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UNIT

346
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In this unit, you will cover the following sections:

1.0 Earth’s surface undergoes gradual and sudden

changes.
1.1 A Model for Earth
1.2 Sudden Earth Events
1.3 Incremental Changes: Wind, Water, and Ice

2.0 The rock cycle describes how rocks form and

change over time.
2.1 What Are Rocks and Minerals?
2.2 Three Classes of Rocks: Igneous, Sedimentary,
and Metamorphic
2.3 The Rock Cycle

3.0 Landforms provide evidence of change.

3.1 Continental Drift
3.2 Plate Tectonics
3.3 Mountain Building

4.0 The fossil record provides evidence of Earth’s changes

over time.
4.1 Tracing Evidence of Geologic Change Using Fossils
4.2 Methods Used to Interpret Fossils
4.3 Geologic Time

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Exploring

Oldman River, Alberta

If you look out the window of your classroom, what kind of land
features do you see: mountains? hills? valleys? What characteristics
do you notice about these features? Are the mountains tall with
steep, jagged cliffs or are they rounded like huge hills? Is there a
river running through the valley or is the bottom of the valley a
large, flat plain? In this unit, you will learn about Earth—our
constantly changing planet. You will learn about its surface features
and the forces that affect its interior. This knowledge will help you
understand the models scientists have developed to explain the
changes that Earth has undergone over its long history.

EARTH-SHATTERING EVENTS
Most of what people have known about Earth they have known
because of what they could directly observe. However, observations
don’t always tell the whole story. Consider the two news stories on
the next page. One shows a volcano in Washington State that
literally “blew its top!” The other describes an earthquake that
happened in Kobe, Japan.

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Mountain
blows its top
On May 18, 1980, Mount
St. Helens in Washington
d
State exploded. Gas an
ash shot 19 km into the
sky. The mountain’s top
collapsed—it lost 400 m
of its original height.

Shocking shock waves!

At 5:46 a.m. on January
17, 1995, the million plu
Kobe, Japan, were throw s residents of
n from their beds by a ma
Broken gas lines led to hu ssi ve earthquake.
ge fires and thousands die
d.

What caused these dramatic natural disasters? Surely not wind

or water or other events that you have noticed occurring on Earth’s
surface.
Earth is a planet that is in constant motion and change. Intense
heat from deep inside Earth creates volcanoes that spew lava. Huge
plates of rock moving across its surface cause earthquakes that
shake and split the ground. Mountains grow upward, while wind
and water wear them down and carry them away.

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G i v e i t a TRY A C T I V I T Y

EXAMINING EARTH
What do you know about Earth and the events that shape and change its surface
features? Look at the photos below. They show situations where Earth’s features
have been changed in some way. Discuss with a partner what you think is
happening in each picture, and answer these questions in your notebooks:

• What do you think caused these features to occur?

• Do you think this change happened slowly or quickly?

A B

Why are the bands of rock not straight across the sides of the
mountain?
What forces could have shaped this rock?
D

What can this fossilized insect in amber tell us about insects What are the roots of this tree doing to the rock?
today?

As you go through this unit, think about what you are learning, and modify or
revise your answers to these questions.

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Focus THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

On
While studying this unit, you will be asked to organize your
thoughts based on your own observations and the evidence of the
science community. This evidence has come about in a number of
ways:
• through experimentation
• by interpreting facts and observations
• by creating and interpreting models
Think about the following questions while you study how the
forces of Earth have transformed its features. The answers to these
and other questions about Earth will help you understand the
nature of the forces that shape and change our planet.
1. What do we know about Earth, its surface, and what lies
below?
2. What forces act on Earth to change its landforms?
3. What are the processes and techniques we use to develop an
understanding of Earth and its changes?

Ocean inlets, British Columbia

The Badlands in southern Alberta

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1.0 Earth’s surface undergoes gradual

and sudden changes.

Key Concepts
In this section, you will learn
about the following key
concepts:
• developing models
• Earth models
• earthquakes
• volcanoes
• tools and techniques for
studying Earth
• the effects of water, wind,
and ice
• glaciers

Learning Outcomes
When you have completed this
section, you will be able to:
• interpret models of Earth’s
interior structure
• investigate evidence that
Earth’s surface undergoes
both sudden and gradual
Canada’s Precambrian Shield
changes
• identify tools and techniques
for studying Earth It may seem to you that Earth’s landscape doesn’t change very
• interpret and investigate
much. Earth is, after all, made up largely of rocks, and rocks are
examples of weathering,
hard and difficult to move. But the fact is, nothing could be
erosion, and sedimentation
• use suitable terms and
further from the truth. Rocks and the structure of Earth are part of
conventions in describing a landform cycle of creation, loss, and renewal.
Earth’s substances Most of the time this change goes unnoticed, but sometimes, it
shows up in dramatic and devastating ways. Sudden geologic
events, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides,
can occur quickly with catastrophic results. Other events, such as
glacial and river erosion, happen more slowly and are not nearly
as harmful to humans.

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1.1 A Model for Earth

Think of Earth’s long history as a story, a cross between an info BIT
adventure and a mystery. The adventure part of the story is about
people facing the powerful forces of Earth—earthquakes, mountain Our Ancient Past
building, volcanoes—in their efforts to understand it. The mystery Geologists estimate
is about the fact that we can’t easily see inside our home planet. We that Earth is about
live on its outermost skin. We have only indirect evidence of what 4.6 billion years old.
is happening deep below its surface. Human-like creatures
did not appear on
Have you ever looked at a present you’ve received and
Earth’s surface until
wondered what is inside? Its wrapping paper keeps you from
about 3 million years
quickly figuring it out, but that shouldn’t stop you from guessing.
ago, making us
You can still note the size of the package, lift it and guess its newcomers to an
weight, and shake it to hear how it sounds. Using this information, ancient planet.
you can make an “educated guess” as to what is inside.

DEVELOPING A MODEL
A model is an idea of something that can’t be fully known or seen.
It is a way of demonstrating an object or an idea that is difficult to
picture in its real form. Models are useful when something is too
big or too small or too complicated for us to study easily. They can
take many forms: drawings, actual constructions, or comparisons to
familiar things. For example, a globe is a model for Earth.

G i v e i t a TRY A C T I V I T Y

WHAT’S INSIDE?
You will be given a “mystery container.” It may contain one or more different
objects, and you will be asked to create a model to help explain what’s inside.
Your goal, in co-operation with your group, is to use your senses to gather as
much evidence as possible about what might be inside the mystery container.
After gathering your evidence, each member of your group should independently
sketch a diagram, or “model,” of the container’s contents.

• Compare the diagrams and discuss the similarities and differences and the
evidence that supports them. You may want to revise and improve your model
as you gather more evidence.
• Sketch a final diagram of what your group believes the contents to be.
• Explain to another group how you came up with your model.
• What further evidence could you get to provide you with even more
information about your mystery container?
• Now open the container. How does your model differ from the real object?

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What you have just done is very similar to the methods

scientists use to develop, debate, and change the models that they
use to explain the structure of Earth.

WHAT’S INSIDE EARTH

In 1864, the French author Jules Verne wrote a novel called Journey
to the Centre of the Earth. He described a land deep inside the core
of Earth populated by strange plants and animals. The story
captured everyone’s imagination, and for years afterward, people
wondered about what really lay below Earth’s surface.
Scientists began to wonder, too. What are the layers that make
up Earth? How thick is its outer skin? Is the interior solid or molten
liquid? What does the centre core look like?
Because Earth is so large, geologists, who are scientists that
study Earth, have had to use a model to help them understand its
inner structure. They know a lot about its surface because they can
easily study it, but digging a hole to Earth’s centre to examine its
core is out of the question. The extreme conditions there prevent
any kind of exploration. Geologists would have to travel more than
1700 times the depth of the deepest mine in the world (a gold mine
in South Africa, which reaches a depth of 3.8 km).

Figure 1.1 It’s never cold in

deep mines. At 1 km below
the surface, temperatures
can be around 29°C—even
on the coldest day in winter.

Geologists also use many indirect methods of studying Earth,

some of which you will learn about later in this unit. What they
have discovered is that there’s more to Earth than what can be seen
on its surface. Earth appears to be made up of three major layers.
Each layer surrounds the layer beneath it, much like an onion.

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Earth’s outer layer is the crust. The inner core layer is solid, even
All the features we see around though it’s very hot. The weight
us—mountains, valleys, plains, of the other layers has
hills, plateaus—are all part pressed the inner core
of the crust. It is the into an extremely
thinnest layer— hard ball. Its
10–90 km. radius is about
1250 km.

crust

inner core outer core

mantle

The mantle is
about 2900 km
thick, but it isn’t the
same all the way
through. The upper part of
the mantle is solid, like the crust.
In fact, this solid upper part and the
crust together form a layer called the In Earth’s molten outer core, the temperatures
lithosphere. Below the solid upper part of the mantle, are so high that the rock is completely liquid
the temperature and pressure are higher, and the rock or molten. This layer is about 2200 km thick.
is partly melted. This rock can flow very slowly.

Figure 1.2 Model of Earth’s

interior
Here are some more facts about Earth’s interior:
• Inner Core—Geologists believe it consists mainly of solid iron
and nickel. It reaches temperatures as high as 7000°C.
• Outer Core—The outer core is thought to be liquid because the
pressure isn’t great enough to make the molten rock into a solid.
• Mantle—The mantle makes up about two thirds of Earth’s mass.
• Crust—Because Earth is so hot in the inner core, the crust
radiates heat into the atmosphere.

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re SEARCH THE CRUST

The crust is the layer that covers the surface of Earth. All living
Two Rock Ridges
things are found here. It is the rich storehouse of minerals, such as
There are many stories
iron and copper ore, used in manufacturing many of the products
about the structure of
Earth. One of these is you buy. It is also here we get the fossil fuels, such as oil, natural
the Dene story, “The gas, and coal, that supply our energy needs.
Two Rock Ridges. ” As you can see in Figure 1.2, it is the thinnest layer of Earth,
Research this or any with an average thickness of about 50 km. Under the ocean, it can
other idea about be as thin as 10 km. Beneath tall mountain ranges, such as the
Earth’s structure. In a Rocky Mountains, the crust thickens to about 90 km. Still, that’s not
paragraph, describe very thick, considering the total distance from Earth’s surface to its
the story, briefly centre is nearly 6400 km.
explaining its origin. So what exactly makes up the crust? At first glance, Earth’s
surface seems thickly covered with vegetation and fresh and
saltwater areas. Yet these features form only a thin covering. The
crust is made up of solid rock.

CHECK AND REFLECT

1. Look at the three photos below.

Figure 1.3 Figure 1.4 Figure 1.5

Do you think that any of these would make a good model for
Earth’s interior? Give reasons for your answers.
2. Give two examples where models are used to serve different
purposes.
3. Why do you think computers are useful in creating and
displaying models?
4. Make and label a drawing showing Earth’s layers as you would
see them if a wedge were cut from Earth. Be sure to use a ruler
and try to make your drawing to scale. For example, 1 cm could
represent 500 km, or 1000 km. Show the increasing depth as
you reach the centre.

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1.2 Sudden Earth Events

You wake up suddenly from a deep sleep feeling as though your
bed is on a ship in a bad storm. You have trouble reaching the light
info BIT
to turn it on. When you do, you can see the walls of your bedroom
Some Canadian
changing shape in front of your eyes. And the noise! The whole
Earthquakes
building sounds as if it’s being pulled apart board by board.
Date Richter Place
Everything on the shelves crashes to the floor. But outside you can Scale
hear the twisting of metal and shattering of concrete mixed with the 1663 ? St. Lawrence
shouts of people. region
1700 ⬃9 off coast of
B.C.
1918 ⬃7 Vancouver
Island
1946 7.3 Vancouver
Island
1949 8.1 near the
Queen
Charlotte
Islands, B.C.
1990 4.9 Fraser
Lowland,
B.C.

Figure 1.6 Armenia, Columbia, January 1999 (6.0 on the Richter scale)—This earthquake
lasted less than a minute, but look at the results!

Few forces in nature are as dramatic and devastating as

earthquakes and volcanoes. In a matter of moments, they can
transform a peaceful countryside into a violent, twisted landscape.
The earthquake in Kobe, Japan, lasted only a few seconds, but
resulted in 5000 deaths. When Mount St. Helens erupted in
Washington State, 57 people died, and the ash from its spewing top
destroyed an area of 560 km2. People from as far away as Ontario
and Quebec were cleaning the grey dust off their cars a few days
later.
Have you ever felt an earthquake? Have you read about its
effects? What happened? What do you think it was like? Share your
experience with the rest of the class.

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WHAT CAUSES EARTHQUAKES?

Earthquakes are tremblings or vibrations of the ground. They are
caused by the sudden release of energy that has slowly been
building up in Earth’s crust. Large masses of rock in the crust move
and sometimes become locked together or stuck. A tremendous
force is created until finally the rocks break. This sudden break
causes an earthquake.

rock
Figure 1.7 Pressure forces the rocks first to change shape and then to break.

THE FIRST BREAK

The first place that the rocks break below the surface in an
earthquake is called the focus. The sudden breaking of rocks at the
focus releases energy that spreads as waves through Earth. These
earthquake waves are called seismic waves (from the Greek word
“seismos,” meaning “earthquake”). The shaking you feel in an
earthquake is caused by the seismic waves moving through the
ground. Powerful ones can damage and change Earth’s surface.
Geologists use these waves to study Earth’s interior because the
waves travel right through Earth’s layers, just like X-rays do inside
your body.

re SEARCH
Alberta Quakes
Earthquakes are a rare occurrence in Alberta, but on • What time did the earthquake occur?
October 19, 1996, people near Rocky Mountain House • What did the quake measure on the Richter scale?
were awakened to one. The National Earthquake • Were there any aftershocks? If so, how many and
Hazards Program of Natural Resources Canada records how powerful were they?
and researches all earthquakes felt in Canada. Use an • Did the quake cause any damage?
Internet search engine to find their regional western • Research where in Canada earthquakes are most
Web site so you can find out more about this likely to occur.
earthquake.

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Because of the effect an earthquake can have on the surface of

Earth, geologists look for its epicentre. This is the point on the
surface directly above the focus (“epi-” means “above”). Officials
need to know where the epicentre is to provide disaster relief. It
helps them determine if the earthquake was in a location where it
would harm people, buildings, transportation systems, or
communications. Figure 1.8 shows how the focus and the epicentre
are related.
Figure 1.8 The epicentre
MEASURING THE STRENGTH OF EARTHQUAKES of an earthquake is
directly above the focus.
Geologists have developed various
scales to determine the strength or
magnitude of an earthquake. These
scales allow scientists around the
epicentre
world to share and compare data.
When you hear reports of the fault
magnitude of an earthquake, it’s
usually given as a number on the focus
Richter scale.
Charles Richter, an American,
developed the scale in 1935. The
scale starts at 0, and each increase of
1 represents an increase of 10 times
the amount of ground motion of an
earthquake. For example, an earthquake of Richter magnitude 2 is
10 times stronger than one that measures 1. Look at the newspaper
article below. What was the magnitude of the earthquake? Do you
think this was a strong earthquake or a mild one?

