A safe shelter is mandatory for everyone. It provides a home to people and a sense of security to keep all their precious belongings protected. Moreover, it also helps protect people from natural calamities, theft, and other problematic situations. Thus, living in solid homes helps man solve these problems efficiently and sleep soundly at night. …
Rocks
Mica, which is essentially a compound of silicate minerals, is comprised of closely related materials that have perfect basal cleavage. They are monoclinic with a tendency of pseudohexagonal crystals, having similar chemical composition. They belong to the category of principal rock-forming minerals and are found in various categories like sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. How is …
As many would say, geodes are beautiful rocks with some wonderful crystal surprise waiting inside of it. Exciting, is it not? These are not just enjoyed by the geologists but common men too, love them! The reason behind it is really very simple. It amazes people that how a very simple looking rock could be …
By the geological procedure, erosion happens. All the natural forces contribute to this happening. All the earthen materials shift itself from one place to another, and the forces like water and wind assist in it. Exogenous developments remove rocks and soil from the outer layer of the soil and then transfer it to another location …
We have many times seen pictures of a huge mass of rock standing almost vertically along the ocean or riverbanks. These are nothing but cliffs, which are a common form of landscape. Cliffs are erosional landforms that usually exist in the form of vertical or nearly vertical rock exposures. A cliff is a high steep …
A valley is usually an area which is found between hills and mountains. The low area lying between the two, therefore, can be termed as a valley. Valleys are discriminated on the basis of their shapes, which include U-shaped and V-shaped valleys. Most of the valleys either fall in one of the categories or are …
When a river or any other body of water starts falling almost vertically over an edge of a rocky surface, it is known as waterfall. Also known as cascade, a waterfall usually takes a steep plunge into a pool below. Waterfalls generally represent a major interruption of a course of a river by following the …
Mechanical weathering is the process through which large rocks are broken into increasingly smaller pieces. Sometimes referred to as physical weathering, the process normally happens near the Earth’s surface. Can you believe that the tiny sand grains you see at the beach were once part of massive rocks? It involves mechanical processes that disintegrate a rock, …
Phosphorous is a crucial nutrient for plants and animals. For instance, it forms an integral component of genes and also plays a significant role in the Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) energy cycle. Without phosphorous, you wouldn’t be able to contract your muscles. The phosphorus cycle refers to the biogeochemical cycle by which phosphorous moves through the …
An ecosystem encompasses living organisms and the nonliving elements of their environments. Hence, the components of an ecosystem include animals, plants, microorganisms, rocks, soil, minerals, atmosphere, and the surrounding water masses. An ecosystem can be huge, cutting across several nations, or it can be relatively small, such as the body of an animal, which is …
Sand dunes are some of nature’s most scintillating creations. These eye-catching land masses are found around the globe in different climatic conditions. They are not only limited to deserts, but can form in any landscape on the earth’s surface provided the conditions are right. Every sand dune is formed as a result of the interaction …
In geology, a fault is a discontinuity that is formed by fracture in the surface rocks of the Earth (up to 200 km deep) when tectonic forces exceed the resistance of the rocks. In other words, a fault is a crack in the Earth’s crust. The rupture zone has a generally well defined surface called the fault …
After the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean is the largest ocean on Earth. The Atlantic is divided by the Equator in two rather artificial sections: the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic. Its name derives from Atlantikos (Atlas – the sea beyond the Atlas Mountains), one of the Titans of Greek mythology. Size and Boundaries …
The soil formation process depends upon the presence of new soil material which is either acquired by denudation or deposition. Denudation is the abrasion of present rock material by the action of ice, water or wind. Deposition is the accumulation of new materials that have been eroded from another place such as river gravels or …
Natural resources refer to the things that exist freely in nature for human use and don’t necessarily need the action of mankind for their generation or production. The key aspect of natural resources is that they dictate the survival of humans and other life forms on earth. These resources include land, rocks, forests (vegetation), water …