Geology Education

Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a given moment in relation to wind, temperature, precipitation, and cloudiness. Observing the weather changes during a prolonged period of time yields mean values, permitting the classification of different climate zones. The regions of similar climate zones may be separated by great spatial distances.

Classification into individual climate zones helps describe and compare different ecosystems and landscapes. The climate depends first of all on the angle at which the earth is heated by the sun. For example, we know that around the equator the temperatures are high, whereas at the poles the temperatures are low. However, this does not mean that regions situated at the same latitude belong to the same climate zone. Although the angle of the sunlight may be the same, there are other important factors that have an impact on the climate.

In the interior, spring means fast warming and autumn a quick cooling. In contrast, the weather in coastal regions behaves differently. As a result of the higher rate of evaporation, it rains more often in the coastal regions than in the interior. The average temperature does not fluctuate, because the water has the capability of accumulating heat. In addition, cold or warm ocean currents also regulate the climate in those areas.

Read the rest of this entry »

Windstorms are violent, generally hurricane-type air turbulences, which occur mostly in the tropic regions. These tropical storms reach high speeds. Their names change according to the individual tropical region. In the Caribbean and the region of the West Indies, they are called hurricanes. In the Bay of Bengal, it is a cyclone, in the Japanese and Chinese waters they are called typhoon, while in Australia their name is willy-willy. However, their damaging, catastrophic force is the same in all the affected coastal regions.

Tropical storms form over the tropical seas, where the surface temperature of the ocean is at least 27 degrees Celsius. Their characteristic is a spiralling wind vortex moving at a high speed of up to 300 kilometres per hour.

Evaporation results in the formation of an enormous cloud mass (cumulonimbus). The streaming wind produces a rotating motion around the cloudless centre, the so-called eye of the hurricane. In the northern hemisphere, the storm travels first to northwest, later it often changes its direction to the northeast; in the southern hemisphere, it travels first to the southwest, turning later to the southeast. This rotating impulse does not exist directly at the equator and therefore no hurricanes occur there.

Read the rest of this entry »

About the Earth

If you drew a straight line from the surface of the earth to its center, that line would be a little over 3,950 miles long. The crust of the earth is from the surface to 20 to 25 miles down. Immediately below the crust is what is called the mantle. The mantle is l,800 miles thick. It is then a little over 2,100 miles from the bottom of the mantel to the centermost point in the earth. That part of the earth is known as the core. Neither scientists nor any other men know anything for certain about the mantel and the core. There are many ideas and theories, but nothing has been learned by direct study, which is the only legitimate way that science can know, or honestly claim to know, anything for sure. Seismographs and other velocity-measuring equipment have given the basis for inferring certain things, which may or may not be correct; but nothing is known.

The Mantel and the Core of the Earth

The oldest accepted idea is that the core is an inferno of melted iron and nickel. A small bit more is known about the mantel, though not much. From what is known, the mantel is thought to be very dense, comprised primarily of silicates, rich in metals, and very vaguely described. Some earthquakes originate in the mantel. The magnetic field of the earth, it is believed, is caused by some unknown phenomena in the core. The deeper you go in the interior of the earth, the denser the material gets and the higher the temperatures rise, some think to as high as 2500 degrees Centigrade, squared!

Read the rest of this entry »