Service Failures Of The Airline Industry Essay - 1218 Words

From a customer’s perspective, a service failure refers to a real or perceived service- related problem, or where something has gone wrong in dealing with an organization. The customer’s expectations of the service encounter are therefore not met by the organization, and the customer could even perceive a loss as a result of the failure. Although customers and organizations increasingly seek a flawless delivery of core and supplementary services, this is virtually impossible in a service setting due to human involvement in service production and consumption. In addition, the inseparable and intangible nature of services also gives rise to service failures. The airline industry is especially prone to service failures due to the service processes employed in service delivery. Although airline passengers may hold certain expectations prior to their impending travel, service failures in the airline industry can lead to several flight cancellations, diversions or delays, attitudes of ground and cabin staff, strikes, reservation problems and overbooking of flights. A service failure not only impacts negatively on customers’ confidence in an organization, but it could also result in their defecting from the organization. Organizations should therefore identify the probable failure points as well as methods aimed at preventing failures from reoccurring. Although it is highly unlikely that organizations can eliminate service failures, they can learn to deal with these failuresShow MoreRelatedService Failures Of The Airline Industry Essay1181 Words   |  5 Pagesdefine â€Å"service failure† as a real or perceived service- relate d problem or issue. This situation often occurs when something has gone wrong in dealing with an organization, on a macro level it can be anything that relates to customer’s expectations of a given service encounter are not met by the service organization, and the customer could even perceive a loss as a result of the failure. Although customers and organizations increasingly seek a flawless delivery of core and supplementary services, thisRead MoreDelta Airlines : Effect Of Regulation1748 Words   |  7 Pageswas known as Huff Daland Dusters. This airline was mainly used to dust crops and get rid of unwanted insects. A decade later Collet E. Woolman bought the company and renamed it to Delta Air Services. The company performed their first passenger flight on June 17, 1929, and it began to grow rapidly due to acquiring of smaller airlines and the addition of routes (History of Delta Air Lines, 2017). This paper explores how different regulations affected Delta Airlines throu ghout its existence, and how theRead MoreDelta Airlines : The Largest Operating Airline1458 Words   |  6 PagesDelta airlines is the oldest operating airline in the United States, one of the five remaining legacy carriers, and a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. It was founded as a crop dusting service company in 1924 in Macon, Georgia. Since its early years Delta airlines has gone through all the regulation changes from early years of commercial aviation to recent years, and has been highly influenced by the government laws. The first major piece of legislation created by Congress relatedRead MoreCase Study Analysis Of Jetblue Airliness Ice Storm 1556 Words   |  7 PagesCase Analysis of JetBlue Airlines 2007’s Ice Storm JetBlue Airlines today is known for their low-cost flights and many in-flight perks, such as free TV channels, and overall has become a favorite of many travelers because of the more pleasant flight experience JetBlue can provide. In 2007, about 9 years from when they started, an ice storm in New York tested JetBlue’s mission to be a different kind of airline when the weather caused many delays and a bottleneck of troubles at the gates of the airportRead MoreThe U.S. Airline Industry1191 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿The U.S. Airline Industry The U.S. airline industry provides a unique service to its customers. It transports people and goods with efficiency and convenience which is not achieved by any other service. The purpose of this article is to collect data on the U.S. airline industry and analyze the state of the industry today. Data came from sources such as the Federal Aviation Administration, scholarly articles, and websites such as dallas.culturemap.com and airwise.com. Tools used to analyze the dataRead MoreSouthwest Airlines Case Study795 Words   |  4 PagesSouthwest Airlines Contents Introduction 1 The Problem 1 The Analyses 2 The Alternatives 3 The Recommendations 4 Conclusions 4 References 4 Introduction Millions of people fly everyday. Southwest airlines provide low-fare travel among 58 cities in the United States. Although the airline industry suffered greatly in the aftermath of September 11, Southwest was able to continue to hold strong. Southwest airline continues to maintain steady sales as much of the industry was affectedRead MoreEasyjet Case Study1039 Words   |  5 Pagesmodel provides to the customer functional services at the lowest possible price, on the basis of the real value of the basics of the service provided, avoiding any unessential frills. EasyJet was launched in 1995 and was the pioneer in the economical airlines segment. The PESTEL analysis of EasyJet airlines shown in figure 1 suggests that all the external factors were favourable for EasyJet which contributed to its corporate success. Also in the industry lifecycle EasyJet is in the growth phaseRead MoreAir Canadas Business Case Study1210 Words   |  5 Pagesbusiness. Underfunded pension