Identify And Describe The Leading Hypothesis That Explains

Identify And Describe The Leading Hypothesis That Explains The Form

1) Identify and describe the leading hypothesis that explains the formation of our solar system. Also describe the formation of Earth’s moon. Be sure to include the ages of the universe, our solar system, Earth and moon. 2) Describe how plates move across the surface of the Earth, how the mantle is involved and how plates can interact at their boundaries. Describe the process of sea floor spreading, include a description of sea floor age distributions and the maximum age of oceanic crust/lithosphere. 3) Define mineral. Include a description of the four characteristics that a material must exhibit to be called a mineral.

Paper For Above instruction

The leading hypothesis that explains the formation of our solar system is the Nebular Hypothesis, which suggests that the Sun and the planets formed from a rotating cloud of gas and dust, known as the solar nebula. This model is supported by the observation of similar processes happening in other star-forming regions and the angular momentum distribution in the solar system. Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, the solar nebula collapsed under gravitational forces, leading to the formation of the Sun at its core and the accretion of planetesimals that coalesced into planets. The age of the universe is estimated to be about 13.8 billion years, based on cosmic microwave background measurements and the expansion rate of the universe (Planck Collaboration, 2018). Our solar system, therefore, is considerably younger, at about 4.6 billion years, with Earth forming shortly thereafter. The Earth's moon is believed to have formed about 4.5 billion years ago from debris resulting from a giant impact between the early Earth and a Mars-sized body, often called Theia (Canup & Asphaug, 2001). The moon's age, as determined by radiometric dating of lunar samples, confirms its formation during this early period of Earth's history.

The movement of Earth's plates is driven by the convective currents within the mantle, which is a semi-solid layer of the Earth extending to about 2,900 kilometers beneath the surface. These convection currents facilitate the lateral movement of tectonic plates, which are rigid segments that comprise Earth's lithosphere. Plates can interact at their boundaries in three primary ways: divergent boundaries where plates move apart, convergent boundaries where plates move toward each other, and transform boundaries where plates slide past one another. At divergent boundaries, such as mid-ocean ridges, sea floor spreading occurs, where new oceanic crust is generated as magma rises from the mantle and solidifies at the surface. This process causes the plates to move apart and forms new crust, which can be observed in the young age of the sea floor near these ridges.

The distribution of sea floor ages reinforces this model, with the youngest crust located at mid-ocean ridges and progressively older crust found as distance from the ridges increases. The maximum age of oceanic crust is approximately 200 million years, as older crust tends to subduct into the mantle at convergent boundaries. This continuous cycle of crust formation and destruction is fundamental to the theory of plate tectonics and helps explain the dynamic nature of Earth's surface (Ulrich & Sloan, 2011).

A mineral is a naturally occurring inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and an ordered atomic structure. To be classified as a mineral, a material must exhibit four key characteristics: it must be naturally occurring, inorganic, crystalline in structure, and possess a definite chemical composition that can vary within specific limits ( Klein & Hurlbut, 1993). These criteria distinguish minerals from other substances such as rocks, which are aggregates of multiple minerals, or organic materials like biological matter. Understanding minerals is fundamental to geology because they are the primary components of rocks and provide clues about Earth's processes and history.

In conclusion, the nebular hypothesis remains the most widely accepted explanation for the formation of the solar system, supported by radiometric dating and astronomical observations. Plate tectonics, driven by mantle convection, governs Earth's surface dynamics, including sea floor spreading and crust recycling. Lastly, minerals are defined by their natural origin, inorganic nature, crystalline structure, and specific chemical compositions, serving as fundamental building blocks of Earth's crust and a window into planetary processes.

References

• Canup, R. M., & Asphaug, E. (2001). Origin of the Moon in a giant impact collision. Nature, 412(6848), 708-712.
• Klein, C., & Hurlbut, C. S. (1993). Manual of Mineralogy (21st ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
• Planck Collaboration. (2018). Planck 2018 results. VI. Cosmological parameters. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 641, A6.
• Ulrich, G. E., & Sloan, R. W. (2011). Plate tectonics: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.