Spheres of The Earth2

Spheres of the Earth
Atmosphere
Biosphere
Hydrosphere
Lithosphere/Geosphere
Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earth’s Spheres
What on Earth?
What is the Earth system?
• A system is a group of related objects or parts
that work together to form a whole.
• The Earth system is all of the matter, energy,

and processes within Earth’s boundary.
• Earth is a complex system made of living and

nonliving things, and matter and energy
continuously cycle through the smaller systems.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Earth Systems Science studies the flow of matter
and energy in and out of the Earth’s open
systems, or Spheres.
Two Types of Systems
1. Closed System: Energy may enter

and leave, but matter does not.
2. Open System: System and its

surroundings freely exchange both
matter and energy.
Matter and energy move back and
forth between the different Earth
spheres, and the different spheres
interact every day, all around you.
The Earth’s Four Spheres
(Geosphere)
Atmosphere
• The Earth is surrounded by a blanket of air, which

we call the atmosphere. It reaches over 560
kilometers (348 miles) from the surface of the
Earth, so we are only able to see what occurs
fairly close to the ground.
• Early attempts at studying the nature of the
atmosphere used clues from the weather, the
beautiful multi-colored sunsets and sunrises, and
the twinkling of stars. With the use of sensitive
instruments from space, we are able to get a
better view of the functioning of our atmosphere.
Atmosphere
• Life on Earth is supported by the atmosphere,

solar energy, and our planet's magnetic fields.
The atmosphere absorbs the energy from the
Sun, recycles water and other chemicals, and
works with the electrical and magnetic forces
to provide a moderate climate. The
atmosphere also protects us from high-energy
radiation and the frigid vacuum of space.
Atmosphere
• The envelope of gas surrounding

the Earth changes from the ground
up. Four distinct layers have been
identified using thermal
characteristics (temperature
changes), chemical composition,
movement, and density.
The Atmosphere
The Earth is surrounded by a blanket

of air, which we call the
atmosphere.
• The atmosphere consists of four
unique layers (the troposphere, the
stratosphere, the mesosphere, and
the thermosphere).
• The atmosphere reaches over 350
miles up from the surface of the
Earth.
• The atmosphere is primarily
composed of nitrogen (about 78%)
and oxygen (about 21%). Other
components exist in small quantities.
Layers of the Atmosphere
• Exosphere
• Thermosphere—highest
• Mesosphere
• Stratosphere (contains ozone)
• Troposphere---layer we live in
Biosphere
• The term "Biosphere" was coined by Russian

scientist Vladimir Vernadsky in 1929.
• The biosphere is the life zone of the Earth
and includes all living organisms, including
man, and all organic matter that has not yet
decomposed. Life evolved on earth during its
early history between 4.5 and 3.8 billion
years ago and the biosphere readily
distinguishes our planet from all others in the
solar system.
BIOSPHERE
• The chemical reactions of life (e.g.,

photosynthesis-respiration, carbonate
precipitation, etc.) have also imparted a
strong signal on the chemical
composition of the atmosphere,
transforming the atmosphere from
reducing conditions to and oxidizing
environment with free oxygen.
BIOSPHERE
• The biosphere is structured into a hierarchy

known as the food chain whereby all life is
dependent upon the first tier (i.e. mainly the
primary producers that are capable of
photosynthesis). Energy and mass is
transferred from one level of the food chain
to the next with an efficiency of about 10%.
BIOSPHERE
• All organisms are intrinsically linked to their

physical environment and the relationship
between an organism and its environment is
the study of ecology. The biosphere can be
divided into distinct ecosystems that
represent the interactions between a group
of organisms forming a trophic pyramid and
the environment or habitat in which they live.
Biotic vs. Abiotic
• Bio = means life
• Biotic—living parts or components
• Abiotic—nonliving parts of components (air,
water, temperature)
Hydrosphere
• The hydrosphere includes all

water on Earth.
• In one respect, 71% of the earth is
covered by water and only 29% is
terra firma. Indeed, the abundance
of water on Earth is a unique
feature that clearly distinguishes our
"Blue Planet" from others in the
solar system.
HYDROSPHERE
• Not a drop of liquid water can be found

anywhere else in the solar system. It is
because the Earth has just the right
mass, the right chemical composition, the
right atmosphere, and is the right
distance from the Sun (the "Goldilocks"
principle) that permits water to exist
mainly as a liquid.
HYDROSPHERE
• However, the range of surface temperatures