plans, failure or inability by Air Canada to make required cash contributions to its registered pension plans will harm Air Canada`s reputation and operations. Detail data is presented in Section 9.7. Dependence on technology Air Canada MDA also emphasises the importance of its dependency on technology to operate its business and any IT system failure might have a negative effect on its business. Interruptions or disruptions in service Air Canada’s business is significantlyRead MoreSwot Analyses for Tui984 Words   |  4 PagesPorters five forces for Expedia Chapter 1 – American Airlines * PEST Analysis The utilization of a PEST analysis with regard to American Airlines takes into account the political, economic, social and technological (NetMBA, 2004) environment the industry is embroiled in and how this has, is and will threaten to impact its operations and profitability. It must be remembered that the   number of possibilities concerning macro-environmental aspects is almost limitless, thus concentrationRead MoreBusiness: Threat of New Entrants1000 Words   |  4 Pagesthreat because firms already in the industry have a cost advantage and these companies already have a strong customer base. Economies of Scale †¢ Bigger producers buy more inputs and therefore may get quantity discounts †¢ Boeing is the worlds largest aerospace and defense company †¢ Boeing sells more products in multiple industries so they have the ability to produce each unit at a lower cost than a smaller company would †¢ Delta is the 2nd largest passenger airline in the world by available seat miles

Contemporary strategy analysis free essay sample

2001-2011 was filled with many black swan events (i. e. events that are extremely rare, have a major impact and are unpredicted even if they are rationalised retrospectively) e. g. Sep 11 attack, Lehman Brother collapse, Greece/Iceland bailouts, Arab Spring revolutions, major earthquakes and tsunamis) Rise of BRIC countries creating a multipolar world 2. Sluggish Economic Growth + Increased Competition Economic growth in advanced economies sluggish throughout the medium term governments and household sectors are over-leveraged insufficient productive investment from companies sitting on cash excess capacity in most sectors - resulting in strong price competition Internationalisation of companies from emerging-market countries e. g. contract manufacturers (OEM) in China and India competing with their customers in final markets. 3. Technology Disruption Digital technology disrupting incumbents (e. g. Netflix replacing Blockbuster) and redrawing industry barriers (e. g. Apple, Nokia, Nintendo, Blackberry now competing in same mobile device market) 4. Social Pressure and Crisis of Capitalism Loss of social legitimacy of companies as a result of a fall-out from the 2008/9 financial crisis – disdain for companies (hypocrisy + greed of bankers, traders, etc) and their leaders (e. 2 * Porters Five Forces Figure 3. 2 p. 69 + 3. 3 s. 70 * Suppliers * Same as in buyers box * Substitutes * Buyer propensity to subtitutes * Relative pries and performance of substitutes * Buyers * Price sensititity Cost of product relative to total cost * Product differentiation * Competition between buyers * Bargaining power * Size and concentration of buyers relative to producers * Buyers switching costs * Buyers information * Buers ability to backward integrate * Potential entrants * Capital requirements * Economic of scale * Absolute cost advantages * Product differentiation * Acces to distribution channels * Gorvernment and legal barriers * Retaliation by established producers Analyzing industry attractiveness Applying Industry Analysis

Media Affects of the Vietnam War free essay sample

War is truly a horrific event that unfortunately occurs in our world frequently. There are a variety of ethical questions surrounding war, such as how much should citizens know about the fighting? When it comes to reporting the news, it is the goal of the network to report the news first. The benefit to this is people will turn to them first when it comes to breaking stories. However if the news is delivered based on speed and not accuracy this can be harmful to society. War is a very serious event and should not be taken lightly. Therefore, reporters must make sure facts are correct and unbiased. In both the Vietnam War and our current war we see reporters going to extreme measures to be the first to report information that may have been inaccurate. There was certainly not a lack Of information to report when it came to the Vietnam War. We will write a custom essay sample on Media Affects of the Vietnam War or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Unfortunately some of this information was highly inaccurate. Such as the event that started the war. The battle of Tontine was proved to have been false as reported by a Japanese Newswire in July 1984.In the bay it was reported outside Vietnam that the North Vietnamese had sunk a US ship killing just soldiers. The American people heard this and became outraged, and the congress gave President Lyndon B. Johnson a blank check to run the war. It was later discovered the tragedy never even occurred. The news networks reported this event and the American Government confirmed the false event and the war began, as the newswire reports. If this lie was never reported chances are the war would have never started.An Asian news source reported the Gulf of Tontine as an illusion from the start (Japanese Newswire, Lexis Nexus), this proved to be true but what Americans at the time period would believe the Asian News Networks. This can easily be related to he