Quake hits
bay city
SAN FRANCISCO—An
earth-
on
quake measuring 7.7
the Richter scale struck the
o
city of San Francisc
today, damaging freeways
s.
and many building
give
Unconfirmed reports
er
the death toll at ov
twenty, and fire s are
in
burning out of control Figure 1.9
many parts of the city.
Rescue work has been
hit this city in years.
one of the worst quakes to
s flee crumbling buildings in
October 17, 1989—Resident

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VOLCANOES
“A deep rumbling in the ground and a fiery flash in the night sky—
the volcano is about to erupt! Run for your life!” How accurate do
you think this description is of a volcanic eruption?
A volcano is an opening in Earth’s crust through which solid
and molten rock, ash, and gases escape. Scientists have generally
been more successful predicting volcanic eruptions than they have
earthquakes. Even though they can’t say exactly when an eruption
will happen, they usually can tell if one is about to occur. As you
read through this subsection, think about what signs people could
watch for that might tell them when a volcano is going to erupt. Jot
down notes as you go along.

4 The finest ash particles settle at the

bottom of the slope or are carried many
kilometres by the wind. If ash mixes
with heavy rain, it can cause mud flows
that race down mountainsides, causing
enormous damage and loss of life.

5 Larger rock fragments fall

3 The eruption begins. Lava either near the vent; smaller ones
flows from the vent down the fall farther away.
volcano’s sides or shoots violently
into the air as a cloud of rock
fragments and ash.

6 Lava and rock fragments

move downhill because of
2 The molten rock, or magma, gravity.
forces its way upward
through a weakness in
Earth’s crust.

1 The molten rock in the magma chamber is 7 The magma activity inside the volcano
lighter than the surrounding rock because shows up on the outside as changes to
solid rock expands when it melts. As it the shape of the mountain. It also causes
expands, the molten rock moves upward. small earthquakes around the volcano.

Figure 1.10 What happens when a volcano erupts

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TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR STUDYING EARTH math Link

Investigating earthquakes and volcanoes can be a risky business. Each number on the
Geologists often venture into dangerous territory to take Richter scale represents
measurements or collect samples. Their efforts to learn more about an increase of 10 times
sudden, violent Earth events may one day make these events more in the ground
predictable. Below are some of the tools and techniques geologists vibrations caused by
use to get the job done. Use your library resources and the Internet an earthquake. How
to find out more about how geologists study these Earth events. would you calculate
how much more
Tools of the Trade powerful Richter
magnitude 7 is than 3?

Figure 1.11 Geologists

studying volcanoes must
wear a special suit with a
metal coating that reflects
these intense temperatures.
This allows them to get
close enough to an eruption
to make observations, take
measurements, or collect
gas and lava samples.

Figure 1.12 A seismograph

is a device that detects the
waves of energy that spread
through Earth from the
focus of an earthquake.
Geologists read the
seismogram produced by
the seismograph to
determine the strength of
an earthquake and its
location.

Figure 1.13 Some volcanoes bulge outward slightly

when the pressure from rising molten rock inside them
builds up. Before an earthquake, stress builds up
causing the ground to tilt slightly. These signs, although
not visible to the naked eye, can be detected using a
surveyor’s level, a device that measures minute changes
in the angle of the ground’s slope.

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re SEARCH
Frozen in Time
Nearly 2000 years ago, in A.D. 79, a volcanic eruption completely
destroyed the city of Pompeii in Roman Italy. Mount Vesuvius
suddenly and without warning erupted, spewing out volcanic ash
and burying the city and most of its inhabitants. Find out more
about Pompeii.
• Why is Pompeii a famous tourist attraction?
• Why didn’t the people of Pompeii just close their windows and
doors to keep the ash out, or just run away?

A plaster cast of a body at Pompeii, Italy

CHECK AND REFLECT

1. What is believed to be the cause of earthquakes?
2. Where in Canada do you think earthquakes are common?
3. Why do you think it is difficult to predict earthquakes?
4. You were asked to look for clues that people could use to
determine if a volcano were about to erupt.
a) What other information might be useful for predicting
volcanic activity that was not mentioned in this subsection?
b) Working with a small group, use your information to create a
poster, a television program, or a brochure to tell people in a
volcanic area how the volcano is being monitored and what
the signs of an upcoming eruption are. If you need more
information to complete your task, use reference books or
information from the Internet.
5. What are some instruments and equipment used to investigate
earthquakes and volcanoes?

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info BIT
1.3 Incremental Changes: Wind, Water,
and Ice Muddy Rivers
The Red Deer River
begins from the
While earthquakes and volcanoes offer sudden and catastrophic
crystal clear waters
change, the shaping or sculpting of Earth’s surface is accomplished high in the Rocky
by a combination of slow, step-by-step changes called weathering Mountains of Alberta’s
and erosion. Weathering refers to the mechanical and chemical southeastern slopes.
process that breaks down rocks by means of water, glacial ice, As the river travels
wind, and waves. Erosion occurs when the products of weathering eastward, it
are transported from place to place. Deposition is the process of accumulates
these materials being laid down or deposited by wind, water, and tremendous amounts
ice. Throughout the weathering/deposition process, material is not of silt, sand, and
gained or lost—it simply changes form. In other words, weathering dirt—causing the river
or the process that wears down rocks and other objects never to change from clear
produces new material. It is just part of a greater process of to chocolate brown.
transforming Earth’s features.

Mechanical Weathering
Mechanical weathering happens when rock is broken apart by
physical forces, such as water or wind. In our climate, rock is often
broken down by water freezing in cracks. This action slowly helps
to break apart even the largest rock formations.

Figure 1.14 Hoodoos in southern The Red Deer River,

Alberta—Wind is another cause Alberta
of mechanical weathering. In dry
climates, if the wind often blows
strongly, it can pick up lots of
dust and grit to bombard rock
surfaces, wearing them away.
How long do you think it would
take wind to make these odd-
shaped rocks called hoodoos?

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Chemical Weathering
Chemical weathering happens when water and oxygen react with
the minerals in rocks to produce new minerals. Often these new
minerals are softer and can crumble more easily. For example, gases
in the air combine with rain or snow to form solutions called acids.
These acids can wear away rocks by dissolving the minerals in
them (see Figure 1.15). Think of a sugar cube dissolving in water—
it gets smaller and smaller until it disappears. Certain kinds of
rocks exposed to chemical weathering wear away in the same way.

Biological Weathering
Biological weathering is the wearing away of rocks by living things.
Figure 1.15 Look at older
Growing things can be powerful destructive forces for rocks. The
buildings and statues in your
community. How have they
need to grow causes plants to force their roots into any small space
been affected by acid rain? where a little soil has collected.
How can you tell? Then, as their roots and stems get
bigger, they put enormous pressure
on their surroundings.

Figure 1.16 This tree started growing in a small

crack in the rock. As it grew, it made the crack
bigger. What do you think will happen if the tree
continues to grow?

THE EFFECTS OF MOVING WATER

Have you ever seen a river that looks really “muddy”? Rivers
flowing through soil, not rock, pick up fine grains and carry them
along, giving the water a muddy appearance. Rivers and streams are
probably the most powerful forces of erosion that alter the
landscape.

Figure 1.17 How does damming up a river Figure 1.18 Bow Falls, Alberta—How do you
affect its flow below the dam? think waterfalls affect riverbeds?

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As rivers flow, they carry a load of silt, sand, mud, and gravel,
called sediment. This weathering process can take a great deal of
time and is influenced by the nature of the moving water (for
example, the amount of water or the steepness of the terrain).
Sedimentation is the process of sediments being deposited, usually
at the bottom of oceans, lakes, and rivers.
Landforms that are created by running water are known as
fluvial landforms. Alberta has many examples of fluvial landforms,
such as the Badlands of southern Alberta (see the illustration in
Exploring at the beginning of this unit).

flood plain (high water level)

n
wa orm
ter al Figure 1.19 A flood plain is the
lev
el high water level caused by the
extra water from melting snow
and heavy rain. This extra
water flow erodes the stream
and river banks. Sediment
ter deposits are left when the
wa
its

f
os

o water levels return to normal.

ep

w
flo sediment
td
en

deposits
m

no
di

wat rmal
se

er l
eve
l

ERODING AWAY
The powerful forces of erosion caused by moving water
gradually wear away rock and soil, transporting them to
other locations. Sometimes, though, erosion can change
the landscape very quickly. Landslides are sudden and
fast movements of rocks and soil down a slope. They
usually happen where soil on the side of a hill gets
soaked with water. The wet soil then slides quickly
down the hillside, taking with it all the vegetation. If any
houses or other buildings were built there, they slide too.

Figure 1.20 Landslides are common in areas with steep hillsides and high
rainfall at certain times of the year. What do you think people could do to
prevent landslides?

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re SEARCH GLACIERS—RIVERS OF ICE

Picture a field of snow as far as the eye can see. The air is extremely
Global Warming and
cold, and the wind tears at your face, stinging you with sharp grains
Glaciers
of ice and snow. There are many holes and cracks in the snow that
Current research
are deeper than you can see. This icy world is thousands of years
suggests that
increased burning of old and it’s not standing still, either. It creeps along, making
fossil fuels is emitting cracking and groaning noises.
harmful gases (called A glacier is a moving mass of ice and snow. For over two
greenhouse gases) million years, this force of erosion has visited North America at
that are warming the least four times. In fact, ice once covered areas of Alberta to heights
planet. Search your of 600–1000 m and has greatly shaped its landscape.
library or the Internet
for information on
glaciers and climate
Figure 1.21 Big Rock,
change. What do you
near the Sheep River
think will happen if south of Calgary—This
much of the polar large boulder is called a
glacial ice melts? glacial erratic. Weighing
16 500 t and as tall as a
3-storey building, it was
moved many kilometres
and deposited by glacial
ice.

As glaciers flow, they pick up large rock fragments that act as

grinding tools to carve and scrape the landscape beneath them.
Erosion occurs when this advancing ice mass scoops up rock
fragments and drags them along its base. In doing so, the glacier
grinds the bedrock (the layer of solid rock beneath the loose rock
fragments), producing a polished but often scratched or furrowed
surface. When the glacier melts (or retreats), it leaves its eroded
rock fragments in the form of small hills called drumlins and
moraines and snake-like hills called eskers.

CHECK AND REFLECT

1. Explain the relationship between erosion and weathering.
2. Give some examples of weathering.
3. How does moving water change the landscape?
4. What might happen to a riverbed if sediments are deposited?
5. How do glaciers change the landscape?

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SECTION REVIEW
Assess Your Learning
1. a) Why do we use models when we study Earth?
b) Why are some models changed or revised over a long period
of time?
2. Name the layers that make up the interior of Earth. Describe
some of the characteristics of each one.
3. What is the difference between the crust and the mantle?
Explain two causes for this difference.
4. What is the difference between the focus and the epicentre of
an earthquake?
5. What instruments do scientists use to help monitor earthquake
activity?
6. Explain in your own words what causes a volcano.
7. What kind of indirect evidence do scientists use to study the
inside of Earth?
8. What is deposition? Why is this force different from erosion?
9. a) Describe two types of weathering.
b) Where would you look for these types of weathering in your
area? Why?
10. Explain how wind, water, rivers, and glacier erosion differ in
shaping the landscape.

Focus THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

On
Because science is studied by people from many different language
backgrounds and cultures, scientific language and classifying
systems need to be precise.
1. Why is it important when studying Earth’s surface features for
everyone to use the same system of classification?
2. What terms and concepts did you study in this section that you
still don’t understand?
3. What terms and concepts in this section do you feel you
understand?

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2.0 The rock cycle describes how rocks

form and change over time.

Key Concepts
In this section, you will learn
about the following key
concepts:
• rocks and minerals
• classes of rocks: igneous,
sedimentary, and
metamorphic
• geology tools and techniques
• the rock cycle
• describing and interpreting
local rock formations

Learning Outcomes
When you have completed this
section, you will be able to:
• distinguish between rocks
and minerals
• describe characteristics of
the three main classes of
rocks
• use suitable terms and
conventions in describing
Earth’s substances
• describe local rocks and
What can rocks tell us about Earth? They tell
sediments
• interpret and investigate a story of change. Scientists, such as
examples of weathering, geologists, can “read” rocks to learn their
erosion, and sedimentation stories. You can start to read the story
(the rock cycle) yourself by carefully looking at rocks.
What do you see when you look at a
rock? Can you tell what it is made
of or how it was formed?

Figure 2.1 Do you realize there is a rock

that you eat: the salt on these chips! (See
the infoBIT on page 370.)

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info BIT
2.1 What Are Rocks and Minerals?
Rock Products
Rocks: You have probably walked on them, ridden over them, and An area of the Bow
even eaten them! But if you had to describe them to someone, what Valley in the Rocky
would you say? Mountains near
Exshaw, Alberta, is
MINERALS IN ROCKS mined for limestone.
This mineral is used to
To read the story of a rock, you have to know something about the
make a variety of
substances that are part of it. If you examine a rock closely, you will products, from
notice it is made up of many little particles called grains. The stomach relief tablets
appearance and properties of a rock depend on the nature of these that relieve upset
many grains and the particular materials of which they are made. stomachs, to concrete.
The building blocks of rock are pure, naturally occurring solid
materials called minerals. All rocks are made of minerals. Some
rocks, such as limestone, are formed of only one mineral, while
others, such as granite, are made up of several different minerals.

G i v e i t a TRY A C T I V I T Y

MISSION CONTROL, THIS IS …

Pathfinder was a robot vehicle sent by NASA to investigate and gather
information from the surface of Mars. Imagine you are with Pathfinder, and
you must transmit a description of the rocks and minerals you’ve found on
the planet’s surface. Use a hand lens or magnifying glass to study the rock
samples your teacher gives you. (Be sure to wash your hands after
handling the rocks.) Describe each one using words or pictures, and use
the following questions to help you with the description.

