mathematics, and chemistry to build a quantitative understanding of the principal areas or spheres of the Earth system. As in many sciences, the Earth can be studied both experimentally and theoretically. Also, there are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Earth Science.

Although mining and precious stones have been in human interests throughout the history of civilization, their development into the sciences of economic geology and mineralogy did not occur until the 18th century. The study of the earth, particularly palaeontology, blossomed in the 19th century and the growth of other disciplines like geophysics in the 20th century led to the development of the theory of plate tectonics in the 1960s, which has had a similar impact on the Earth sciences as the theory of evolution had on biology. Earth sciences today are closely linked to climate research and the petroleum and mineral exploration industries.

Applications of Earth sciences include the exploration and exploitation of mineral and hydrocarbon resources, cartography, weather forecasting patterns, and warning of volcanic eruptions. Earth sciences are related to the environmental sciences as well as the other subfields of planetary astronomy.

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Selected article

The Chicxulub Crater is an ancient impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula, with its center located near the town of Chicxulub, Yucatán, Mexico. The crater is over 180 kilometers (110 mi) in diameter, making the feature one of the largest confirmed impact structures in the world; the asteroid or comet whose impact formed the crater was at least 10 km (6 mi) in diameter. The crater was named for the nearby town, as well as for the literal Maya translation of the name: "tail of the devil." The crater was discovered by Glen Penfield, a geophysicist who had been working in the Yucatán while looking for oil during the late 1970s. The presence of tektites, shocked quartz and gravity anomalies, as well as the age of the rocks and isotope analysis, show that this impact structure dates from the late Cretaceous Period, roughly 65 million years ago. The impact associated with the crater is implicated in causing the extinction of the dinosaurs as suggested by the K–T boundary, although some critics disagree that the impact was the sole reason and also debate whether there was a single impact or whether the Chicxulub impactor was one of several that may have struck the Earth at around the same time. Recent evidence suggests that the impactor was a piece of a much larger asteroid which broke up in a collision more than 160 million years ago.

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Selected picture

Northern shore meadows of Sihlsee, an artificial lake near Einsiedeln in the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland.

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Did you know?

Tuya in Iceland

• ...that a tuya (as pictured) is a type of flat-topped, steep-sided volcano formed when lava erupts through a thick glacier or ice sheet?
• ...that in the United States, on average tornadoes are around 500 feet (150 m) across, and stay on the ground for 5 miles (8 km)?
• ...that dust storms can carry large amounts of dust, so much so that the leading edge of one can appear as a solid wall of dust as much as 1.6 km (1 mile) high?
• ...that the area of the world Ocean is 361 million square kilometers, its volume is approximately 1.3 billion cubic kilometers, and its average depth is 3,790 meters?
• ...that three quarters of the earth's atmosphere lies within the troposphere, and the depth of this layer varies between 17 km at the equator and 7 km at the poles?
• ...that the mariana trench is the largest trench in the whole world?

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• Rocks and Minerals
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• Tropical Cyclones
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See also

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Quality content

Featured articles

Featured articles related to Earth sciences-
• 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens • 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake • Chicxulub crater • Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event • Earth • Ediacara biota • Geology of the Bryce Canyon area • Geology of the Capitol Reef area • Geology of the Lassen volcanic area • Global warming • Oil shale • Silverpit crater • Yellowstone National Park (More...)

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• Amchitka • Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve • Eldfell • Enceladus (moon) • Io (moon) • Mauna Loa • Metacomet Ridge • Mount Pinatubo • Mount St. Helens • Mount Tambora • Surtsey • Triton (moon) (More...)

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· Storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season · Baja California Peninsula hurricanes · California hurricanes · Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes · Category 5 Pacific hurricanes · Delaware hurricanes · Florida hurricanes · Florida hurricanes (pre-1900) · Florida hurricanes (1900–1949) · Florida hurricanes (1950–1974) · Florida hurricanes (1975–1999) · Florida hurricanes (2000–present) · New Jersey hurricanes · New York hurricanes · North Carolina hurricanes · North Carolina hurricanes (pre-1900) · North Carolina hurricanes (1900–1949) · North Carolina hurricanes (1950–1979) · North Carolina hurricanes (1980–present) · Retired Pacific hurricane names · Retired Pacific typhoon names (JMA) · Snow events in Florida · South America tropical cyclones · Storms in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season · United States hurricanes · Wettest tropical cyclones in the United States · Volcanoes in Indonesia · Canadian provinces and territories by area · Canadian provinces and territories by population · Counties of Lithuania · Indian districts · Indian state and union territory capitals · Islands of Scotland · Municipalities of Lithuania · Orkney islands · Provinces of the Philippines · Shetland islands · Provinces of Thailand · U.S. states by date of statehood · U.S. states by elevation · Municipalities of Portugal · Ohio county name etymologies · List of areas in the National Park System of the United States · List of largest volcanic eruptions

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Related topics

For a more comprehensive treatment of topics, see Outline of earth science and Index of earth science articles

Atmosphere	Hydrosphere	Lithosphere
Atmospheric chemistry Climatology Meteorology Hydrometeorology Paleoclimatology	Hydrology Glaciology Limnology Hydrogeology Oceanography Chemical oceanography Marine biology Marine geology Paleoceanography Physical oceanography	Geology Geochemistry Geography Geomorphology Hydrogeology Mineralogy Petrology Volcanology Speleology
Biosphere	Systems	Others
Biogeography Paleontology Palynology Micropaleontology Geomicrobiology	Environmental science Geography Human geography Physical geography Gaia hypothesis	Cartography Geoinformatics (GIS) Geophysics Geostatistics Geodesy and Surveying Soil Science Edaphology Pedology

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Related Portals

Atmospheric sciences	Weather	Tropical cyclones	Earthquakes

Sustainable development	Volcanoes	Geography	Global warming

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