current war in Iraq. In order to get the war underway the administration made claims of weapons of mass destruction that could potentially harm us. If American media was not allowed into these war situations the government could simply make up another lie and point out old weapons found in Iraq and there would be no proof of proving these weapons old.Lies and corruption capture people. Therefore people will always pay attention to the stories about our government lying to us. These weapons have still not been found and this is extremely similar to how the ship may not have ever been hot down in Tontine. Despite numerous inaccurate reports there were attempts of trying to report the war accurately. However whenever a news channel would report Americans getting killed in Vietnam the government would work quickly to cover it up. President Nixon is quoted as saying the press is our biggest enemy. This one phrase sums up the war. The press would try to report fairly to the American people, but the government would squash it and make the press look bad (Media Beat Vietnam War, Solomon and Cohen). Therefore the press would only report good things so that the government loud look highly upon them and give them better seating in white house briefings. This highly affected the people working in Vietnam. They were forced to be there, and the stories they were trying to report were not even reported. There are certainly a lot of examples of war reporting being inaccurate. When we read John Seekers letters to his mother we realized what Kerry was telling his mother and what his mother was hearing on TV were novo totally different stories. Kerry wrote to his mother about bloodshed, continuous fighting, and Americans losing their lives daily (Brinkley, 3). While his mother attached the television and was learning how America was easily winning the war. Certainly the American Government wanted the news from Vietnam to be good. This would help their efforts in convincing Americans that the unpopular war was beneficial and worth while to fight.The American Government would set up propaganda that the North Vietnamese were being pushed back and they were not getting any further and that the Americans were taking many captives. However it was the Americans being pushed back and our soldiers like John McCain being captured, Americans were completely unaware of these events occurring. When it came time the 1964 and 1 968 elections believe Americans voted for politicians who favored the war thinking it was a great cause. Come to find out the cause was not worth it.What if a news circuit had reported that Americans where getting murdered everyday. Would the war of ended any earlier? I do believe so. When we look at the current war in Iraq, often reports are given by embedded reporters. They are reporters following and working directly with the certain unit they are with. At the beginning of the war we saw a lot of approval by the American people because we watched on our television the tanks race into Baghdad. However now that we see dozens of Americans killed every week, questions about the benefits of the war are being raised.If Americans were allowed to see directly what was happening in Vietnam would the war be supported as long as it was? There is no doubt the War may have ended earlier if Americans knew exactly what was going on. Reporting propaganda is beneficial to media circuits. If a major story is broken many people rush to their televisions to hear about it. Usually people flip through the channels to see the best coverage. When reporters are told in Vietnam that America has captured 300 North Vietnamese soldiers, every ingle American reporter will rush to the nearest telephone.In order to have there story be heard and to stand out on the news they have to make it sound interesting. This is where news stations may report that the number is higher than 300, just so more people pay attention to them thinking that they are getting the news faster than anyone else. Filling citizens with this false information is both wrong and unethical. American citizens based on the good news may begin to support the war. The same war that is killing thousands of troops a day and is not worth fight for, just so a news station an get a higher viewing rate.The higher a viewing rating on news channels the better the chances they have of receiving more commercial advertisement, and the more money they do receive. It is a very business like atmosphere. The news stations just tell the people what they want to hear so they continue to listen. Reading through various news reports during the war and various others after the war It is obvious news sources spiced up stories for attention. Reporting news is a serious business. Of course people only want to hear great news; however the world is not perfect. News must be reported accurately and fairly.News delivered quickly and incorrectly can be harmful to society and allow things such as the Vietnam War to continue and spawn out of control. News delivered correctly and over time may keep people informed and help them make better decisions when electing officials. An American mother like John Seekers should not hear on the television that the war is going great, but read first hand that many soldiers feel they are losing the war and its not worth continuing. If one can not trust the news media or the government who should they believe? News reporters are obligated to port the news timely and accurately.News Circuits should not be concerned about money and potential advertisement purchases, they should be concerned about the safety and interests of the American people.