• What colour is the sample? Is it the same colour all around? (Wet the
surface and see if the colour changes.)
• Does it have a smell?
• What does the surface feel like?
• Is it living or non-living?
• Does it seem to be made up of one substance or a combination of
several others?
• Are any of the samples similar to each other?
• What else can you say about these samples? Figure 2.2 Mars Pathfinder

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You may have heard the names of common minerals, such as

quartz and mica. In fact, more than 3500 different minerals have
been identified. However, you don’t have to recognize or know all
of them to identify most of the rocks you’ll find. Just five minerals
combine in different ways to form the majority of the rocks in
Earth’s crust. These minerals are:
• calcite
• quartz quartz
• feldspar
• mica
• hornblende
Figure 2.3
mica

calcite

feldspar

hornblende

info BIT
Rock Crystals
Crystals form when the particles in a mineral line up in a regular
pattern that creates smooth surfaces and sharp edges. Each
mineral has its own, unique crystal pattern. Crystals that cool
slowly, for example, will form bigger crystals than those that
cool quickly. Halite (common table salt) forms cubes. Quartz
forms long, six-sided crystals with a pointed end. What kind of
conditions do you think a mineral would need to allow it to
Halite crystal Quartz
grow into a crystal? (sodium chloride)

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USING PROPERTIES TO IDENTIFY MINERALS

To identify rocks, you need to identify the minerals they contain.
Because many of the same rocks and minerals are found in different
parts of the world, geologists have developed a series of
classifications for describing their properties. Properties are the
features that a material or object has. For minerals, some important
properties are:
• colour
• lustre
• streak
• cleavage
• fracture
Figure 2.4 Properties of
• hardness
different minerals
Knowing only one of these properties is usually not enough for you
to identify the mineral. You need to look at a combination of these
properties. Think of this process as a jigsaw puzzle: one piece does
not give you the whole picture. (See Figure 2.4 for some examples.)

Colour
Colour is a useful starting point because it’s the first property you
The colour of amber is yellow.
notice.

Lustre
Lustre is the way the surface of a mineral reflects light. Some
minerals have a metallic lustre. This means they are shiny like
metals, such as gold or silver. Even though two minerals may have
the same colour, their lustre may help to tell them apart. Other
words to describe a mineral’s lustre are pearly, glassy, waxy, silky,
The lustre of native copper is shiny.
greasy, and brilliant.

Streak
A mineral’s streak is the colour of the powder that it leaves behind
when you rub it across a rough surface. The colour of the streak is
not always the same as the colour of the mineral. Usually,
geologists use an unglazed ceramic tile (like the tile used on
bathroom walls, but not shiny). They scratch a mineral sample on
Jade makes a white streak.
the plate, and the colour of that streak gives a clue as to the
mineral’s identity.

Cleavage and Fracture

If you drop or break a mineral, you may notice the sample will
break in a certain way. If a mineral splits easily into two smooth
surfaces, this can be described as cleavage. In contrast to cleavage,
fracture is a mineral breakage with rough and uneven surfaces. Mica is a mineral that cleaves
(However, any mineral can be fractured if enough force is applied.) easily into flat sheets.

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Hardness
The hardness of a mineral is measured by how easily it can be
scratched. The harder mineral leaves a scratch on the softer one.
The relative hardness of a mineral is measured with a scale
developed by a German scientist, named Frederic Mohs. Mohs scale
of hardness consists of 10 minerals ranked in order of hardness.
The scale is described below and in Figure 2.5.
The hardness of quartz is 7.

Mohs Scale of Hardness

Scale Mineral Can Be Scratched With

1 talc (softest) soft pencil point
2 gypsum fingernail
3 calcite copper wire
4 fluorite iron nail
5 apatite glass
6 feldspar steel file
7 quartz sandpaper
8 topaz sandpaper
9 corundum emery board
10 diamond (hardest) diamond

1 2 3 4 5

very easily scratched can be scratched very easily scratched easily scratched hard to scratch
with a fingernail with a fingernail with a knife with a knife with a knife

6 7 8 9 10

can’t be scratched with scratches glass scratches glass very cuts glass and scratches a steel file
a knife but it may barely easily easily and scratches
scratch glass a steel file

Figure 2.5 The hardness

scale is a guide to
IDENTIFYING MINERALS
identifying minerals. Each The first step in identifying a rock is determining what minerals it
mineral can scratch all
contains. This is not always an easy task as two rocks can have
the minerals with a lower
scale ranking than its exactly the same minerals in them, yet they may look different
own. because they formed in different ways. However, if you use the six
properties of minerals, the Mohs scale of hardness, and a good
database of mineral characteristics, you can identify most rocks.

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and
Careers Profiles

VOLCANOLOGIST
It’s Monday, and you’re back on the job ... but where are you?
You’re walking over a rocky black mountain and it’s rumbling
gently under your feet! A few metres away, you can see jets of
smoke coming from cracks in the rock. Oh no! It’s a volcano!
But instead of running, you haul out your instruments and set
them up. This is your job: you’re a volcanologist.
Volcanologists study volcanoes. They measure the
movement in volcanoes to see if they’re going to erupt. When
an eruption occurs, they watch carefully to see how it happens.
They also study the way lava comes out of a volcano and how it
moves. The most serious part of their job is predicting whether
or not a particular volcano will erupt. If they are right, many Figure 2.6 Volcanologists taking samples from a
lives could be saved. lava tube on the island of Hawaii

Seismologist
Seismologists study earthquakes. They watch carefully for
changes in Earth’s surface, like twisting or moving rocks.
Devices such as the seismograph are used to record the shaking
and trembling of an earthquake. Yet even though seismologists
know the areas of earthquake activity, they unfortunately can’t
predict when and where earthquakes will occur.
Another important part of a seismologist’s job is to make
sure buildings are earthquake-safe. Buildings made of brick
often fall apart in an earthquake. It is better to have a building
with a steel or wooden frame. Seismologists teach people in
earthquake areas how to be safe in case of danger.

1. What does the work of volcanologists

tell us about Earth’s structure?
2. In what areas in Canada might you

Figure 2.7 Seismographs record movement deep

expect to find seismologists at work?
inside Earth.

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Inquiry PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

Activity The Question
How can you identify a mineral by its properties?

The Hypothesis
Materials & Equipment Develop a hypothesis based on the question above.
• samples of known
minerals
• hand lens
• streak plate
• copper wire
• iron nail
• sandpaper
• samples of unknown
minerals
• database of minerals (or a
rock and mineral field
guide)

Figure 2.8 Step 6. Use a hand lens to examine the mineral’s structure.

Procedure
Part 1
1 Choose a sample of a known mineral, and record its number and name in
your chart. (See the chart example on the opposite page.)
2 Record its colour in your chart.
3 Describe its lustre as metallic (shiny like metal) or non-metallic. If it’s non-
metallic, try to describe it in another word. For example, if it looks like glass,
you could describe it as “glassy.”
4 Scrape the sample across the streak plate. Brush off the loose powder with
your fingers. If there is a streak, record its colour.
5 To test hardness, start by scratching the sample with your fingernail. If it
doesn’t leave a scratch or groove on the sample, try the copper wire. If the
wire doesn’t leave a scratch or groove, try an iron nail. Then try the
sandpaper. Record the hardness of the sample. (It might be between two
numbers on the hardness scale, so you could rank it as 4–5 or 6–7.)
6 Use a hand lens to examine the mineral’s structure.
7 Add any other information that you’ve observed about the mineral. Record
this in your “Other” column.
8 Repeat steps 1 to 7 with the other samples of known minerals.

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Part 2
8 For each unknown mineral, record its number in your chart.
9 Repeat steps 2 to 6 from Part 1 of the procedure for each unknown mineral.
10 Use the information in your database of known minerals to identify your
unknown samples. Enter the name of the mineral in the “Mineral Name”
column.

Collecting Data
11 Use a chart like the one below to record the information about the properties
of each mineral sample.

Mineral Mineral Colour Lustre Streak Hardness Other

ID No. Name

Analyzing and Interpreting

12 Is colour a reliable property to use for identifying minerals? Why or why not?
13 Which property or properties did you find the most useful for identifying
minerals? Why?

Forming Conclusions
14 Write a summary paragraph that answers the question: “How can you identify
a mineral by its properties?”

Applying and Connecting

Can you think of another way to display the information in your database so it can
be used easily? Work with a partner to create an identification key to help you and
others identify minerals. After you and your partner have completed your
identification key, see if other students can figure out how to use it. Can they
suggest ways to improve it?
Figure 2.9 Native copper
Extending
Use a rock and mineral field guide to find out about the
properties of copper and diamond. List some of the
commercial uses for these two minerals. How are their
properties related to these uses?

Figure 2.10 Raw diamonds

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PROSPECTING FOR WEALTH

Identifying rocks and minerals isn’t just a fascinating hobby; it’s big
business! Canada is the world’s largest mineral exporter and is one
of the world’s leading producers of gold, copper, nickel, zinc, lead,
silver, iron ore, asbestos, potash, sand, gravel, and clay. There are
over 500 mines and quarries scattered across Canada, with mining
operations taking place in every province and territory.

Figure 2.11 These

diamonds are from
Canada’s first diamond
mine, the Ekati mine near
Lac de Gras, Northwest
Territories. It began
operations in 1998.

Figure 2.12 The Highland

Figure 2.13 Alberta’s coal mines produce
Valley open-pit mine near
nearly half of all of Canada’s coal. (It is
Kamloops, British
estimated that there is enough coal in
Columbia, is the largest
Alberta to last about 1000 years at
base metal mine in Canada.
current rates of use.) The Highvale mine
It produces copper and
pictured above is 80 km west of
molybdenum ore.
Edmonton. It is Canada’s largest coal
mine.

CHECK AND REFLECT

1. One of the steps in identifying a rock is to identify the minerals
it contains. For example, granite is made of quartz, feldspar, and
mica. If you were given an unknown rock, how would you use
what you learned in this section to identify it?
2. The properties of minerals are useful for more than just
identifying them. Sometimes, properties make a mineral
valuable. For example, colour is important in gemstones. What
other property that you learned about in this subsection might
make a mineral useful or valuable?

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info BIT
2.2 Three Classes of Rocks: Igneous,
Treasures in Earth’s
Sedimentary, and Metamorphic Crust
Earth’s crust is a
Even though you’ve been able to identify rocks by knowing their treasure house of
minerals, to learn the whole story, you need to know how the rock valuable things. Gold,
was formed. You need to look at the way the minerals are arranged silver, and precious
and the sizes of the individual grains. stones are all found in
As you explore the different types of rocks in this section, use a Earth’s crust.
diagram like the one below to keep track of the information (Figure • The ancient
2.14). Copy this diagram into your notebook, using a whole page. Egyptians were
Label your diagram as you go through the text. On your diagram, mining for emeralds
indicate where the different types of rock are forming. Add any as far back as
notes that will help you remember what process formed them. To 1650 B.C. That’s more
get you started, the diagram shows one example. than 3000 years ago.
• Canada is one of the
top 10 gold
producers in the
world.

pressure

A wall painting of an
Egyptian wearing
precious stones
heat metamorphic
rock formed
magma
from heat
and pressure

Figure 2.14 How rocks are formed

TYPES OF ROCK
Although there are many different kinds of rocks, all rocks can be
organized into three major families or types according to how they
were formed as: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.

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Figure 2.15 One place

where you can watch
igneous rock forming is at
active volcanoes, like those
in Hawaii and Iceland.

IGNEOUS ROCKS
info BIT The word igneous comes from the Latin word “ignis,” meaning fire.
Igneous rocks form from hot, molten rock called magma, but by the
Rock Hounds time you hold them in your hands, they are hard and cold. Magma
Are you a rock hound? may cool deep inside Earth or it may reach the surface before it
A rock hound is cools. When it flows out onto the surface of Earth either on land or
someone who collects beneath the ocean, it’s called lava. The photographs of pegmatite
and studies rocks as a and basalt show one way that you can tell the difference between
hobby. Every spring, igneous rock that cools on the surface and one that cools deep
many rock hounds inside Earth.
attend the Calgary
Rock and Lapidary
Club’s Gem, Mineral,
and Fossil Show. The
Calgary area and the
nearby Rocky
Mountains are famous
for the unique geology
that can be found pegmatite basalt
there. If you’re a rock
hound and want to get Figure 2.16 Pegmatite and basalt are both igneous rocks. The pegmatite formed when magma
involved, look up a cooled deep in Earth. Molten rock cools slowly underground. This gives the mineral grains
more time to grow, so the pegmatite has larger grains. The basalt formed when lava flowed out
local rock club in the
of a volcano. It cooled very quickly, so its mineral grains are much smaller.
phone directory or on
the Internet.
Igneous rock is classified into two groups, depending on
whether it was formed on or below Earth’s surface. Rock formed
from magma that cooled and hardened beneath the surface is called
intrusive rock. This type of rock is found on the surface only where
erosion has worn away the rock that once lay above it. Rock that
was formed from lava cooling on the surface is called extrusive
rock.

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SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
Have you ever seen rocks that have layers in them, like the ones in
the photographs (Figure 2.17)? These are called sedimentary rocks.
They form when small pieces of rock are carried by water or wind
and settle or sink down onto the rocks below them. Sometimes
these pieces are made up mainly of tiny shells from dead animals.
As more and more sediments pile up, the ones on the bottom are
squeezed by the weight of the ones above. Over time, this pressure
causes the sediments to turn into sedimentary rock. You’ll find out
more about sedimentary rocks later in this unit.

Figure 2.17 Limestone (left) and

sandstone (right) are two kinds
of sedimentary rock that usually
occur in layers.

G i v e i t a TRY A C T I V I T Y

GRAPH IT!
If you examine this table of the world’s top producers, you will probably notice
that Canada is among the world leaders in mining. But numbers are difficult to
visualize. (See Toolbox 7 for help in graphing data.)
• Your challenge is to take the numbers in the table and create a graph (or
graphs) that compares Canada with the other countries listed.
• Choose one of these countries, and use your library resources and the Internet
to research its mineral production. How does your research compare with the
data given here?

Copper (⫻1000 t*) China (3200) U.S. (1920) Canada (700) Australia (550) Indonesia (530)

Lead (⫻1000 t) China (650) Australia (530) U.S. (450) Canada (260) Peru (250)

Zinc (⫻1000 t) Canada (1250) China (1130) Australia (1100) Peru (770) U.S. (600)

Nickel (⫻1000 t) Russia (230) Canada (200) New Caledonia (130) Australia (120) Indonesia (90)

Aluminum (⫻1000 t) U.S. (3600) Russia (2900) Canada (2300) China (1900) Australia (1400)

Gold (t) South Africa (500) U.S. (320) Australia (290) Canada (170) Russia (130)

Silver (t) Mexico (2500) U.S. (1440) Peru (1950) Canada (1310) Chile (1150)

*t = tonnes

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Not all sedimentary rocks form from fragments of rocks or

shells. As water flows over and under Earth’s surface, it can
dissolve substances called “salts” from the rocks. The salt you use
on your food is one of these salts. In fact, the reason the ocean is
salty is that rivers carry so much of these salts into the ocean.
Sometimes, bodies of water that contain dissolved salts dry up,
leaving salts behind and forming thick beds.
Another type of sedimentary rock is formed from organic, living
material. One of the most common examples is coal, an important
fossil fuel that comes from the decay of plant matter. Alberta has
always been an important producer of this source of fuel.
Figure 2.18 illustrates how coal is formed.

plant remains

Figure 2.18 Two hundred and

Peat begins to form.
seventy-five million years ago,
there was an extensive growth of
vegetation in the tropical climate
of ancient Alberta. Over time,
plant debris was trapped
between layers of sediment. The lignite (brown coal)
increasing pressure has since
compressed this debris, first into
peat, then lignite (brown coal),
then bituminous coal, and finally
into anthracite.
bituminous coal

anthracite
(hardest coal)

METAMORPHIC ROCKS
Metamorphic rocks are rocks that have been changed. The word
“metamorphic” is a combination of two Greek words: “meta” means
change, and “morph” means form. These rocks started out as
igneous, sedimentary, or other metamorphic rocks. The intense heat
and pressure deep below Earth’s surface changed their appearance.
Figures 2.19 and 2.20 show examples of changes to sedimentary,
igneous, and metamorphic rocks caused by heat and pressure.