and pressures of our planet permit water to exist
in all three states: solid (ice), liquid (water), and
gas (water vapor).
• Most of the water is contained in the oceans
and the high heat capacity of this large volume
of water (1.35 million cubic kilometers) buffers
the Earth surface from large temperature
changes such as those observed on the moon.
HYDROSPHERE
• Water is the universal solvent and

the basis of all life on our Planet. It
is an essential life-sustaining
resource which led Benjamin
Franklin to comment "When the
well's dry, we know the worth of
water."
Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere contains all the water
found on our planet.
• Surface Water: Includes the ocean as well
as water from lakes, rivers and creeks.
• Ground Water: Includes water trapped in
the soil and groundwater.
• Atmosphere: water vapor.
• Frozen water: Includes ice caps and
glaciers. Also called the cryosphere.
• Only about 3% of the water on Earth is
“fresh” water, and about 70% of the fresh
water is frozen in the form of glacial ice.
(0.9% in liquid form)
Hydrosphere
Lithosphere
• The lithosphere (the Greek for "rocky"
sphere) is the solid outermost shell of a
rocky planet. On the Earth, the
lithosphere includes the crust and the
uppermost layer of the mantle (the
upper mantle or lower lithosphere) which
is joined to the crust.
• The word “GEOSPHERE” is sometimes
used instead of lithosphere.
Lithosphere
Lithosphere
• The distinguishing characteristic of the lithosphere

is not composition, but its flow properties. Under
the influence of the low-intensity, long-term
stresses that drive plate tectonic motions, the
lithosphere responds essentially as a rigid shell and
thus deforms primarily through brittle failure, while
the asthenosphere accommodates strain through
plastic deformation. Both the crust and upper
mantle float on the more plastic asthenosphere.
Lithosphere
• The crust is distinguished from the mantle, and hence

the upper mantle, by the change in chemical
composition that takes place at the Moho
discontinuity.
• The thickness of the lithosphere varies from around
1.6 km (1 mi) at the mid-ocean ridges to
approximately 130 km (80 mi) beneath the older
continental crust. The thickness of the continental
lithospheric plates is probably around 150 kilometers
(93 mi).
Lithosphere
• As the cooling surface layer of the Earth's

convection system, the lithosphere
thickens over time. It is fragmented into
relatively strong pieces, called tectonic
plates, which move independently relative
to one another.
• This movement of lithospheric plates is
described as plate tectonics.
Anthrosphere
• The impact of man to the

environment has become so massive
that scientists are proposing the
addition of man or the
‘anthroposphere’ to the Earth system.
• Man and his direct ancestors
(hominids) have graced the planet for
only about three million years.
Anthrosphere
• Homo sapiens have increased their

numbers exponentially from 1650 to
present rising to the current population of
5.5 billion. If this growth continued
unabated, the human population would
reach 8 billion in the year 2000, 14 billion
in the year 2010, 60 billion in the year
2020, and infinity by the year 2023.
Anthrosphere
• For almost all of this period the human

population totaled less than 5 to 10
million individuals. Of course, unlimited
growth in an environment of finite
resources is impossible because growth
will eventually deplete the available
resources and the population will
collapse.
Anthrosphere
• Indeed one of the kindest

things that the human species
could do for planet Earth is to
control the rate of growth of the
anthrosphere.
Anthrosphere
• Interactions of Homo sapiens with all aspects of

the environment
• We are going to look at each sphere, the
interactions, and the solutions as well as the
problems created by the human race.
Complete the table.
Layers of Earth Description Characteristics

1.
2.
3.
4.

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Spheres of the Earth

• The Earth system is all of the matter, energy,

• Earth is a complex system made of living and

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

1. Closed System: Energy may enter

2. Open System: System and its

• The Earth is surrounded by a blanket of air, which

• Life on Earth is supported by the atmosphere,

• The envelope of gas surrounding

The Earth is surrounded by a blanket

• Stratosphere (contains ozone)

• The term "Biosphere" was coined by Russian

• The chemical reactions of life (e.g.,

• The biosphere is structured into a hierarchy

• All organisms are intrinsically linked to their

• The hydrosphere includes all

• Not a drop of liquid water can be found

• However, the range of surface temperatures

• Water is the universal solvent and

• The distinguishing characteristic of the lithosphere

• The crust is distinguished from the mantle, and hence

• As the cooling surface layer of the Earth's

• The impact of man to the

• Homo sapiens have increased their

• For almost all of this period the human

• Indeed one of the kindest

• Interactions of Homo sapiens with all aspects of

Layers of Earth Description Characteristics

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