Free Essays on College Essay

My name is Nicole. I am a senior, living in Bricktown, New Jersey. Thinking back to life as a freshman makes me realize how many things have changed. My social and emotional growth has been affected by many factors. I think my family, and the experiences I’ve had growing up, have had the most significant influence on my sense of values. During my early years I was totally dependent on my parents. I also needed social and moral guidance. I was born into a single parent family 17 years ago. My mother and I had the love and support of my grandparents and four uncles. I realize now, each and every day, how lucky we are to have them in our lives. Being an only child I felt extremely well cared for. I was spoiled with love and affection. For years I did not have to compete for my mothers time or attention. When my mother married in 1993 when I was 9 years old. It was a very difficult time for me. I felt that Bob was invading our lives. He loved me like his own and adopted me shortly after. It took years for our relationship to grow. Lots of love, patience, and caring, eventually led to my love of my new dad. Heredity and environmental influences determine personalities. I tested many different kinds of behavior on people closest to me. As I became more social I wanted to imitate friends, adults, characters on TV, in movies, or that I read about in books. Friends sometimes seemed more important than schoolwork, hobbies, sports, or other activities. Friendships are an important aspect of everyone’s life. For me, they have been a source of both pleasure and frustration. Friends have allowed me to experience myself as a leader and follower, a winner and loser, and as an equal. Mutual respect between friends has been very important. I learned the negative aspects of friendships, as well as the positive ones. Through trial and error I have gradually come to understand the complexities of friendship. Lik... Free Essays on College Essay Free Essays on College Essay A quality that I possess which allows me to contribute to the university community is the ability to adapt to a new environment. My father’s occupation required us to move at a moment’s notice. I developed a skill for adapting to new surroundings. I was two years old when my father’s bank transferred him from Brazil to the Cayman Islands. I quickly began speaking English and Portuguese, becoming bilingual by five. With a sudden turn of events, my father’s bank asked him to return to Brazil after three years in Cayman. In Brazil, I attended a new school with a completely different culture and environment. Fortunately, I rapidly made friends and acclimatized to my new life. My newly formed friendships were short-lived, however. After spending one year in Brasil, my father was once again relocated to the Cayman Islands. Again, I attended a new school and made new friends. My Brazilian culture easily blended in with the relaxed Caymanian culture. For the next nine years I indulged in the easy-going island lifestyle. After my freshman year of high school, I moved to Tampa, FL in hopes of making tennis a career. I roomed with others from all over the world that shared the same goal I did. My roommates became my best friends but we parted after one year. They left for college while I came to Miami. I enrolled in my third high school in just as many years. Once again, I made new friends and adapted to my new environment. Since I had multicultural experiences, and Miami is culturally diverse, it only made sense that I fit without difficulties. In college, I hope to increase my cultural knowledge and share what I have learned with others.... Free Essays on College Essay As far as I can remember, the words â€Å"knowledge is priceless,† had always seemed to come out of my mother. Perhaps it was due to my lack of interest in school all the way up until the end of high school, or perhaps it was from her own experience, of knowing how harsh life can be without an education. The words had always slipped through my mind though, and after high school, I had moved down to Virginia Beach where I had worked as a telemarketer for almost a year. In November of 2001, my mother, who still remained in New Jersey, had decided to take me to India. I had spent almost five months in India, which were the most life changing five months that could have ever happened to me. Looking at all of the poverty and children that could not afford an education, I realized that I was taking advantage of the opportunities that were given to me in America. I decided to come back to America and change my life for the better. My interest was mainly in business, and I had