Geoscience

In this course we present the contents on: the dimensions of the planet Earth. The structures of crust, mantle and core. The elements of the earth's crust. The definitions of minerals, rocks and ores. Mineralogy. The characteristics and types of minerals. Petrology and the origins of rocks. The magmatic, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. Ores and mineral deposits. Theories about the formation of the Earth's crust. Alfred Wegener's Continental Drift. Tectonic plates and theories about the expansion of the oceanic crust. The great forms of earthly relief. The mountains. The plateaus. The depressions and the plains. Watershed. The soil conservation. The deforestation and human action on the slopes. The forms of soil erosion. Pedology and soil formation. Physical weathering in the desert and cold regions. The chemical weathering in equatorial and tropical regions. The pedogenesis the endopedic fauna. The horizons of the ground. The morphological characteristics of the soils: color and texture. The composition of the Earth's atmosphere. The greenhouse effect. The general circulation of the atmosphere. Hadley, Ferrel and Polar cells. The breezes and the monsoon. The waters of the continents. The river channels and morphologies. Water flows and drainage basins. The floods and large volumes of water. The groundwater. The aquifers. Confined Aquifer.