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shale slate schist

Figure 2.19 Shale is a sedimentary rock that changes to slate if it is exposed to strong heat
and pressure. Slate is harder than shale. If slate is exposed to more heat and pressure, the
different kinds of mineral grains in it become larger and separate from each other. The rock is
then called schist [shist].

granite outcrop gneiss

Figure 2.20 Granite and gneiss contain the same minerals (quartz, feldspar, mica, and
¯ is a metamorphic rock
hornblende) but as you can see, the rocks look different. Gneiss [nīs]
that can form from the igneous rock, granite. Heat and pressure cause the mineral grains in
the granite to separate and flatten into the bands you can see in the photo on the right.

Over long periods of time, rocks are constantly undergoing

changes. For example, the sand on a beach may have once been
part of a large boulder.

IDENTIFYING CLASSES OF ROCK

Scientists spend much of their time collecting, organizing, and
trying to understand their data. Classifying is the grouping of
objects or events that have the same characteristics. When
geologists find a new rock or rock formation, the first thing they
need to do is to classify it.

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Inquiry CLASSIFYING ROCKS

Activity The Question
What properties help you determine the class of rock?

The Hypothesis
Materials & Equipment Develop a hypothesis based on the above question.
• sample rocks (igneous,
sedimentary, and Rock Summary Table
metamorphic) Class of Rock Texture Colour
• magnifying glass igneous
basalt extremely fine grained dark grey to black
obsidian glassy usually black, sometimes reddish or
green
granite coarse to medium grain various: white to dark grey, pink, or red
sedimentary
sandstone coarse to medium varies
grained; layered
limestone fine grained usually white to dark grey
Figure 2.21 coal fine to medium grained brown to velvet black
Compare the
metamorphic
properties of your
rock samples with gneiss banded varies
the properties listed marble coarse grained usually white, but may have other
colours as veins
in this table.
slate banded usually medium to dark grey or black

Procedure
1 Before you begin, review the three classes of rocks. Are the rocks pictured
below typical examples of each class?

Figure 2.22 Obsidian [ob Figure 2.23 Coal is Figure 2.24 Marble, a
SID ē an] is an example of sedimentary rock. metamorphic rock, comes in
igneous rock. many colours.

2 Work with a partner or in a small group to identify the rock samples your
teacher gives you as either igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic.
3 Use the Rock Summary Table to help you identify your rock samples (Figure
2.21). The summary will give you an idea of some typical characteristics for
each type of rock classification.

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Collecting Data
4 Record your observations in the form of a chart such as the one below:

Sample Colour Texture Rock Group

Analyzing and Interpreting

5 Which samples did you classify as igneous?
6 Which samples did you classify as sedimentary?
7 Which samples did you classify as metamorphic?

Forming Conclusions
8 What physical property (or properties) did you find the most useful in
classifying rocks?

Applying and Connecting

Use a rock and mineral field guide to identify the names of your rock samples.
Organize your data in a chart similar to the one below:

Sample Name Colour Lustre Streak Hardness Other

Extending
Go on a rock-search field trip. Collect several rock samples, and using what you
have learned and a rock and mineral field guide, identify the samples you find.
Write a brief report of your trip. Explain in your report how you planned and
organized your field trip. Was your field trip successful? Did you find interesting
rocks? Plan a display for your rock samples.

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re SEARCH GEOLOGY TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

Geologists no longer wander the countryside on foot looking for
Alberta Oil and Gas
gold, iron, and other valuable minerals. Today, they rely on a
Oil and gas are
number of high-tech tools and techniques to find mineral ore
important fossil fuels.
Alberta produces bodies.
about 40% of all oil • Remote sensing—mapping of Earth’s surface from aircraft or
and gas in Canada. orbiting satellites. By examining rock formations, soil types, and
• Where are the major vegetation in aerial images, geologists can infer possible locations
oil and gas areas in of valuable mineral deposits hidden below the surface.
Alberta?
• Geophysical prospecting—using sensitive instruments to detect
• Is there a pattern to
their location? (Hint: mineral deposits hidden deep underground. For example, some
Look at the types of minerals, such as iron and copper, are magnetic and can be
rocks they are found detected with a magnetometer.
in.) • Geochemical prospecting—making chemical analysis of samples
• Why are the oil taken from the environment. Geologists look for evidence of traces
sands important to of metals that may indicate the presence of an ore body buried in
Alberta’s and a given area.
Canada’s economy?
• Exploration—drilling holes to verify an ore body’s existence. A
diamond-tipped drill bit is used to extract a cylindrical core of
rock that can be thousands of metres long!

CHECK AND REFLECT

1. Using your own words, complete the following sentences:
a) Igneous rocks form when …
b) Sedimentary rocks form when ...
c) Metamorphic rocks form when …
2. Lava always forms igneous rock, but not all igneous rocks are
formed from lava.
a) What is lava?
b) If an igneous rock didn’t form from lava, from what did it
form?
3. What are some of the characteristics used to classify rocks from
each of the three different rock classes?
4. What are some of the methods geologists use to locate valuable
mineral deposits?

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info BIT
2.3 The Rock Cycle
Encouraging
Weathering
In order for
weathering to occur,
rocks need to be
exposed to air and
water.
• Landslides remove
large areas of topsoil
and other surface
material.
• Avalanches of snow
loosen rock and soil
debris.
• Floods break down
river banks and
deposit material over
Figure 2.25 Water is an important element in the rock cycle.
a large area.

You recycle things all the time—cans, paper, and glass bottles. After
you throw them into the recycling bin, they are taken away, broken
down, and made into new products. Does that sound familiar?
You have learned about the three families of rocks and learned
how they can change in structure and appearance over time. Think
about how Earth recycles rocks:
• any rock that is heated may melt into magma and later form
igneous rock
• any rock that is exposed on Earth’s surface may be broken down
into sediments and later become sedimentary rock
The physical environments determine what kind of rock is formed.
If the environment changes, the rocks may eventually change into
different kinds of rocks.

Figure 2.26 When this house was

built, it had a fresh coat of paint
and sparkling windows. A family
moved in and grew up there.
Children played in the yard.
Flowers grew in the front.
Vegetables grew in the back. Fifty
years later, it looks like this. What
happened to it?

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Rocks can be altered so much that they change classifications

(igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic). For example, an igneous
rock may be weathered, and its grains deposited to form a
sedimentary rock. Rocks can also be altered so that they become
another type of rock within the same classification. For example, as
you saw in Figure 2.19, schist is a metamorphic rock formed from
slate, another metamorphic rock. Geologists call this process of
change in rocks the rock cycle. Figure 2.27 is a model of this
process.

The Rock Cycle

Figure 2.27 Why
do you think the intense heat
rock cycle is a and pressure
useful model to
geologists?
pressure

Sedimentary Rock weathering

and erosion

Sediments

Metamorphic Rock
weathering
and erosion
melting

weat
hering and erosion

int
e ns
eh
eat
an dp
ress
ure

Magma (Liquid Rock) Igneous Rock

cooling

INVESTIGATING THE ROCK CYCLE

It takes nearly 1000 years for just 5 mm of soil to form. Soil is
mainly composed of two materials: rock and decaying organic
matter. The rock is in the form of stones, gravel, sand, silt, and clay
that eroded from the rock of Earth’s crust. The organic matter comes
from plants and animals.

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THE ALBERTA STORY: INVESTIGATING THE CHANGING EARTH

What kind of rocks do you think you would find in your backyard?
Would you even find any rocks? Well, for the first 50 or so metres,
all you would probably dig up would be sand, gravel, stones, and
boulders. Below this material (called overburden), the story is
different.
The rocks that make up Alberta were laid down in layers over
hundreds of millions of years ago. The oldest layer, the
Precambrian Shield, is at the bottom. This layer is made of igneous
and metamorphic rocks that were formed between 544 and 4500
million years ago. It is the world’s oldest rock and underlies all of
Alberta. However, it is only exposed in the northeast corner,
covering about 3% of the province. Eighty-seven percent of
Alberta’s landscape lies over the Interior Plain. This wedge-shaped
piece of land is sandwiched between the Canadian Shield and the
Rocky Mountains. (It also extends across Saskatchewan and
Manitoba.) The plain is made up of various layers of sedimentary
rock that are between 544 million and 1.5 million years old.

Rocks in Your Backyard

Figure 2.29 Dinosaur

Provincial Park
Badlands—The Badlands,
located in Dinosaur
Provincial Park, is a
dramatic example of
sedimentary rock layers.
Glaciers eroded the rocks
into these unusual
features about 15 000
years ago.

Figure 2.30 Rock Slide

in the Mountains—Huge
rock slides sometimes
Figure 2.28 Pelican Rapids—Most of occur in the mountains
Alberta’s metamorphic rocks lie hidden because of erosion. They
beneath the surface. Pelican Rapids, in the may also be triggered by
northeast corner of the province, is one area earthquakes.
where these outcroppings can be seen.

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Inquiry SORTING OUT THE SOIL

Activity The Question
What is the rock material in soil composed of?

Materials & Equipment

• samples of soil (from sandy
to black loam)
• magnifying glass
• 1.5-L jars, one for each soil
sample
• millimetre ruler
Figure 2.31 This soil is
• sheets of white paper, one not as rich in organic
for each soil sample matter as black loam
• scoop garden soil.

Procedure
1 Examine each of the soil samples. If necessary, add a little water to the dry
samples so that all samples seem to have the same amount of moisture.
2 Pick up a little of each soil in your fingers and record how many lumps it
contains (many, few, or none). Also record whether the soil feels smooth or
gritty. Wash your hands after handling the soil.
3 Add enough of each soil sample to fill 1/4 of a separate jar, then almost fill
the jar with water. Stir the contents well to break up all the clumps. Let stand
overnight or until the particles have settled to the bottom.
4 Meanwhile, take a small scoop of one soil sample and spread it out as a very
thin layer on a sheet of white paper. Use the magnifying glass to examine the
soil. Look for rock fragments in your sample, and describe their grain size
according to the following classification. Repeat step 4 for each soil sample.

Rock Size of Particle

Sample
= 20 mm stone larger than 20 mm
= 3 mm
= 2 mm
gravel about 3 mm to 20 mm

= 0.2 mm sand smaller than 2 mm, but visible without a magnifying glass

silt smaller than 0.07 mm, only visible through a magnifying glass
Figure 2.32 Use this scale to
clay smaller than 0.004 mm, only visible through a microscope
estimate the size of particles in
your soil samples.

5 Observe the water and soil mixtures in the jars. Draw a diagram of each
sample to show the different layers and the different-size particles in each.
Indicate the colour of the water that remains above each settled sample.

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Collecting Data
6 Use a chart, such as the one below, to record your observations:

Sample/Location Colour Lumpiness Feel Type of Rock Particle

stone gravel sand silt clay

Analyzing and Interpreting

7 How do the soil samples differ in the amounts of different sizes of sediments
they contain?
8 What are some of the characteristics of the different kinds of rock material in
your soil samples (colour, shape, lustre, etc.)?
9 In the jars of soil and water, which size of sediment settled to the bottom
first?
10 Which size of sediment settled last?
11 What colour was the water above the settled sediment? If it wasn’t
colourless, what do you think created the colour?
12 What material, other than rock fragments, do you think the different soil
samples contain?
Figure 2.33 Gravel
Forming Conclusions
13 Write a summary paragraph describing what you learned about the
composition of soil in this activity. Use data from your observations to
support your description. Illustrate your description with drawings.

Applying and Connecting

The shape of a grain of sand can often tell you how much it has been moved
around. For example, wave action will remove sharp edges faster than other
forms of weathering. Soft minerals are more easily broken down than hard
Figure 2.34 Sand
minerals. What inferences can you make about how long your rock particle
samples have spent in soil? How do you think the rock grains got in your soil
samples?

Extending
Use a rock and mineral field guide to try to identify the minerals in your sand
samples. (Hint: You will need to examine your rock fragments with a magnifying
glass or hand lens.)

Figure 2.35 Clay

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CHECK AND REFLECT

1. What does the rock cycle tell us about how rocks are formed?
2. The picture at left, Figure 2.36, shows the footprint left behind
by one of the astronauts who landed on the moon about 30 years
ago. This footprint looks exactly the same today as it did when
it was made. What does this tell you about the rock cycle on the
moon?

Figure 2.36

Geologist
and

Careers Profiles

Nancy Chow studies coral reefs, but not the kind

found in tropical destinations like the Bahamas or
the Red Sea. She studies coral reefs found in
Manitoba, Alberta, and the interior of Australia!
These coral reefs existed 380 million years ago
when large parts of North America and Australia
were covered in water. Nancy is a geologist who
analyzes the sedimentary rock layers formed by
these ancient reefs.

In the Field
Nancy spends about a quarter of her time in the
field. The rock layers she studies often lie deep Figure 2.37 Nancy Chow investigating sedimentary rock layers
underground, buried by thousands of years of
sedimentation. To get at the underlying rock, drill
core samples are taken. She takes careful notes to
keep track of where each sample came from. 1. What can geologists learn about
Earth’s surface when they study rock
Does Nancy Chow Like Her Job? formations?
“It’s been great for me,” she says. “I’ve travelled to 2. What types of businesses might use
Australia to work on spectacular rock exposures. the services of geologists?
I’ve been to the Caribbean to look at modern reefs.
I have no complaints!”

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SECTION REVIEW
Assess Your Learning
1. How are rocks and minerals related?
2. Describe four properties of minerals that are used for
identification. How is each different?
3. Review the rock samples you examined at the beginning of
subsection 2.1 (Mission Control, This Is ...). Use a rock and
mineral field guide to classify these rocks as either igneous,
sedimentary, or metamorphic.
4. Why do some igneous rocks have bigger mineral grains than
other igneous rocks?
5. A metamorphic rock is a changed rock. What did it change
from? What changed it?
6. Kathy was on a bus that drove past a steep hillside of bare rock.
“Look,” she said to her friend, “sedimentary rocks!” How did
she know?
7. Why can two rocks look very different even though they are
made of the same minerals?
8. Write a paragraph explaining the rock cycle.
9. What is the Precambrian Shield, and why do you think it is of
interest to geologists?
10. Describe a rock formation found in Alberta.

