Department of Environmetal Sciences
g g g
ENVIRONMENTAL g
GEOLOGY
Only study guide for GEL1503
g g g g
University of South Africa, Pretoria
g g g g
,©g2011gUniversitygofgSouthgAfricagAl
lgrightsgreserved
PrintedgandgpublishedgbygthegUnive
rsitygofgSouthgAfricagMuckleneuk
,gPretoria
GEL1503/1/2012–
2018g98803476
InDesigngFlorid
a
GEL_Style
, GEL1503/1/2012–2018
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE ............................................................................................ iv
STUDYgUNITg1 THEgEARTHgSYSTEM .......................................................... 1
STUDYgUNITg2 INTERNALgEARTHgPROCESSES .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g 31
.g .
STUDYgUNITg3 EXTERNALgEARTHgPROCESSES .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g 61
.g .
iii
, ENVIRONMENTALgGEOLOGY
PREFACE
A WORD OF WELCOME
g g g
WegwishgtogwelcomegyougingthegDepartmentgofgEnvironmentalgSciences,gandgspecificallygtogthi
sgintroductorygGeologygmodule.gIngthisgmodule,gwegnotgonlygstudygvariousgcharacteristicsgofgth
egEarth,gbutgwegalsogplacegthemgingtheglargergcontextgofgaggeosystem.gStudyinggunifyingg
theoriesgsuchgasgthatgofgplategtectonicsgisgverygexciting.gAfterwardsgyougcangapplygyourgnewgkn
owledgegofgthegdifferentgEarthgcomponentsgandgprocessesgbygincludinggitgingoverarchinggth
eories,gthusggaininggangunderstandinggofghowgeverythinggcomesgtogetherginteractivelygong
agglobalgscale.gApartgfromgthegfactgthatgthisgmodulegconstitutesgyourgfoundationgforgfurt
hergstudiesgingthegEarthgsciences,gitgalsogcontainsgknowledgegwhichgyougcangapplygingyourge
verydayglifegandgthegEarthgyouginhabit.gThisgmaygevenginducegyougtogcomegtogthegconclusion
gthatgthegenvironmentgofgthegEarth gisgwonderfulgandgpreciousgenoughgtogrespect.
Yourglecturergwillgprovidegyougwithgthegnecessarygguidancegtogachievegthegoutcomesgofgthi
sgmodule,gbutgyougingturngwillghavegtogputgingthegeffortgtogmastergthegwork.gYougaregwelco
megtogcontactgyourglecturergifgyougshouldgexperienceganygproblemsgingthegcoursegofgyourgs
tudiesgforgthisgmodule.
CONTACT PERSON g
Pleasegcontactgthegrelevantglecturergaboutgacademicgqueriesg–gpreferablygbyge-
mail,gpostgorgtelephone,gduringgofficeghours.
LecturergforgthegGeologygmodulegGEL1503:
MrgMgJordaan
Tel.: (011)g471-3222
e-mail:g
ThegUnisagDepartmentgofgEnvironmentalgSciencesgisgbasedgatgthegFloridagCampusgofgUnisa.
RATIONALE
NewgtechnologiesgsuchgasgGPSgusegsatellitesgtogmeasuregthegchanginggdistancesgbetweengco
ntinentsgovergtime,gandgcomputersgaregusedgingtheginterpretationgofgseismologicalgobse
rvationsgofgearthquakesgandgothergenvironmentalgdata.gFromgthisgknowledge,gvariousgtheorie
sgaboutgtheginteriorgofgthegEarth,gvolcanicgeruptionsgandgotherggeologicalgeventsgaregforme
d.gGeologygnotgonlygintegratesgseveralgofgitsgowngsubdisciplinesgofgknowledgegintogthegsing
legtheorygofgplategtectonics,gitgalsoginteractsgwithgvariousgothergfieldsgof
iv
g g g
ENVIRONMENTAL g
GEOLOGY
Only study guide for GEL1503
g g g g
University of South Africa, Pretoria
g g g g
,©g2011gUniversitygofgSouthgAfricagAl
lgrightsgreserved
PrintedgandgpublishedgbygthegUnive
rsitygofgSouthgAfricagMuckleneuk
,gPretoria
GEL1503/1/2012–
2018g98803476
InDesigngFlorid
a
GEL_Style
, GEL1503/1/2012–2018
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE ............................................................................................ iv
STUDYgUNITg1 THEgEARTHgSYSTEM .......................................................... 1
STUDYgUNITg2 INTERNALgEARTHgPROCESSES .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g 31
.g .
STUDYgUNITg3 EXTERNALgEARTHgPROCESSES .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g .g 61
.g .
iii
, ENVIRONMENTALgGEOLOGY
PREFACE
A WORD OF WELCOME
g g g
WegwishgtogwelcomegyougingthegDepartmentgofgEnvironmentalgSciences,gandgspecificallygtogthi
sgintroductorygGeologygmodule.gIngthisgmodule,gwegnotgonlygstudygvariousgcharacteristicsgofgth
egEarth,gbutgwegalsogplacegthemgingtheglargergcontextgofgaggeosystem.gStudyinggunifyingg
theoriesgsuchgasgthatgofgplategtectonicsgisgverygexciting.gAfterwardsgyougcangapplygyourgnewgkn
owledgegofgthegdifferentgEarthgcomponentsgandgprocessesgbygincludinggitgingoverarchinggth
eories,gthusggaininggangunderstandinggofghowgeverythinggcomesgtogetherginteractivelygong
agglobalgscale.gApartgfromgthegfactgthatgthisgmodulegconstitutesgyourgfoundationgforgfurt
hergstudiesgingthegEarthgsciences,gitgalsogcontainsgknowledgegwhichgyougcangapplygingyourge
verydayglifegandgthegEarthgyouginhabit.gThisgmaygevenginducegyougtogcomegtogthegconclusion
gthatgthegenvironmentgofgthegEarth gisgwonderfulgandgpreciousgenoughgtogrespect.
Yourglecturergwillgprovidegyougwithgthegnecessarygguidancegtogachievegthegoutcomesgofgthi
sgmodule,gbutgyougingturngwillghavegtogputgingthegeffortgtogmastergthegwork.gYougaregwelco
megtogcontactgyourglecturergifgyougshouldgexperienceganygproblemsgingthegcoursegofgyourgs
tudiesgforgthisgmodule.
CONTACT PERSON g
Pleasegcontactgthegrelevantglecturergaboutgacademicgqueriesg–gpreferablygbyge-
mail,gpostgorgtelephone,gduringgofficeghours.
LecturergforgthegGeologygmodulegGEL1503:
MrgMgJordaan
Tel.: (011)g471-3222
e-mail:g
ThegUnisagDepartmentgofgEnvironmentalgSciencesgisgbasedgatgthegFloridagCampusgofgUnisa.
RATIONALE
NewgtechnologiesgsuchgasgGPSgusegsatellitesgtogmeasuregthegchanginggdistancesgbetweengco
ntinentsgovergtime,gandgcomputersgaregusedgingtheginterpretationgofgseismologicalgobse
rvationsgofgearthquakesgandgothergenvironmentalgdata.gFromgthisgknowledge,gvariousgtheorie
sgaboutgtheginteriorgofgthegEarth,gvolcanicgeruptionsgandgotherggeologicalgeventsgaregforme
d.gGeologygnotgonlygintegratesgseveralgofgitsgowngsubdisciplinesgofgknowledgegintogthegsing
legtheorygofgplategtectonics,gitgalsoginteractsgwithgvariousgothergfieldsgof
iv