intentions of becoming a financial analyst and later an investment banker. I moved back to New Jersey in March of 2002 hoping to enroll into Camden County College. The next semester that I was eligible for was the summer semester which did not start until the end of May. So in the meantime, I had worked at Eckerd Pharmacy as a pharmacy technician. With work and school, I pushed my self to finish 12 credits over the summer with a GPA of 3.25. In August, I realized that I wanted to aim higher and dedicate myself only to school. In the fall semester of 2002 I had taken 15 credits and finished with a GPA of 4.0 and my name had been published on the president’s honor list. Today I maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.67 and I am striving to finish, as well as I did in the fall, in this spring semester. My goal is to take two more classes in the summer and hopefully start attending Temple University in the Fall of 2003. As of today, I now know that my mother had alw... Free Essays on College Essay As I stepped off the plane at the age of five, I knew I had reached "the land of opportunity" I knew I had reached the place where anything was possible, and the opportunities endless, that was the way my mom would describe the United States to us. She would empasize the fact that hard work would pay off. Even though she was raisin six children she gave us all the same amount of attention. When it was time to attend school, my twin brother and i didnt know a word of English. As a result we were placed in bilingual classes. We were always taught to do our best, for this reason, by the time we had reached the third grade we were already speaking Enlgish, and in mainstream classes. Then we were in the seventh grade, we were well past the English barrier and were on our way to mastering the language. When we reached the high school level everything was different. We got right in to our studies. The first thing my twin brother and i did was to join the football team and i went on be elected freshmen class treasure. I was ready for the challenges that would be presented to me in high school. I took many computer courses which i believe will aid me in my pursuit for a career in the computer i ndustry. I got my first job when i was 15 at a super market. Then i went on to work with children at a summer camp. My responsibilities included organizing sport activities and look after the children. I believe that my experiences as an immigrant in the United States and my work ethics have helped prepare me for what lies ahead in the future. In retrospect I have decided to improve upon my past performances so I can realize graduation and placement in a good four year undergraduate program.... Free Essays on College Essay My name is Nicole. I am a senior, living in Bricktown, New Jersey. Thinking back to life as a freshman makes me realize how many things have changed. My social and emotional growth has been affected by many factors. I think my family, and the experiences I’ve had growing up, have had the most significant influence on my sense of values. During my early years I was totally dependent on my parents. I also needed social and moral guidance. I was born into a single parent family 17 years ago. My mother and I had the love and support of my grandparents and four uncles. I realize now, each and every day, how lucky we are to have them in our lives. Being an only child I felt extremely well cared for. I was spoiled with love and affection. For years I did not have to compete for my mothers time or attention. When my mother married in 1993 when I was 9 years old. It was a very difficult time for me. I felt that Bob was invading our lives. He loved me like his own and adopted me shortly after. It took years for our relationship to grow. Lots of love, patience, and caring, eventually led to my love of my new dad. Heredity and environmental influences determine personalities. I tested many different kinds of behavior on people closest to me. As I became more social I wanted to imitate friends, adults, characters on TV, in movies, or that I read about in books. Friends sometimes seemed more important than schoolwork, hobbies, sports, or other activities. Friendships are an important aspect of everyone’s life. For me, they have been a source of both pleasure and frustration. Friends have allowed me to experience myself as a leader and follower, a winner and loser, and as an equal. Mutual respect between friends has been very important. I learned the negative aspects of friendships, as well as the positive ones. Through trial and error I have gradually come to understand the complexities of friendship. Lik...