Focus THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

On
Performing successful experiments is often the result of having a
clear hypothesis. Think back to the experiments you did in this
section.
1. Did each experiment prove its hypothesis?
2. Which hypothesis did you have to revise as a result of the data
you collected?
3. If you did have to revise a hypothesis, why do you think it
wasn’t correct or accurate or complete enough in the first place?

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3.0 Landforms provide evidence of

change.

Key Concepts
In this section, you will learn
about the following key
concepts:
• continental drift
• plate tectonics
• mountain building

Learning Outcomes
When you have completed this
section, you will be able to:
• describe evidence and
identify patterns of
continental movement
• interpret evidence for the
Theory of Plate Tectonics
• investigate and interpret
patterns of mountain building
• interpret the structure and The Rocky Mountains
movement of fold and fault
mountains The Sawback Mountain Range is in the Rocky Mountains of
Alberta. The rocks that make up the mountains were originally
deposited in stages on the sea floor hundreds of millions of years
ago as flat-lying layers. You can still see the layers in this
photograph, but they are no longer flat. How would you describe
them? What forces do you think pushed these layers skyward?
How long ago did it happen? Could it happen again?
Earth is a planet in constant motion and change. You have
already seen how weather and water wear the surface features of
rocks down; how rocks can be transformed from one form into
another. But there are even greater forces on the planet that affect
its surface. Intense heat from deep inside Earth creates volcanoes
that gush lava. Huge plates moving across its surface cause
earthquakes that shake and split the ground. Mountains are
pushed upward toward the sky. Science is only now beginning to
understand these powerful forces that shape our Earth.

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info BIT
3.1 Continental Drift
Looking for Evidence
When you watch TV or a mystery movie, do you try to solve it What do you notice
along with the detective? Detectives look for clues in the about the coastlines of
connections between events and between characters. Who was near South America and
the scene of the crime? Who had a motive? Investigating Earth’s Africa? Do they have
structure is like solving a mystery. Just as detectives do, scientists anything in common?
look for patterns and connections in their observations as they try
to solve the mystery of Earth’s surface.

CONTINENTS ON THE MOVE

In 1910, the German scientist Alfred Wegener [VAY guh nur]
noticed something interesting about the shapes of the continents
that could be seen on a map of the world—just as you might have
observed. He noticed that the outlines of the continents looked as if
they could fit together. He developed a hypothesis that all the
Satellite view of South
continents had at one time been joined together in a single land America and Africa
mass that he named “Pangaea” [pan JEE uh], meaning “all lands.”
He hypothesized that since the time of Pangaea, the continents have
slowly drifted apart. Geologists today refer to this idea as
continental drift.

Arctic Ocean

North Europe
America
Asia

India
Africa
Pacific Ocean Atlantic Ocean

South
America Indian Ocean
Glossopteris fossils Australia Figure 3.1 The super
Glacial deposits continent: Pangaea
Folded mountains
Coal deposits

Antarctica

Glossopteris Fossils—These were plants that resembled ferns. They lived about
250 million years ago. Their seeds could not have travelled across the ocean.
Folded Mountains—Similar mountain formations were found on different continents.
Glacial Deposits—Deep scratches in the rocks show that glaciers once covered this land.
Coal Deposits—Ancient tropical forests produced these coal deposits, which seem to
have once been connected.

Figure 3.2 Wegener supported his theory of continental drift with these four pieces of
evidence. Do you see how he came up with his theory?

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re SEARCH But to convince others to accept his theory, Wegener needed

evidence. So he studied the specific types of rock formations on
Researching each continent as well as other geological evidence. He also looked
Continental Drift at land formations, such as mountain ranges, to see if they were
Find out more about similar from continent to continent. What he found was startling in
Wegener’s theory of view of what scientists at the time believed about Earth. Fossil and
continental drift. (Ask rock evidence suggested that some tropical continents had
your librarian for help previously existed in polar regions!
in finding print and Wegener did more than try to just explain the amazing fit of the
media resources.) continents. He even offered an explanation for how mountains
• Use geology and form. Wegener thought that when drifting continents collided, their
geography
edges crumpled and folded, forming mountains. Unfortunately, he
textbooks to find an
could not provide an explanation for the force that caused the
example of a
continents to drift over Earth’s surface.
geological formation
of rock and/or fossil Many geologists thought then that Earth was slowly cooling and
evidence that shrinking, so the science community rejected his idea. Scientists at
supports Wegener’s the time believed that mountains formed when the crust wrinkled
theory. like the skin of a dried-up apple. For nearly half a century, from the
• Use the map of 1920s to the 1960s, most scientists paid little attention to his idea
Pangaea (Figure 3.1) of continental drift. Then, new evidence about Earth’s structure led
to help you decide scientists to reconsider and later accept Wegener’s bold theory.
what evidence to
look for.

CHECK AND REFLECT

1. a) What was Wegener’s theory of continental drift?
b) What were the three types of evidence Wegener used to
support his theory?
c) Why did most scientists reject Wegener’s theory of
continental drift?
2. If the “shrinking apple” theory for mountain formation were
correct, explain where you think mountains would be found on
Earth’s crust.

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info BIT
3.2 Plate Tectonics
The Active Earth
Have you ever dropped a hard-boiled egg? If so, you may have Where plates collide
noticed that the eggshell cracked in an irregular pattern of broken with each other is
pieces. Earth’s solid outer shell, or lithosphere, is much like a usually a location that
cracked eggshell. It is also divided into large, irregular pieces. has either active
volcanoes or
DEVELOPING A NEW THEORY occasional
earthquakes. Can you
Since Wegener’s time, scientists have studied major features on the think of any places in
continents and ocean floors. Advances in technology have helped Alberta or the rest of
them learn more about the composition and structure of Earth’s Canada that
surface, its crust, and its inner structure. Earlier in this unit, you experience either of
learned about seismic waves from earthquakes. Using seismographs, these events?
scientists have been able to study the structure of the crust and the
mantle. This information has helped them develop a new theory to
explain many of the major features on Earth’s surface.
Technology development for exploring the oceans has also been
helpful to scientists studying Earth. Advances in sensing
technology using sound waves have enabled scientists to map the
ocean floors in detail. Deep-sea submersible vehicles have carried
scientists to parts of the ocean floors where they have been able to
observe geological processes in action. Robotic submersibles
controlled from the surface have added even more to our
understanding of the deepest parts of the oceans.
As scientists collected more and more information about Earth,
they plotted the positions of features such as mountains, deep-
ocean valleys, earthquakes, and volcanoes. When they looked at
these features on a map of Earth, they noticed an interesting
pattern.

Figure 3.3 Look at these two landforms (to the left is the east coast of Cape Breton, Nova
Scotia; to the right are cliffs near Lagos, Portugal, on the Atlantic Ocean). Can you imagine
that they were once connected, as suggested by Wegener?

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Inquiry EARTHQUAKES, VOLCANOES, AND P L AT E T E C T O N I C S

Activity The Question
Where in the world do earthquakes occur? Where in the world do volcanoes
occur? Is there a pattern?

Earthquake Activity The Hypothesis

Place Magnitude Develop a hypothesis based on the earthquake and volcano data given on this
page.
Kobe, Japan 7.2
Anchorage, Alaska 9.2
San Francisco,
California 7.7
Southern Chile 9.5
Los Angeles,
California 6.7
Western Iran 7.7
Mexico City 8.1 Figure 3.4 Arenal
Tokyo-Yokohama, Volcano, Costa Rica
Japan 8.2
Guatemala 7.5 Procedure
Peru 7.9 1 Mark on a world map the location of the volcanoes and earthquakes listed in
the charts to the left.
Volcano Activity 2 Review subsection 1.2, Sudden Earth Events.
3 Note any patterns you observe on your map.
Name Place
4 Indicate on your map the principal mountain ranges in the world.
Arenal Costa Rica
Krakatoa Java, Analyzing and Interpreting
Indonesia
5 Work with a partner or small group and brainstorm possible reasons for your
Mount Pele Martinique observations. Choose one of the reasons that you think best explains your
Mount Pinatubo Philippines observations. Does your reason fit your hypothesis? Do you need to revise
Mount Ruapehu New Zealand your hypothesis?
Mount St. Washington,
Helens United States Forming Conclusions
Mount Tambora Sumbawa, 6 Write a brief report that supports your hypothesis.
Indonesia
Mount Vesuvius Naples, Italy Applying and Connecting
Paricutin Paricutin, Compare your report with others in the class. What similarities do you find? What
Mexico differences do you find? If necessary, revise your hypothesis to reflect what you
Surtsey Island Iceland have learned from the other reports.

Extending
Research other volcanic and earthquake activity and mark their locations on your
map. Are these new locations in the same regions as the other volcanoes and
earthquakes?

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INTERPRETING THE PATTERNS

Scientists noticed that volcanoes and earthquakes tended to occur in
the same areas around the world. They also noticed distinctive deep
valleys under the oceans, usually near the edges of continents.
These valleys are called trenches. And they noticed long underwater
mountain ranges called ridges.
The mountain range in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean was an
important piece of evidence in the development of the new theory to
explain Earth’s surface structures. This mountain range is called the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The rock at its top was younger than the rock
on the surrounding ocean floor and the edges of the continents.

New Ocean Crust mid-ocean ridge

new ocean
crust
forming

vement plate mo lithosphere

plate mo vement

magma

Figure 3.5 Deep under the water, new crust is forming continuously
from lava at mid-ocean ridges.

Figure 3.5 shows what is occurring at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Magma rises from deep within Earth and flows out at the ridge. On
either side of the ridge, scientists found that the farther rock is away
from the top of the ridge, the older the rock is. This means
that the rock must be moving away from the ridge and toward the Figure 3.6 Water within the
continents. crust layer is superheated
Evidence showed that this sea floor spreading was taking place by hot magma just a few
in other areas as well. Did this mean that the planet was increasing kilometres below the
surface. This is called
in size? No, it isn’t because, in other areas, the sea floor is moving geothermal activity. When
down into the deep ocean trenches. Scientists now had strong water returns to the
evidence for their new theory. surface, hot springs like
• Most earthquakes and volcanoes are concentrated in specific areas. this one are the result.
• There are large areas on Earth where few or no earthquakes
and volcanoes occur.

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• The ocean floor is spreading away from mid-ocean ridges.

• The ocean floor is moving down into deep trenches on or near
the edges of continents.

THE THEORY OF PLATE TECTONICS

When all this evidence was pieced together, scientists suggested the
Theory of Plate Tectonics. According to this theory, the lithosphere
is broken up into large areas much like a cracked eggshell. These
areas are called plates. The plates usually carry both continental
and oceanic crust. All these plates are moving very slowly on a
semi-solid layer of crust.

ridges
trenches
earthquake areas
volcanoes
Figure 3.7 This map shows
the major features scientists
discovered when they
surveyed the ocean floors.
They found deep valleys
called trenches and
mountain chains called
ridges.

The following illustrations show what happens at the different

types of plate boundaries around the world. A boundary is the edge
where plates meet. Look at the map of The Plates of Earth (Figure
3.8) while you read these descriptions so you can see where they
are.

The Plates of Earth

Figure 3.8 Earth’s
lithosphere is broken up EURASIAN
NORTH PLATE
into many large and small AMERICAN
plates. The plates are all CHINA
PLATE
PLATE
solid rock, but they “float” PACIFIC
CARIBBEAN ARABIAN
PLATE PLATE
on the partly melted layer of PHILIPPINE
PLATE
PLATE COCOS
the mantle below the PLATE AFRICAN
PLATE
lithosphere.
FIJI PLATE
NAZCA SOUTH
PLATE AMERICAN
INDO-AUSTRALIAN
PLATE PLATE

ANTARCTIC PLATE

Converging Diverging Subduction Uncertain

Boundary Boundary Zone Boundary

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Diverging Boundaries

volcano
ocean ocean

plate plate
molten
rock

convection convection
currents mantle currents Figure 3.9 A diverging boundary

A diverging boundary is one where two of Earth’s plates are moving

apart. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean is
an example of a diverging plate boundary. At this type of boundary,
lava flows from the ridge to form new oceanic crust. Sometimes,
volcanoes grow high enough that they are visible above the ocean’s
surface, like those that form Iceland.

Converging Boundaries
At converging boundaries, plates are moving toward each other.
Although plates move very slowly, they are so huge that we
experience the effects of their collision. We can feel the earthquakes
and see the mountains, including volcanoes, that grow up at or near
these boundaries. There are two kinds of converging boundaries.
One kind of converging boundary happens where a trench
forms. One plate carries oceanic crust, and the other one carries
continental crust. When the plates push together, the heavier,
thinner oceanic crust is forced down below the lighter, thicker
continental crust (see Figure 3.11). This process is called
subduction. As one plate grinds down past the other, earthquakes Figure 3.10 The San
rumble, and the continental crust wrinkles to form mountains. The Andreas fault is a crack in
oceanic crust moves lower and gets hotter and melts. This molten Earth’s crust that runs
along part of the west coast
rock rises in some places to form volcanoes.
of the United States.

ocean Mountains form. plate

plate
ocean trench
continental crust

Figure 3.11 Converging

boundary—at an ocean trench.
Which mountain range in Canada do
you think is formed by this process?

lithosphere
melting plate
oceanic crust

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plate A
plate B The second kind of converging
boundary happens where two
plates with continental crust move
up against each other. They crush
together to form huge mountain
ranges. Which high mountain
range in Asia is being formed by
this process?
lithosphere continental crust

Figure 3.12 Converging

boundary—when two
continental plates collide
Transform Boundaries
The third type of boundary is called a transform boundary (Figure
3.13). Here, plates slide sideways past each other. But this sliding
doesn’t take place smoothly. The rocks bind and catch on each
other, causing earthquakes. You can find a transform boundary
re SEARCH along the west coast of the United States at the San Andreas fault
(Figure 3.10).
Hawaiian Islands
J. Tuzo Wilson
proposed an
interesting theory of
why the Hawaiian
islands formed.
• Find out how these
islands formed.
• Find out more about
J. Tuzo Wilson and
lithosphere
his work as a
scientist.
Figure 3.13 Transform boundary—when two plates slide

CHECK AND REFLECT

1. Explain three pieces of evidence to support the belief that
Earth’s crust is slowly moving.
2. List the three types of plate boundaries.
3. Look at the map of The Plates of Earth (Figure 3.8). Do you think
South America is moving closer to or farther away from Africa?
4. If the South American and African Plates are diverging at a rate
of 2 cm/year, calculate how much wider the Atlantic Ocean will
be when you are 50 years old.

