Zusammenfassung der Ressource
GCSE AQA Chemistry 1
Earth & Atmosphere
- Plate Tectonics
- Wegener's theory of Continental Drift
- Noticed records of v.
similar fossils on opposite
sides of Atlantic Ocean
- Accepted theory was 'land bridges'
- Coastlines of Africa & South
America matched like jigsaw
- Evidence: Matching layers in rocks
- Fossils found in
'wrong' places
- Theory: 300 million yrs ago, 1
'supercontinent' (Pangaea) that broke into
smaller chunks that are drifting apart
- Wasn't accepted for many yrs
- Thought continents
'ploughing through' sea bed
- Impossible - would have
stopped Earth rotating
- Had used inaccurate data
- Found new evidence in 1950s & 60s
- Earth's Structure
- Crust: v. thin,
surrounded by
atmosphere
- Mantle: has all properties of solid but can
flow, radioactive decay takes place, produce
heat - flows in convection currents
- Core: made of Fe & Ni
- Surface made of tectonic plates
- Convection currents cause plates to drift
- Most moving at speeds of few cms per yr
- Occasionally plates move v. suddenly - earthquake
- Volcanoes & earthquakes occur at boundaries
- Can't predict - sometimes ground bulges but can be false alarm
- The Evolution of the Atmosphere
- Phase 1
- Molten - atmosphere boiled away
- Eventually cooled down -
thin crust & volcanoes
- Gases - carbon dioxide, methane & ammonia
- Oceans formed when water vapour condensed
- Phase 2
- Green plants evolved - carbon dioxide
absorbed & oxygen produced
- Carbon & hydrocarbons locked up in sedimentary
rocks as insoluble carbonates & fossil fuels
- Phase 3
- Ozone layer allows evolution of
complex animals - blocks harmful rays
- Primordial Soup
- Earth's atmosphere
rich in N, H,
ammonia & methane
- Lightning struck --> amino acids
- Collected in primordial
soup --> organic matter
& living organisms
- Miller Urey experiment - not as many made
- Fractionally distilling air
- Air filtered to remove dust,
cooled to around -200*C - liquid
- Water vapour condenses & removed
- Carbon dioxide freezes & removed
- Liquefied air enters column & heated slowly
- Gases separated - oxygen & argon
together - require another column