Automotive Cruise Control System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Automotive Cruise Control System - Essay Example The governor adjusted the engine up thrift when the engine speed changed. The system was first used in automobiles in the year 1910. Thanks to Peerless motor company who upgraded the system to maintain speed of an automobile regardless of the topography the vehicle was moving on. Modern cruise control or speedostat was invented in 1948 by Ralph Teetor a long term president of the perfect circle company which specialized in manufacture of automotives. The first car with speedostat system was manufactured in 1958 which processed a vehicle speed on driveshaft and utilized a loop wire wrapped in a metallic core to vary throttle positions. In 1950 constant speed regulator a patent was imposed by Frank Riley, however in the following years, Mr. Riley and the other patent holders did not manage to collect royalties for inventions using the cruise control. Automotive device controls became more popular in USA in the year 1973 after the historical oil crisis which led to tremendous rise in fu el price. This was due to the nature of the system of saving gas intake by minimizing level of fuel intake when a vehicle was accelerating. Automotive cruise control uses the mechanism of transmission whereby a sensor system is mounted to the vehicle front. Control mechanism is transmitted through the on board sensors. A driver feeds in the speed and the unit maintains the speed by taking over the car’s throttle. The systems are ideal because they improve a driver comfort in a free flowing traffic conditions. However the systems are not ideal in heavy congested traffic as they do not allow the cruise control to run below a certain speed normally 25mph. the vehicle maintains the desired speed by up thrusting the throttle cable with a loop wire and a closed loop feedback. Modern cruise systems have power buttons which allows a driver to turn on or off. The systems

The UK yoghurt market (marketing plan) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

The UK yoghurt market (marketing plan) - Essay Example Yoghurt is used to supplement the main diet. Various developments have been registered in the production and marketing of this product in different markets across the globe. Different production companies have developed different brands of the product leading to an increased competition in the market. Besides, other related milk products give stiff competition to yoghurt in the market. The company that is to succeed in the market has to be sensitive and able to respond to the changing market trends. It has to develop a product brand that meets the changing needs of the clients. The organization should develop a marketing strategy that ensures proper brand positioning in the market. There has been a significant growth in the UK yoghurt market in the recent years with 21% increase in the period 2006- 2011 (UK-June 2011 Report, 2011). One of the players in the UK yoghurt is Yeo Valley Organic. This is a farming and dairy company situated in the Yeo Valley of Somerset, England. The company deals in a variety of dairy products and other desserts. Initially starting with the natural yoghurt, the company has expanded its operations to produce more brands of the products to meet the customer needs in relation to tastes or costs of the products. Other companies offer similar products in the market leading to increased competition in the UK yoghurt market. The organization is then faced with the challenge to develop products that rank above those produced by the competitors in customer satisfaction. A good market plan will help the company to position its brand above the competing brands. This calls for an analysis of all the market forces in the UK yoghurt market and id entifying procedures of overcoming the forces. Due to the changing customer needs, the organization has introduced a new product that is of better medicinal value. Apart from the normal ingredients, this new product has a component that makes it suitable for relieving mid pain. The company is in the process of marketing this new product. This paper illustrates a market plan that is to be adopted by Yeo Valley Organic to help achieve its marketing objectives. It is a one-year program to market the new yoghurt products by the company. 2. Mission and Business objectives The management at Yeo Valley Organic has noted that the quality of the products can be improved through proper care given to the dairy animals. This requires proper environmental conservation initiatives. Thus, the organization is committed to providing quality products to customers while reducing the adverse effects of their operations on the environment to ensure sustainable production. The organization has set a numb er of objectives that are concerned with management of environment. It is concerned with ensuring sustainable production in order to survive in the future market. To reduce the production cost

Minerals and How We Use Them Essay Example for Free