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Experiment
ON YOUR OWN
PREDICTING CONTINENTAL DRIFT

Before You Start ... The Question

As you can see from your studies, scientists think that What will a map of the globe look like 100 million years
the continents once formed one large land mass called from now, assuming the continents move apart at the
Pangaea. They believe that the continents have been current rate? (See Toolbox 2 to review The Inquiry
slowly drifting apart at the rate of about 10 cm a year. Process of Science.)
Figure 3.14 shows the possible positions over the last
200 million years. Design and Make Your Model
1 The map below shows the continental plates and
Continental Drift the direction they are moving.

Longitude
Today 180 150 120 90 60 30 0 30 60 90 120 150 180
80 80

60 NORTH 60
EURASIAN
AMERICAN PLATE
40 PLATE 40
CARIBBEAN
20 PLATE 20
PACIFIC
PACIFIC PLATE ARABIAN AND PLATE
0 AFRICAN 0
NAZCA SOUTH PLATE INDIAN
200 million years ago 20 PLATE AMERICAN PLATE 20
PLATE
40 40
ANTARCTIC
60 PLATE 60
L at de
it u de 80 80 Latitu
180 150 120 90 60 30 0 30 60 90 120 150 180
Longitude

Figure 3.15 Direction of continental drift today

2 Create a plan of how you will use the map

180 million years ago
information to build a model map of the planet.
List the materials and equipment you will need.
Show your plan to your teacher for approval.
3 Make your model. Be prepared to explain and
defend your model and how you developed it to
your class.
4 Compare your model with others in the class. How
successful were the other models? Were many
100 million years ago models similar to yours?

Figure 3.14 The changing positions of the continents

over the last 200 million years

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3.3 Mountain Building

Think about Alberta’s landscape. There is a tremendous diversity of
mountains, plateaus, valleys, and rolling hills. Now think of the
landscape where you live. What are some of the dominant features
on it? What’s the highest point of land in your area? Would you call
it a mountain? Why or why not? Have you ever visited the Rocky
Mountains? Describe in words or a drawing your impression of
mountains.

WHAT IS MOUNTAIN BUILDING?

A mountain is part of Earth’s surface that is much higher than the
land around it. A mountain range is a series of mountains. The
Rocky Mountains extend from the north in the Yukon territory,
through the United States and into southern Mexico, making it one
of the longest mountain ranges in the world. In Alberta, the Rocky
Mountains straddle the border with British Columbia. These
mountains are the result of several processes that geologists call
mountain building.
In subsection 3.2, you learned that Earth’s crust is not one
smooth piece of rock. It is made of several plates that fit together
like a giant jigsaw puzzle, and that are in constant motion.

Figure 3.16 The Canadian Rockies

near Pincher Creek, Alberta

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You also have learned that mountains form in places where these info BIT
plates collide. For example, the land mass we call India is currently
pressing into southern Asia. We have evidence of this as there are Mountain Trivia Quiz
many earthquakes in this region in places like Turkey, Azerbaijan, • What is the highest
Armenia, and other countries that border northern India. Evidence mountain in the
of this movement is also seen from the ever-growing Himalayas. world?
(Mt. Everest, in the Himalayas, is about 50 cm higher than it was • What is the highest
40 years ago—and it’s still growing!) Alberta’s Rocky Mountains mountain in Canada?
formed in much the same way over 200 million years ago, but the • What is the highest
building stopped after about 140 million years. mountain in Alberta?
Mt. Columbia 3747 m
BUILDING THE MOUNTAINS: AN ALBERTA STORY Mt. Logan 5920 m
Mt. Everest 8850 m
Nearly 500 million years ago, Alberta had a much different climate Answers:
than it does now. It was tropical. The border that is now shared
with British Columbia was on the coast of a warm, shallow sea.
The shallow sea was constantly being filled with sediments.
They flowed over the land and carried all sorts of debris, depositing
it in layers on the coast. Over time, these layers of sediment created
a pile that was 10–15 km thick. Rivers and streams that drained
into that ancient sea carried with them a great deal of sand, mud,
and gravel. These sediments were deposited in thick layers on the
sea floor, reaching depths of up to 15 km.

Figure 3.17 Five hundred

million years ago, Alberta had
no mountains, just flat land at
large deltas Rivers bring
the edge of a warm shallow sea.
F l a t ,

sand and
minerals to
S h a l

the ocean.
B a
l o w

rr
en

shallow sea shelf

S e

La
a

d
n

Shoreline changes
several times.

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Figure 3.18 Mt. Temple was

formed at the leading edge
of the collision between the
North American Plate and
the Pacific Plate. It was here
that sedimentary rocks were
first stacked on top of each
other like a wedding cake.

After more than a billion years of sediment deposition, the

collision of two plates occurred. The North American Plate,
carrying what is now Alberta, collided with the edge of the Pacific
Plate. The force of this collision had two major effects. It forced the
denser oceanic crust of the Pacific Plate downward below the
lighter continental crust of the North American Plate, as you can
see in Figure 3.19.
At the same time, the pressure of the two plates ramming
against each other forced the sediments on the edge of the North
American Plate to fold and break. Some of these sediment layers
were pushed so hard that they separated and slid over top of each
other. The continuing pressure moved them more than 250 km east
of where they were originally deposited. Mount Rundle in Banff
was formed in this way. This folding, breaking, sliding, and piling
created the Rocky Mountains.

The continental plate, which is thicker and lighter,

rides over the oceanic plate. Farther back, it
buckles under the stress.

Rocky Mountains
Alberta
shallow sea

The oceanic plate,

which is thinner and
heavier, slides under
the continental plate.

Figure 3.19 How the Rocky Mountains were formed

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THE STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF FOLD AND FAULT MOUNTAINS

Have you ever seen interesting shapes or landforms when you drive
in a car? Many Canadian roads travel through some amazing places
that can leave you wondering: “How did it get to look like that?”
When mountains are built, they undergo several processes that
result in the final formations that we see today. For example, as a
result of the collision between plates, all of the sedimentary rocks
in the present Rocky Mountains felt compression forces. These
forces caused the sedimentary rocks to bend and break. Folding and
faulting are the results. The bends in these rock beds are called
folds. Large cracks in the rock beds also formed. Faults occurred
wherever the rocks on either side of a crack moved. Most
mountains were created by a combination of folding and faulting.
There are two kinds of folds found in rocks:
• an anticline or an upfold in the rock
• a syncline or a downfold in the rock

Figure 3.21 An example

Figure 3.20 An example of a syncline fold
of an anticline fold

anticline syncline anticline

info BIT
An Ancient Limestone Reef
Deep below the surface of southern Alberta are fossil
remains of sea animals that lived millions of years ago.
These ancient limestone reefs contain oil and gas.

This piece of limestone shows the

fossilized remains of ancient sea animals.

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Inquiry F O R M I N G F O L D E D M O U N TA I N S
Activity The Question
How can mountains form by folding?

The Hypothesis
Materials & Equipment Form or develop a hypothesis that you think best predicts what will happen.
• 5 rectangular strips of
Procedure
modelling clay, each a
different colour but the 1 Place one piece of modelling clay on your desk. Lay the other pieces one by
same size one on top of each other to form a pile.
• 2 pieces of wood, each 2 Put a block of wood at each end. Place the clamp so that the modelling clay
10 cm ⫻ 8 cm ⫻ 8 cm and the blocks of wood are between the clamps.
• bar clamp, longer than 3 One person holds both ends of the
50 cm clamp as another person slowly
closes the clamp.
4 Stop when the clamp is half
closed.
5 Clean up after you have completed
the activity, and wash your hands.

Collecting Data
6 As you slowly close the clamp,
stop from time to time to record
your observations in words and
Figure 3.22 Step 2 diagrams. Figure 3.23 Step 3

Analyzing and Interpreting

7 Is the clay folded into an anticline or a syncline? or both?
8 What does the clamp represent in this model?
9 What does the modelling clay represent in this model?
10 What happens to the modelling clay as you close the clamp?
11 Why doesn’t the clay break from the pressure of the clamp?

Forming Conclusions
12 Write a summary statement that answers the question: “How do mountains
fold?” Include a diagram with your answer.

Applying and Connecting

Look through the photographs on pages 392 to 405 and identify examples of
anticline and syncline folding.

Extending
Find other pictures in magazines that show these two types of folding. Use these
pictures to create a poster describing and explaining this folding.

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WHERE DOES THE FOLDING HAPPEN?

The clay you used in the previous activity may seem much too soft
to be a good model for layered rocks. Rocks are hard. How can they
fold? Rocks can only fold after they have been softened by heat and
pressure within Earth’s crust. This heat and pressure allows the
rocks to bend without breaking. These conditions are most likely to
happen where powerful forces are at work in the crust.
Think about the Theory of Plate Tectonics that you studied
earlier in this section. Colliding plates provide the heat and
pressure needed to soften the rock. As the plates push against each
other, the rock “wrinkles” into folds and is forced upward.
Look back at the map of The Plates of Earth (Figure 3.8). What
two plates are colliding to form the Himalayas? If the Himalayas
keep rising at 1 cm per year, how much taller will they be in
1 000 000 years?

Figure 3.24 The

Himalayas are still
rising at a rate of
1 cm each year.

Figure 3.25 This fence was one straight piece

when it was built. Why do you think it now has
this gap?

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re SEARCH MOUNTAINS WITH FAULTS

Another powerful Earth process that can build mountains is

Researching the
faulting. Earlier in this unit, you learned that earthquakes can
Rockies
sometimes happen at faults far from plate boundaries. Faults can be
Use library resources
so deep in the crust that we can’t see them. However, some faults
and the Internet to
research what major are visible on Earth’s surface. Have you ever noticed a fault? How
fault (or faults) is in could you tell it was a fault?
North America.

The Rocky Mountains—

were these mountains
built by a fault?

Figure 3.26 One place where faults are easy to find is in layered rock. Where is the fault in
this picture? What evidence do you see of movement along the fault?

CHECK AND REFLECT

1. Describe how the Rocky Mountains were formed.
2. How does the Theory of Plate Tectonics explain why ancient
plant fossils found in Alberta rock represent a climate very
different from today?
3. You have been asked to join a scientific expedition to
investigate a remote mountain region in the Antarctic. Your
team wants to discover how these mountains formed. Describe
the evidence you will look for.

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SECTION REVIEW
Assess Your Learning
1. Describe the three types of plate boundaries.
2. Coal deposits have been found beneath the ice of Antarctica, but
coal only forms in warm swamps. Use Wegener’s theory to
explain how coal could be found so near the South Pole.
3. Explain why the rock of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is younger than
the rock found on the edge of the continents.
4. It has been suggested that we should dispose of our dangerous
waste materials near a converging plate boundary. What do you
think of this idea?
5. What would you expect to see when divergent boundaries occur
on land? Draw a diagram of the result.
6. a) Describe the difference between a fold and a fault.
b) Why do you think folded mountains contain faults?
7. During the building of the Rocky Mountains, the fault activity
resulted in very thick layers of rocks to be pushed on top of one
another. What do you think this additional weight did to Earth’s
crust? (Hint: Imagine what would happen if weights were piled
onto a floating raft.)
8. Using what you know about the formation of faults, explain
how mountain building can be compared with shovelling a
sidewalk after a snowstorm.

Focus THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

On
The goal of scientists is to try to explain and interpret their
observations. These interpretations are recorded in the form of
scientific theories and models.
1. What theories did you learn about in this section?
2. What do you think are the differences between a scientific
theory and a model?
3. What should scientists do if they discover that a theory or
model doesn’t explain all their observations?

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4.0 The fossil record provides evidence of

Earth’s changes over time.

Key Concepts
In this section, you will learn
about the following key
concepts:
• tracing evidence of geologic
change using fossils
• methods used to interpret
fossils
• geologic time
• understanding fossil evidence

Learning Outcomes
When you have completed this
section, you will be able to:
• describe the nature and
formation of different kinds
of fossils
• explain and apply methods
used to interpret fossils
• describe different life forms
based on fossil records
• identify uncertainties in Dinosaur Provincial Park—These paleontologists are carefully digging out the skull of
interpreting fossil records Albertosaurus, a dinosaur that lived 75 million years ago.

Geologists can have a difficult time studying Earth’s history and

the events that occurred. Fortunately, they have “time capsules”
that they can use to give them a picture of life long ago. These
time capsules are called fossils. They are found in the sedimentary
rocks and can tell us a great deal about Earth’s past.
Perhaps you’ve been to a museum or gallery that has different
kinds of fossils on display. Was the fossil you saw an animal or a
plant? Could you tell what the organism could have looked like
when it was alive? Have you ever found a fossil in the field? What
would you do if you found a fossil? Describe with words and a
diagram your experiences with or knowledge of fossils.

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info BIT
4.1 Tracing Evidence of Geologic Change
Dug Out of the
Using Fossils Ground
The word fossil is
Kathy and Roberto went on a field trip to a canyon in the originally from Latin,
mountains. There they found some fossils embedded in the meaning “dug out of
sedimentary rock layers. Below is a copy of a drawing they made of the ground.”
what they saw, and some of their comments. Think of what you Sedimentary rocks
know about sedimentary rocks, and answer the following questions that are exposed at
related to their comments: the surface are where
the majority of
Figure 4.1 Kathy fossils—usually marine
and Roberto made animals—are found.
these notes on their Limestone, sandstone,
field trip. and shale are the most
common types of
fossil rocks.

• How did Kathy and Roberto know that the fossils found in this
sedimentary rock used to live in a marine environment?
• How did they know the water was shallow at the time the
organism lived?
• What modern classification groups did Kathy and Roberto suggest
were found on their sample?

FOSSILS Figure 4.2 Trilobites lived

Fossils are traces of once-living things that are preserved in rocks. on the bottoms of oceans
300–600 million years ago.
They form when animals or plants die and sink to the bottom of a No trilobites exist today. If
body of water. There, they are buried by layers of sediments. This you found a rock with a
means fossils are the same age as the sedimentary rock in which trilobite in it, what could
they are found. you say about that rock?

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Paleontologists [pāl lē on TOL e jists] are scientists who study

early life forms by interpreting animal and plant fossils. It’s a
profession that takes a great deal of patience. Most fossils have to be
carefully removed from the rock that surrounds them. Often, the
fossils that are found are not complete, consisting of only parts of
skeletons, shells, or other animal traces. Trying to make inferences
based on these bits and pieces can be very challenging.
However, these inferences, together with a growing body of
evidence, suggest that life on Earth has changed a great deal over
Figure 4.3 Sauropod
the past millions of years. The fossils that we find in younger rocks
vertebrae—the family of are sometimes similar to animals and plants we see today. But older
Sauropod dinosaurs were the rocks often contain fossils of animals and plants that are extinct (no
largest animals to ever live on longer exist). Many of these fossils don’t look like the plants and
Earth. They include
animals we see today. The trilobite in Figure 4.2 is a good example
Brachiosaurus (24 m long) and
Apatosaurus, or Brontosaurus as of an animal that once lived on the ocean floor, but became extinct
it was once called (21 m long). about 300 million years ago.

