地质专业英语电子版.docxVIP

— PAGE \* Arabic 1 — 地质专业英语电子版 The Earth  From classical times it has been known that the earth is roughly spherical in shape. Actually the planet is shaped more like a slightly flattened ball whose polar radius is about 21km shorter than its equatorial radius. The average radius is 6371km. The earth’s specific gravity is 5.5. It is 5.5 times as heavy as an equal volume of water. The specific gravity is greater than that of any other planet in the solar system, but not appreciably different from that of Mercury, Venus and Mars. Because the average specific gravity of surface rocks is only about 2.7, the material existing deep within the earth must have a specific gravity well in excess of the 5.5 average. Very likely, the material at the earth’s center has a specific gravity as high as about 15.  The splendid photographs of the earth taken from space by Apollo astronauts remind us that our planet is more than a rocky globe orbiting the sun. The patterns of white clouds above the azure blue color tell us of the presence of an atmosphere and hydrosphere. Here and there one can even discern patches of tan that indicates the existence of continents. Greenish hues provide evidence of the planet’s most remarkable feature: there is life on earth.  THE A TMOSPHERE  We live beneath a thin but vital envelope of gases called atmosphere. We refer to these gases as air. “Pure air”is composed mainly of nitrogen (78.03%) and oxygen 920.99%). The remaining 0.98% of air is made of argon, carbon dioxide and minute quantities of other gases. One of these “other”components found mostly in the upper atmosphere is a form of oxygen called ozone. Ozone absorbs much of the sun’s lethal ultraviolet radiation, and is thus of critical importance organisms on the surface of the earth. Air also contains from 0.1 percent to 5.0 percent of water vapor. However, because this moisture content is so variable, it is not usually included in lists of atmospheric components.  E