Minerals and How We Use Them Essay Elements combine together to form different minerals and minerals combine to form rocks. There are 92 naturally occurring elements and with exception of a few inert elements like Gold, Platinum etc. , they combine together to form as many as 4000 minerals. Out of this large number of minerals only about two dozens are common (constitutes ~ 99% of Earth crust) and these are composed of about a dozen elements. These rock forming elements can be classified in five groups – silicates, carbonates, oxides and sulfates. In following sections we will briefly describe these minerals, their formation and usage. Silicates: Silicon is the 2nd most abundant element next to oxygen on the Earth crust. It combines with oxygen to form a tetragonal compound, SiO2, which combines together to form a large tetragonal structure. Besides, SiO2 combines with other metal oxides, to form their silicates. Some examples of common silicates are Olivine, Pyroxene, Amphibole, Micas, Feldspar etc. Carbonates: Carbonates CO32- are linear molecules consisting of carbon and oxygen. These ions are arranged in the form of sheet in minerals like Calcite and Dolomite. Oxides: Metals react with oxygen to form their oxides. Some important oxide minerals are Hematite (Fe2O3), Magnetite (Fe3O4), Chromite (Cr2O3), Cassiterite (SnO2) etc. Sulfides: These are metal-sulfur compounds. Some important sulfide compounds are known as Pyrites like Chalcopyrite, Fools Gold etc. These minerals have metallic luster. Sulfates: These are composed of metal ions and sulfate ions (SO42-). These minerals have practically no ore value to the date. However, these are used as compounds. One important sulfate mineral is Gypsum (CaSO4. 2H2O). Mineral Formation: Minerals form by crystallization and growth in a liquid. The liquid can be either a molten rock or an aqueous solution. When temperature of a molten rock or magma falls below freezing point of a mineral, the mineral crystallizes. Minerals do not have a sharp freezing point; instead they solidify over a range, depending on their composition. The first to solidify is the one having highest solidification point and this is Quartz, subsequently other metal silicates solidify. Minerals solidifying towards the end have lowest solidification point. Besides, minerals crystallize in aqueous solution as well. This happens when an aqueous solution having minerals at some temperature, becomes supersaturated due to change in temperature (generally cooling, but sometimes heating as well). In case of mineral precipitation from an aqueous solution, what is important is solubility and not the melting point of the mineral Properties of Mineral: Minerals are characterized by some of their unique properties like Crystal form, Hardness, Cleavage and Fracture, Color, Specific Gravity etc. crystal form of a mineral depends on the internal arrangement of the constituent atoms / ions. This leads to well developed faces of the crystal and is a very important clue of crystal identification. Hardness of a mineral depends on the bond strength of the constituent atoms / ions. It is measured on Mohs scale (1 to 10). Higher Mohs value implies higher hardness; 10 is for diamond and 1 for talc. Color: Color of a mineral depends on its chemical composition, structure and also on impurity content. This is also an important clue for mineral identification. Specific Gravity: This is a very important property of minerals and difference in specific gravity is utilized for mineral separation. Usages of Mineral: We use minerals in many different ways. These are used as such for example, sand as construction material, Limestone for making cement, Gypsum for making Plaster of Paris etc. Besides, metals, the backbone of today’s civilization, are extracted from their respective minerals. Some examples are Iron from hematite / magnetite, Copper from chalcopyrite, Uranium from uranite etc. Thus we can conclude that minerals are invaluable to us. Chapter 26: Rocks Rocks are the building block of the Earth crust. Therefore, we encounter rocks everywhere. The study of rocks is important as they give us clue of the geological past of the Earth, besides they contain in them minerals, which have great value for us. The Earth can be viewed as the churning ground for rocks, where rocks keep forming and changing their forms. Based on origin, rocks are classified in three categories – Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic. In subsequent paragraphs we will discuss briefly about these rocks. Igneous Rock: These are formed by solidification of magma. Magma is molten rock, which comes out from within the Earth crust during volcanic eruptions. It is useful to know formation of magma. As we go down the Earth Crust, its temperature rises at a rate of ~ 30 oC per kilometer. Thus at a sufficient depth, temperature of the rock is well above their melting point, but the rock is still solid due to the overhead pressure by the rocks above it. But due to tectonic movements, sometimes a hot solid rock moves up where pressure is less that needed to keep it solid, and then it melts and the molten magma rises above through cracks. The rising magma further reduces the pressure on it and causes formation of more magma. Also, sometimes, water comes in contact with hot rock through some cracks and water being foreign body or impurity, reduces melting point of the rock, which melts and thus magma is produced. The magma rises up through cracks and heats and melts the rocks in the way and thus creates more magma. The rising magma cools and solidifies and thus igneous rocks are formed. If the magma comes out of Earth’s surface (it is known as Lava) and solidifies then what is formed is Extrusive Rock, an important example is Basalt, which is low silica fast moving magma. If the magma solidifies within the ground itself, then what forms is Intrusive Rock or Plutons, an example is a Dike. Sedimentary Rocks: Weathering of rocks leads to formation of smaller fragments of rocks. This process can be either mechanical or chemical. The weathered rocks erode i. e. they are transported away to a new location by carrier agents like flowing water and wind. During transportation also, these fragments collide with each other and gets smoothened. When the carrying ability of these agents weakens, these fragments settle at those locations. The process continues and new lays keep depositing. The underlying layer is compressed by the top layers and densifies and thus is formed a layered Rock structure, known