Figure 4.4 Fossil formation

1. When this fish died, 2. Sediment gradually
it drifted down to covered it.
the ocean floor.

3. Eventually, the sediment with the

fish inside it hardened into rock. 4. When you crack open the rock,
you find the impression of the
fish’s skeleton preserved.

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BECOMING A FOSSIL
Not every living thing has the potential to become a fossil. In fact,
the whole process of turning into a fossil is a rare experience.
Furthermore, there is more than one way to become fossilized.
• Firstly, sediments quickly have to bury the original plant or
animal remains. A quick burial usually means scavengers and
other decomposers are not able to break the remains down
further.
• Sometimes, a cavity is created as the original organic form
decays. This cavity can then be filled by other sediments, which
eventually harden into rock.
• In other cases, a fossil can be formed when the original organism
is slowly replaced by mineral crystals.
Fossils may not just be the actual plant or animal. A trace fossil is a
cavity or track left behind by an organism (for example, a footprint).
Another type of fossil is a cast. Casts are the filled-in cavities left by
the original organic bodies.
Trees and other plants can also become fossils. These are
sometimes found in the form of petrified wood or remarkably
preserved as in the photograph below.

Figure 4.6 A paleontologist

carefully reveals an
Albertosaurus skull that’s
75 million years old.
Figure 4.5 Fifty million years ago, this
was just another leaf on a tree.

Studying fossils is one of the ways geologists and

paleontologists track changes in Earth’s geologic history. But how
do these fossils become preserved? Do all living things leave behind
fossilized evidence of their existence? Fossilization is a process that
can take thousands of years and only happens under certain
conditions. Animals with hard parts (bones, shells, etc.) are the
most common fossils. Fossils of earthworms and jellyfish have been
found, but they are rare.

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re SEARCH TELLING TIME GEOLOGICALLY

The layers of sediment that have formed over millions of years are
Index Fossils
called strata. They provide important information about what
Paleontologists use
happened in the past.
particular fossils to
identify certain time From studying the kind of rock and the grain size in a layer of
periods. These are strata, geologists can gather information about the environment in
known as index which it formed. For example, if it’s limestone, this layer of rock
fossils. Using the was originally at the bottom of an ocean. If a layer of strata is very
Internet, your library, thick, it means that the environment remained stable for a long
or other resources, try period. A new, different layer forms when something changes in the
to identify index environment. For example, a rise in sea level would show up as a
fossils that can be change in sediments along the former shoreline. The shoreline
found in your area. sediments would be replaced by the type of sediments that form in
For example, why is deeper water.
the trilobite in
Figure 4.2 considered
an index fossil?

Figure 4.7 Mt. Rundle, Alberta—sometimes Figure 4.8 A changing rhythm of

there is no change for many millions of years sedimentary deposits caused these
in the type of material that is deposited. While different layers of shale to appear.
the bottom of this cliff was formed, the
sedimentary deposits remained the same.

CHECK AND REFLECT

1. Suppose you went to a quarry and found some fossils in
sedimentary rocks. Then you visited another quarry 5 km away
and found exactly the same kinds of rocks, containing the same
kinds of fossils. What could you say about the second set of
rocks you found?
2. If there were fossils in sedimentary strata layers, and they were
buried extremely deep (perhaps as much as 8 km beneath the
surface), what would happen to the fossils? Would the clearness
of their images change? Why or why not?

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4.2 Methods Used to Interpret

Fossils
The fossil record found in rocks shows a sequence, but
not one based on size, habitat, or shape. Rather, the fossil
record shows a sequence of different life forms appearing
through time. For example, single-celled life forms
appeared before multi-celled life forms, plants before
animals, and invertebrates before vertebrates. Fossil
records show that older rocks contain increasingly
different organisms from those living today.
Have you ever looked at old pictures of your relatives
who have passed away and wondered what they were
like? Did they sound like you, do the same things, live in
the same area? Piecing together the past life of someone is
sometimes difficult because often there is no one around
to answer those questions.
The ability to reconstruct fossils based on knowledge Figure 4.9 Amber is fossilized tree sap
of current living things is an important part of that sometimes preserves trapped
understanding the history of life on Earth. The obvious insects like this mosquito. Genetic
challenge for paleontologists who study ancient life is material has been successfully extracted
from insects encased in amber.
that the animals and plants they are trying to study no
longer exist. Fossils do provide important pieces of
information. However, much of what science knows
about them is based upon inferences or educated guesses.

info BIT
limestone youngest layer 1
Geological Columns shale 2
Rock formations are deposited in layers from
the oldest on the bottom to the youngest at sandstone 3
the top. Paleontologists use these layers, or
shale 4
geological columns, to help determine the age
of the fossils they find. coal 5
sandstone 6
limestone 7

shale 8
Fossils found in layer 7 will be older than
those found in layers 1 to 6. sandstone oldest layer 9

Geological Column

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STUDYING SEDIMENTARY LAYERS OF ROCK

In areas where the layers of sedimentary rock are deeply eroded,
geologists can study the fossil record over a large portion of Earth’s
history. The Grand Canyon is one of these places. Down at the
bottom of the canyon, where the oldest rock is found, there are no
fossils. Then, just one layer higher, many fossils of trilobites appear
(such as the one in Figure 4.2). As you travel up the canyon wall,
other fossils can be found that are more similar to those that exist
on Earth today.
The Red Deer River in central Alberta, through Drumheller and
Dinosaur Provincial Park, also has a vertical story to tell.

G i v e i t a TRY A C T I V I T Y

FOSSILS THROUGH TIME

Below are a series of photographs of fossils from the era in Earth’s history when
life began to become extremely diverse in a short period of time. This was
during the Cambrian period, about 515 million years ago.

Anomolocaris Hallucigena Opabina

Choose one of the fossils in Figure 4.10, and, like a paleontologist, try to answer Figure 4.10 These
the following questions based on these photographs. fossils are some of
the ancient creatures
• What do you think are the characteristics of this animal? found in the world-
• How did the animal move? famous Burgess
• Where did the animal live? Shale Fossil beds in
Yoho National Park,
• How large do you think the animal was?
British Columbia.
• What and how did this animal eat?
• Sketch a possible likeness of a relative for this creature.
• Suggest any possible related animals that might exist today. What new
questions can you ask about your animal?

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FOSSIL BEDS
These are three-
dimensional models
of animals that once
lived in The Burgess
Shale Community
(Ayshella, left, and
Marella, right).

Figure 4.11 The Burgess Shale Community is a diorama

that illustrates the type of community in which these
animals may have lived. Western Canada has many other
fossil locations that help explain the history of life on
Earth. In fact, the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology
in Drumheller, Alberta, is one of the best places in the
world to meet the most famous of fossils—dinosaurs.

The Burgess Shale Fossil Beds have preserved the soft tissue of
many species, allowing scientists to study these specimens in
detail. Usually, scavengers, decomposers, and the passing of time
ensure that only the most durable parts of an organism are
preserved. Thanks to very fine sediments, a quick burial, and a lack
of life-giving oxygen for bacteria, these shale fossils look much the
same as they did half a billion years ago. So well preserved are the
fossils in the shale, that scientists have been able to determine what
final meal they had before they died!

THE ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM

The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, located in the Badlands
Figure 4.12 Joseph Burr
area of Alberta, opened on September 25, 1985. It was named after Tyrrell
Joseph Burr Tyrrell, a geologist with the Geological Survey of
Canada.

info BIT
Earth Giants
So you think Tyrannosaurus rex is the biggest dinosaur vertebra measuring 1.2 m was found in an
dinosaur at 12 m? Or maybe you thought it was Argentine village. That means this creature was
Seismosaurus at 30 m or Supersaurus at between 35 m probably close to 50 m in length, or nearly half the
and 40 m? (That’s as tall as a 12-storey building.) length of a football field! And who is to say what the
Well, you would be wrong. In January 2000, a next dinosaur fossil find will reveal?

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Figure 4.13 Skeleton of

Tyrannosaurus rex,
more than 12 m long,
on display in the Tyrrell
Museum’s “Dinosaur
Hall”

Figure 4.14 A paleontologist unearths new dinosaur remains on

one of the museum’s many summer digs.

re SEARCH In 1884, while studying coal deposits in the Badlands, he

discovered a 70-million-year-old dinosaur skull, later named
Researching Ancient Albertosaurus. The find sparked international interest in the area,
Life which turned out to be one of the richest sources of dinosaur bones
Canada has many in the world. The Alberta government recognized the area’s
locations where there importance and financed a major museum and research facility in
is ongoing research the Badlands.
on a variety of The Tyrrell Museum is one of the largest museums of
ancient life. Using the paleontology in the world. It displays more than 200 dinosaur
Internet, your library, remains, the largest number under one roof anywhere. Most of the
or other resources, dinosaurs on display were found in Alberta. As well as dinosaur
find some of these bones, the 11 200 m2 facility contains computer terminals where
projects and share visitors can design their own dinosaurs or play simulation games.
what you find with
Visitors can also watch from a special viewing area as technicians
the rest of the class.
prepare and preserve fossils for study and display. One can even
sign up to spend a day or a week working with paleontologists on a
real dinosaur dig!

CHECK AND REFLECT

1. Scientists often try to determine if the fossilized animal they are
examining is related to a group of animals living today. What
things might they look for to help make this connection?
2. Do you think any fossilized animals are related to animals living
today? If so, how could that be possible?
3. If you found a piece of petrified wood and bones in the same
location, what could you say about the age of the two
specimens?

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4.3 Geologic Time

Figure 4.15 An artist’s

view of life during the
age of dinosaurs (the
Mesozoic Era)

Virtually everything that humans do today is affected by time.

Classes, practices, meetings, departures, and arrivals are dependent
on knowing what time it is. Everyone knows what a week, an hour,
or a year feels like. But can you imagine a thousand years, a million info BIT
years, a billion years? Perhaps that’s why it’s so hard to understand
the history of life on Earth. How can anyone have a sense of what a Geologic Periods
half-billion years is like when 10 or 20 years seems like a long Some geologic periods
time? are named after areas
where rocks from that
LOOKING BACK INTO TIME period are well
exposed. For example,
All that science knows about the ancient past, it has learned from
the time period
rock and fossil records. Geologists have used this knowledge (some
Jurassic is named after
of which is not very exact) to organize Earth’s history into geologic Jura, a mountain
time intervals. These time periods are called eras. Geologists have range in France.
based these eras on the sequence of rock strata, with the oldest

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layer being on the bottom, and the youngest layer on the top. This
sequence was established by identifying fossils and matching them
with sedimentary rock layers from all over the world. There are four
main divisions in these sequences. Each represents a major change
in the global environment and is characterized by different life
forms.
Scientists estimate that Earth is about 4.6 billion years old. The
following illustration (see Figure 4.16) is an artist’s representation
of what the stages of Earth’s evolution might have looked like.

circling gases Atmosphere gases form. rivers of red-hot lava

(4.6 billion years ago)

Earth today Surface water and first life solid rock crust
forms (3.8 billion years ago). (4 billion years ago)

Figure 4.16 One representation of the evolution of Earth

Observations by scientists of bodies in outer space and

geological evidence suggest that our planet was first a swirling
cloud of gas that had once been part of a newly formed sun. In
time, the outer layer began to cool. Massive eruptions of magma
from below this outer layer spread sheets of lava over the surface.

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GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE

Westlothiana lizziae
(Paleozoic era)

Brachiosaurus
(Mesozoic era)

Scyphozoan
medusae
(Precambrian era)

Homo habilis
(Cenozoic era)

Precambrian Era: 4600 to 600 Paleozoic Era: 600 to 225 Mesozoic Era: 225 to 65 Cenozoic Era: 65 millions of
millions of years ago millions of years ago millions of years ago years ago to present day
• formation of Earth • first reptiles • dinosaurs rule and then • appearance of most
• first simple organisms • first large land animals become extinct modern species
(bacteria) (amphibians—frogs) • first flowering plants • many more species of
• first soft-bodied animals • first insects • first birds and mammals mammals
(no vertebrae) • first large land plants • first grasses
• first fish with jaws • first human-like species
(about 2–3 millions of
Figure 4.17 The four eras of Earth’s history years ago)

re SEARCH
Dating Rocks and Fossils
Use your library resources and the Internet to search some of the methods geologists
and paleontologists use to date rock and fossil samples. For example:
• radioactive dating of certain elements, such as carbon and uranium
• examining the composition of dead organic material
Mammuthus primigenus
(Cenozoic era)

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G i v e i t a TRY A C T I V I T Y

MEASURING TIME
Using a length of string, a long strip of tape, a length of wood, or any other
piece of material, construct your own geologic time scale. (See Toolbox 5 for a
review of measurement.)

• The beginning must read 4.6 billion years and extend to the present day.
• Use the chart below as a guide for your time line.
• When you have completed your time scale, bring it to a friend and explain
your scale and some of the events that took place.

Significant Dates in Earth’s History

Event Years ago
Glaciers cover most of Canada and United States 11 000
Earliest human relative 3 000 000 (about)
Dinosaurs disappear 65 000 000
Evidence of first birds 150 000 000
Evidence of first mammals 190 000 000
First dinosaurs 225 000 000
First amphibians 350 000 000
First large land plants 430 000 000
Earliest fish 500 000 000
The Burgess Shale fossils and the Cambrian explosion 515 000 000
Multicelled organisms 700 000 000
First evidence of life 3 500 000 000
Earth formed 4 600 000 000

UNDERSTANDING FOSSIL EVIDENCE

Fossils are the only evidence scientists have of early life forms.
Paleontologists use fossil evidence to help them develop theories
about prehistoric life. Fossils are rare, however. And fossils of
complete animals are very rare because the remains of animals
usually disappear long before they can become fossilized.
Because fossils are rare, paleontologists cannot always make
general statements about what life forms existed millions of years
ago. For example, a few fossils, such as Archaeopteryx [ar kee OP ter
iks], have impressions that look like feathers. But because so few of
these fossils have been found, paleontologists cannot say that all
similar creatures at that time had feathers. More evidence is needed.

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Often when fossil remains are found, they are only broken
fragments. Reconstructing these fragments (see Figure 4.18) into a
full-size animal (Figure 4.19) takes skill and inferences based on a
knowledge of modern animal anatomy. Creating a life-like
illustration from these fossilized bones (Figure 4.20) requires
careful study of the bones, a knowledge of anatomy, and
imagination. Imagination is needed where we have no evidence; for
example, for the colour of the skin.

