How does science differ from religion as a way to understand the world?
Imagine you are a tour guide on a journey from Earth’s surface to its center. How would you describe the material that your tour group encounters on the way down? Why is the density of the material always increasing as you go deeper?
How does viewing Earth as a system of interacting components help us to understand our planet? Give an example of an interaction between two or more geosystems that could affect the geologic record.
In what general ways are the climate system, the plate tectonic system, and the geodynamo similar? In what ways are they different?
Not every planet has a geodynamo. Why not? If Earth did not have a magnetic field, what might be different about our planet?
Based on the material presented in this chapter, what can we say about how long ago the three major global geosystems began to operate?
If no theory can be completely proved, why do almost all geologists believe strongly in Darwin’s theory of evolution?