as sedimentary rock. If the sediments are composed of small rock fragments, this is called Clastic, while those formed by chemical precipitation are called chemical sediments. Clastic sedimentary rocks are classified according to their constituent particle sizes. Fine seiments are clay, silt and sand and they form rocks like Mudstone Shale, Siltstone and Sandstone respectively. Coarse sediments are pebble, cobble and boulder and they form Conglomerates. Chemical sedimentary rocks are formed by precipitation from supersaturated aqueous solutions. Some examples of chemical sedimentary rocks are Limestone, Dolomite, and halites; halites are formed by evaporation of lakes or seawater. Many fossils are preserved in the sedimentary rocks and they give clues to the life in past. Metamorphic rocks When a rock mass – igneous as well as sedimentary, is brought in a region (by natural process) where temperature and or pressure is too high for existence of the rock, then is changes its form and the process is termed metamorphism (change in shape) and the resulting rock is metamorphic rock. The metamorphism can be brought about by recrystallization or mechanical deformation. Some examples of metamorphic rocks are Granite (from lime stone), Diamond (from coal or graphite), etc. Rock cycle refers to a cycle through which these rocks – igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic, keep changing into each other by the different forces of Nature. Chapter 28: Occurrence and Movement of Water Life evolved on the Earth in water (oceans) and water is essential for life. More than 70% of Earth’s surface is covered with water. Therefore, it is important to understand about this precious material and its cycle. Hydrological cycle refers to the chain of processes through which water moves from different forms (ice, water and water vapor) and different reservoirs (oceans, rivers, glaciers) etc. , while its amount remains more or less constant between different forms and reservoirs. About 97% of Earth’s water is in Oceans which covers more than 70% of Earths surface. About 2% is locked in polar icecaps and glaciers and remaining less than 1% is distributed between water vapors, ground water, rivers and lakes. The process of evaporation moves water from oceans into the atmosphere as water vapor, approximately 75% of which rains back into the oceans and thus hydrological water cycle is complete for the 75% of the water vapors. Remaining 25% rains on the ground and thus the water cycle gets is prolonged. Because, the water falling on ground is distributed among ground water, river water, glaciers, lakes etc. In subsequent paragraphs we will discuss briefly about these reservoirs. Ground Water About 98. 5% of fresh waters stay beneath the ground in the pores, in the form of Ground water and soil moisture. Beneath the ground, there is a region where all the pores are filled completely with water. This region is called saturated zone. Above this zone and up to the Earth’s surface there exists unsaturated zone or a zone where the pores are partially filled with water and air. The amount of rainwater that can be absorbed as ground water depends on the nature of the soil i. e. how porous or dense it is. While porous soil absorbs more of rainwater, the dense rocks and soil absorb less of it and let remaining flow as rivers. The water table refers to the level which demarcates the saturated and unsaturated zones. The water table is not having a flat profile rather it is having a profile of its own. Therefore, water is not stationery in saturated zone; rather it flows under pressure head. The water bearing underground regions where water can flow is known as Aquifers. The flow rate of water through an Aquifer depends on hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer and the hydraulic head. The aquifers are of two types – unconstrained and constrained. In unconstrained aquifer, the sediment over the water table is permeable and allows recharge of aquifer. In confined aquifer, the aquifer is confined between impermeable rocks. In such aquifers recharge is not from directly above rather the recharge zone is in the unconfined region at a higher elevation. In such aquifers, we have Artesian wells and Artesian springs. Streams are flowing surface water like rivers. They receive water from rains as well as from melting of glacier and transport the same into oceans or sometimes into large lakes. The stream speed depends on stream gradient, stream discharge and channel geometry. The stream gradient is largest near the head and here the channel shape is generally V-shaped and stream speed is very high. As the stream proceeds towards moth, the stream gradient decreases and therefore, stream speed also decreases and the channel geometry becomes wide and shallow. Drainage basin refers to a network of streams which receives all the rain water in that geographical region and carries it to the oceans. Glaciers are large masses of ice, which move under their own weight due to plastic deformation as well as melting of ice under pressure. A glacier accumulates during winter and it ablates into water by moving down to warmer elevations, where it melts. Glaciers are the origin of the famous river basins which have water through out the year. The oceans are the largest water mass having more than 97% of water on the Earth. The average depth of oceans is 3800 meters much larger than the average height of the mainland (~800) above the mean sea level. The boundary between the continents and the oceans is called Continental margin. This consists of continental shelf (the submerged portion of the margin) and continental slope and a continental rise. Waves are produced in oceans due to the wind and these waves superimpose with each other and create different patterns.