Fossil Inferences
Figure 4.19 Allosaurus skeleton after reconstruction—
Reconstructing a dinosaur skeleton requires a team of
experts with a wide range of knowledge. Scientists compare
the new bones they find to known dinosaur skeletons and to
the skeletons of modern creatures.

Figure 4.18 Allosaurus skeleton before

reconstruction—Reconstructing fossil
bones into a full-size skeleton is like
trying to put a three-dimensional puzzle
together without the picture on the box!

Figure 4.20 Completed Allosaurus—After the skeleton has been reconstructed, the next step is to put the
muscles on the bare bones. The arrangement of the different muscles is established by examining “scars” on
the bones where the muscles were once attached. Next, the skin is added. Fossilized skin impressions that
have been found suggest that dinosaur skin was scaly, similar to a reptile’s skin.

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Y This at Hom A C T I V I T Y

T R e

MAKING A FOSSIL
Try making your own fossil mould and cast. You can use seashells or
other small objects that have an interesting texture to make your
fossil.
• Coat the outside of your seashell with petroleum jelly.
• Mix up about a cup of plaster of Paris and water in a small bowl so
that it looks like thick cream. Add food colouring, mixing well.
• Slowly pour the plaster mixture into a plastic cup until it is about
3 cm from the top. Press the seashell, greased side down, into the
wet plaster. Wash your hands after cleaning up. Leave overnight.
• Remove the shell the next day. The coloured plaster is the fossil
mould. Coat the entire surface of the plaster mould with petroleum
jelly.
• Mix up a new batch of plaster of Paris, but this time don’t add food
colouring. Pour the plaster onto the mould so that it fills the cup.
Wash your hands.
• The next day, carefully separate the two plaster pieces. Examine
the coloured mould and the white cast.
Figure 4.21 Pour the coloured plaster
• What is the difference between the two pieces? Which one, the mixture so that it is about 3 cm from
mould or the cast, looks more like your original seashell? the top.

CHECK AND REFLECT

1. Why do geologists divide the history of Earth into eras?
2. What changes on Earth occurred between 515 000 000 years ago
and 250 000 000 years ago?
3. During what era did dinosaurs become extinct? What other life
forms lived during this era?
4. The fossil record indicates plants appeared before animals did.
Do you think this could ever occur in reverse order? Explain
your answer.

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SECTION REVIEW
Assess Your Learning
1. What is a fossil and how is it different from a rock or mineral?
2. What kinds of information or data do paleontologists gather?
3. What information do the layers of sedimentary rock give
scientists who study fossil records?
4. If fossils are found on the side of a mountain at 2500 m, and
the same kind of fossil is found 30 km north at 1900 m, what
could be said about the strata they are found in? Could they be
the same? Would it be likely that more would be found along
the same layer? Explain your answer.
5. What can the study of life forms on Earth today tell us 23:59:59—In the last half
a second, humans arrive
about life forms of the past? 23:30— on the scene.
dinosaurs
6. What are some of the types of fossils found in Alberta? extinct
7. Why are inferences necessary when studying fossils?
8. What environmental influences could explain the
appearance of some life forms and the disappearance
of others? 6:00 a.m.—
first signs
of simple
9. What kind of life forms appeared in each of the four life
eras of Earth’s history?
10. Why do you think it took about one billion years
before the first life forms appeared on Earth? 13:00—first multicelled
organisms
11. Make a chart or another illustration that represents
the four major periods in Figure 4.22. Figure 4.22 Comparing the evolution
of life forms to a 24-h time clock

Focus THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

On
So many of the discoveries and theories in science are the result of
the work of a great many people. Scientists have been working
co-operatively for over a hundred years to learn about and
understand Earth’s history.
1. Why do you think sharing knowledge is important in
understanding fossil records?
2. Why is it important when working in a group for everyone to
have a definite task to perform?

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S C I E N C E W O R L D

y
a
se d
S t u

What Happened to the Dinosaurs?

The Issue or even years. Without sunlight, much of Earth’s
Dinosaurs ruled Earth for 150 million years, then vegetation died off and the plant-eating dinosaurs
suddenly became extinct about 65 million years ago. starved to death. Without any prey to eat, the meat-
Many theories have been proposed: eating dinosaurs soon followed.
Is this the end of the dinosaur story? Not
• Small mammals ate the dinosaur’s eggs. according to other scientists. From the fossil
• A deadly virus caused a dinosaur plague. evidence, they have developed the theory that
• Vicious meat-eaters ate all of the plant-eaters and dinosaurs did not disappear completely—they
then starved to death themselves. evolved into birds. The skeletons of birds have many
• Hungry caterpillars devoured all of the dinosaur’s similar features to small predatory dinosaurs known
plant-based food supply. as theropods. A recent fossil find suggests that some
• Dinosaurs were hunted to extinction by aliens. theropods had feathers. However, one scientific study
Some of these theories are obviously more believable has suggested that this fossil is a fake. What is the
than others. Over the years, a growing amount of real answer?
evidence suggest two other theories. Evidence has led
many scientists to believe that 65 million years ago, a Go Further
giant meteor 10 km in diameter crashed into Earth. Look into the following resources to help you form
The impact created a crater over 100 km in diameter your own opinion about how dinosaurs became
and ejected enormous amounts of dust and debris extinct:
into the atmosphere. The cloud of dust encircled the • Look on the Web: Check out dinosaurs or
entire Earth and blocked out sunlight for months paleontology on the Internet.
• Ask the Experts: Try to find an expert such as a
paleontologist or an ornithologist (bird expert).
• Look It Up in Newspapers and Magazines: Look for
articles about the extinction of dinosaurs or the
origin of birds.
• Check out Scientific Studies: Look for scientific
studies about dinosaurs, theropods, or
Archaeopteryx.

In Your Opinion
• Which extinction theories seem most believable to
you? Why?
• Could more than one extinction theory be correct?
For example, if the meteor theory is true, does this
mean the bird theory must be false?
Did the impact of a giant meteor destroy the dinosaurs?

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UNIT SUMMARY: PLANET EARTH

Key Concepts Section Summaries

1.0 1.0 Earth’s surface undergoes gradual and sudden changes.

• developing models • Earth is viewed as a layered planet. The main layers are the crust, the
• Earth models mantle, and the core. Only the crust has been investigated because Earth’s
• earthquakes other layers are many hundreds of kilometres below its surface.
• volcanoes • Earthquakes and volcanoes are examples of forces that take place within
• tools and techniques for Earth’s interior. These forces have the ability to suddenly and dramatically
studying Earth change Earth’s surface.
• the effects of water, wind, • Scientists use a variety of tools and techniques to investigate Earth’s forces.
and ice
• Wind, water, and ice are forces that slowly change Earth’s features.
• glaciers

2.0 2.0 The rock cycle describes how rocks form and change over time.
• Rocks are the hard structures that make up Earth’s crust. They are
• rocks and minerals
composed of minerals, substances that give rocks their distinctive
• classes of rocks: igneous,
characteristics, such as hardness and colour.
sedimentary, and
metamorphic • There are three classes of rocks that make up Earth’s crust: igneous,
• geology tools and sedimentary, and metamorphic.
techniques • Rocks are always being broken down and transformed into different forms.
• the rock cycle This process is called the rock cycle.
• describing and interpreting
• All three classes of rocks can be found in Alberta although sedimentary
local rock formations
rocks are the most common.

3.0 3.0 Landforms provide evidence of change.

• The Theory of Plate Tectonics describes Earth’s surface as being broken up
• continental drift
into huge areas of rock called plates.
• plate tectonics
• mountain building • The continents and the ocean floors are carried on these plates. The plates
are slowly moving on the partly melted mantle.
• Mountains are formed as a result of plates colliding or rubbing together,
pushing up part of the plate.

4.0 4.0 The fossil record provides evidence of Earth’s changes over time.

• tracing evidence of • Fossils are traces or remains of past life preserved in stone. They have given
geologic change using scientists a picture of how life has evolved over the last three and a half
fossils billion years.
• methods used to interpret • Scientists use a variety of methods and tools to interpret fossil evidence.
fossils However, since fossil remains are often incomplete, much of what is known
• geologic time is based on inferences.
• understanding fossil • Geologists have divided Earth’s history into four periods, called eras.
evidence
• Determining what animals looked like from fossil records is often based on
inferences.

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PROJECT
EARTH MODELS AND S I M U L AT I O N S
Getting Started
In this unit, you have explored
the different processes that
create features on Earth’s
surface. Forces inside Earth,
such as the movements of
tectonic plates or movements
along faults, can create
mountains. Forces on Earth’s
surface, such as ice and wind,
can wear down and move
These mountains formed millions
mountains through weathering
of years ago. When they first
and erosion. For this project, formed, they were tall and jagged.
you can use what you’ve Now they are worn down and
learned about Earth’s processes. rounded. What processes do you
think could have changed them?
Think about the features
that you would include in a
display about the landscape in
your area. To help your thinking,
look at the pictures on this
page, and see if you can answer
the questions in the captions.
The features in these
pictures are just examples of
Rock formations and deposits can tell
what you might see. Your area us a great deal about a location’s
may be completely different. history. These salt flats are in Wood
You may not have any Buffalo National Park, Alberta. How
The Red River runs through the
mountains or deep valleys. Your would salt deposits end up far from
Badlands of southern Alberta. What do
the Pacific Ocean?
major features may be large you think happens to the soil when the
areas of flat fertile soil beside a river slows down or stops flowing?
large body of water. Or you may
have large grassy areas between
low rocky hills. Whatever the Your Goal
features in your area, you can Imagine that you are a designer who designs and builds models and
use this project to apply the simulations for science centres and other museums. Your community is
ideas about Earth that you building a new science centre. Your job is to provide a display that shows
developed in this unit. how the local features in your landscape began, and how they became the
way they are today.

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What You Need to Know Steps to Success

You and your classmates are partners in Time Travel 1 With classmates, brainstorm answers and
Designs Inc., a company specializing in displays that questions that will help your team develop a plan
show the origin and history of features on Earth’s to build your model display.
surface. For your assignment, as described, you can 2 Design your model or simulation. Give the design
use any information you gathered as you worked to your teacher for approval before you start
through this unit. You will need to collect additional building it. Include in your design:
information about your local geology and geography a) a drawing of your model
from reference books, the Internet, and other b) a diagram showing how you will simulate the
resources. processes
Your company has found that the best way to c) a list of materials
develop these displays is for all the partners to work d) a procedure for building your model
together to determine which features to model and e) your schedule
simulate. Then you divide up the features among f) safety considerations
smaller teams. Each team is responsible for 3 Build your model or simulation according to the
modelling or simulating one feature. When they are design and plan that your teacher approved.
completed, all the features are combined in one large
4 Decide how you will explain your model or
display.
simulation to the rest of the class. You may want
to have different team members explain different
parts of the model or perform different parts of
the simulation.
CONTRACT
How Did It Go?
l statement of an agreement
This document is a forma 5 Write a report of the planning and building of
between your model. Share and compare it with the
Discovery Science Centre reports of other teams.
and or”)
(herein called “the Contract 6 Explain your model or simulation to your class.
Time Travel Designs Inc.
tures As you watch other teams, write down:
display showing major fea
To design and construct a
local area. a) what you liked best about their models or
of the community and its
simulations
The Contractor will:
b) any ideas or materials that you could have
tures to represent
• select the appropriate fea of the used for your model or simulation
on the origin and history
• research the information
7 Combine your model or simulation with those of
features lain
dels and simulations to exp
• design and construct mo your classmates to create the display. Invite other
public
the features to the general classes to see your displays.
agrees to provide the
Discovery Science Centre
for the display and the
Contractor with the space
materials to construct it.

Project 429
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UNIT REVIEW: PLANET EARTH

Unit Vocabulary 3.0

1. Write a short story about Earth’s crust 9. What evidence is there that the
using the following terms: continents are drifting farther apart?
Theory of Plate Tectonics 10. In a paragraph, explain the Theory of
deposition Plate Tectonics.
erosion
11. Describe the formation of the Rocky
sediments
Mountains.
earthquake
volcano
landscape 4.0
mineral
rock cycle 12. Why do scientists study fossils?
fossil 13. How is the age of a fossil determined?
Mesozoic Era 14. During what geologic era did life on
Earth first develop?

Check Your Knowledge

Connect Your Understanding
1.0
15. What do earthquakes and volcanoes
2. Describe the model scientists have have in common?
developed that explains Earth’s structure. 16. What model do geologists use to show
3. Describe the cause of an earthquake. how igneous, sedimentary, and
4. What is a volcano? metamorphic rocks are related?
5. Describe some of the forces that slowly 17. Could all rocks become sedimentary
change Earth’s surface. rocks? Why or why not?
18. If Earth’s plates are constantly moving,
why aren’t earthquakes occurring all of
2.0 the time along every boundary?

6. What are the differences between rocks

and minerals? Practise Your Skills
7. Briefly describe the three classes of rock
19. Can geologists predict where new
found in Earth’s crust.
earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain
8. What is meant by the rock cycle? ranges will occur? Explain your answer.
20. Why is it probable that scientists will
never have a complete understanding of
how all life forms evolved on Earth?

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21. A space probe lands on an unknown Self Assessment

planet in another solar system. There are
Think back to the work you did in this unit:
many volcanoes but only a few large
bodies of water. Thick clouds of dust 24. Give an example where a number of
and water vapour cover the planet. people have contributed to the
Based on what is known about Earth, understanding of what Earth’s structure
what inferences can you make about this is like.
planet? its composition? its rock 25. Describe a subject area in the study of
formations? the presence of life forms? Earth where scientific evidence must be
22. You’re looking at earthquakes in and interpreted using inferences.
around the eastern and western regions 26. What is one idea, subject, or issue in this
of northern India over the last 25 years. unit that you would like to explore in
Major earthquakes of a Richter more detail?
magnitude greater than 7 have caused
tremendous damage. Why are they
occurring, and what could your Focus THE NATURE OF SCIENCE
prediction be over the next 25 years? On
23. The fossil skull’s upper jaw (see below)
has 14 teeth, and the lower jaw was 27. Turn back to the Focus on the Nature of
missing. (A dime to the left of the skull Science on page 351 of this unit. Use a
gives an idea of the fossil’s size.) What creative way to demonstrate your
inferences can you make about what this understanding of one of the questions.
creature looked like? 28. What experiments did you do that
helped you understand some of the
characteristics of our planet?
29. Describe a possible situation where
using precise scientific language and a
classification system would be important
in identifying a newly discovered rock
formation.
30. Describe the process involved in
developing a theory or a model that best
explains a natural phenomena.
31. Describe a situation where working in a
group was important in completing a
task or experiment.
32. Why do you think it is important that
only qualified people be allowed to
remove fossils from the ground?

Unit Review 431