Lesson 1: Geosphere Upper Mantle

- The uppermost mantle and Earth’s crust that form

Formation of the Earth the lithosphere are relatively rigid.
- The upper boundary that separates the upper mantle
from Earth’s crust is defined by the sudden increase
in seismic velocity and this is called Mohorovicic (or
Moho) discontinuity.
- 660 km thick

Lower Mantle Upper Mantle

- soft/magma - rigid/solid
- exhibits “plasticity” - moho boundary
- convention currents
- 2240 km - 660 km

Mantle’s age is 4.5 billion years sold. Same as our sun

CRUST

Continental Crust
Geosphere is a solid Earth, consisting of the entire planet from the - The continental crust is relatively thicker than the
center of the core to the outer crust. It includes the core, mantle, oceanic crust because of high elevation.
and crust of the Earth. - A result of the varying density between the two types
of crust—the granitic continental crust has lower
Brief Description of the Layers of the Earth density than the basaltic oceanic crust, which results
in the varying elevations.
1. Crust - the outermost layer, is made up mostly of light elements,
such as silicon, oxygen, and aluminum. Oceanic Crust
2. Mantle - The middle layer consisting of rocks - Oceanic crust forms earth’s oceans.
3. Core - Earth’s center, is composed of dense metals lie nickel and - Thinner than the continental crust and denser,
iron. meaning that the rocks is made up from are more
closely packed together.
CORE
Continental Crust Oceanic Crust
Inner Core - light colored - dark colored
- study of Earth’s interior is most difficult because it is - rock sample: granite - rock sample : basalt
inaccessible. - less dense - more dense
- Inge Lehmann, is the one who discovered the Earth as a - coarse-textured - thin layer
solid inner core in the year 1936. - thick layer - 50 km
- Consists mainly of iron-nickel alloy and is magnetic. - 40-70km
- It has a temperature of about 6000 degrees Celsius,
almost as hot as the surface of the sun
Earth's crust is just like pizza dough because the “pizza dough”
which is the continental crust must then stretch further.

Lesson 2 : Lithosphere

The lithosphere is the solid outer section of Earth. It includes

the entire Earth’s crust and the rigid upper mantle. The two
crusts are the continental and oceanic crusts.

Outer Core
- is made mostly of iron and nickel and approximately
2300 km thick.
- It is very hot; the temperature is between 4000 degrees
Celsius and 5000 degrees Celsius.
- Because of the very high temperature, the outer core is
liquid.
- The boundary between the outer and inner core is
sometimes referred to as Lehmann discontinuity.

Inner Core Outer Core

- Iron and Nickel - Iron and Nickel
- Magnetic - Magnetic
- Solid - Liquid
- 1250 km - 2300 km
- Cause of Earth’s magnetic field

Inner core is almost the same size of the moon

MANTLE The Lithosphere is divided into a number of huge plates that

move in relation to one another
Lower Mantle
- The lower mantle is hot and exhibits plasticity. It is believed that at the beginning, the continents are
- The high pressure in the layer causes formation of all locked up into a huge landmass called Pangea, as proposed
minerals that are different from that of the upper layer. by Alfred Wegener. They broke apart and gradually drifted to
- Gutenberg discontinuity is detected between Earth’s their present position.
lower mantle and the outer core as observed by changes
in the seismic waves.
- 2240 km thick
THE PLATE TECTONIC THEORY
- the large scale movement of Earth’s plates is explained
by the plate tectonic theory. Plate tectonic theory proposes that the
lithosphere is divided into major plates and smaller plates resting
upon the lower soft layer called asthenosphere.

CLUES/EVIDENCES OF PANGEA
- Continents were life jigsaw puzzle
- The exploration beneath the oceans has this vast chains
of mountains. These are the scars from the opening of
plates at ridges of trenches
- Types of rocks or types of formation
- Fossils (e.g. dinosaur fossils)

Plates drift sideways at the rate of 12 cm per year. This

seems to be slow but imagine how much the plates had moved in
100 years, 1000 years, or 1 million years. The mechanism
movement is probably related to the convection current within the
mantle.
TECTONIC PLATE BOUNDARIES
The border between tectonic plates is called boundary.
Each tectonic plates moves in a differences, the tectonic plate
boundaries are grouped into three main types: (a) divergent, (b)
convergent, and (c) transform boundaries.
Continents are not the same as plates. Continents are large,
continuous, discrete masses of land separated by expanses of
water. Continents are part of the plates. Some continents occur
in the middle of plates, not at their boundaries of edges. The
plates are layers of rigid, solid rocks that are moving. For
example, Asia is a continent found in the Eurasia Plate, North
America Plate, Arabian Plate and Indo-Australian Plate.

Divergent Convergent Transform

Occurs when two When two plates Two plates sliding
tectonic plates come together. past each other.
move away from
each other.

Divergent Plate Boundary - along these boundaries, earthquakes

are common and magma (molten rock) rises from the Earth’s
mantle to the surface, solidifying to create new oceanic crust. The
Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an example of divergent plate boundaries.

Convergent Plate Boundary - The impact of the colliding plates

can cause the edges of one or both plates to buckle up into a
mountain ranges or one of the plates may bend down into a deep
seafloor trench. The Pacific Ring of Fire is an example of a
convergent plate boundary.

Transform Plate Boundary - One of the most famous transform

plate boundaries occurs at the San Andreas fault zone, which
extends underwater. Natural or human-made structures that cross
a transform boundary are offset — split into pieces and carried in
opposite directions.
 - is anything living or growing in, happening in, or connected
Lesson 2: Biosphere - collection of all the living beings on Earth with water.
- Aquatic biomes include the life and the living communities
A system is an interaction, or interrelationships within. within the abiotic factors that are part of the water occupying
70% of the earth.
Earth’s subsystems - 90% sea, 10% fresh water
Geosphere (lithosphere) - Abiotic factors influencing the water bodies include climate,
Biosphere sustain life. temperature, rainfall, salt or mineral level, and suspended
Atmosphere particles.
Hydrosphere - Of all the abiotic factors, light is the vital abiotic factor that
influences the aquatic biome.
The Hierarchy of Life
Atom Four factors Influencing Aquatic Biomes
1. Sunlight Level
2. Dissolved Oxygen Availability
Macromolecules 3. Temperature Range
4. Salt Level

Organelle Sunlight level divides the biome into photic and

aphotic zones, further dependent on other factors like dissolved
oxygen level and nutrient availability. Salt level classifies
Cell aquatic biomes as marine biomes with high salt levels
containing water bodies and freshwater biomes with less or no
salt-containing water bodies.
Tissues
8 Aquatic Biomes
1. Mangroves - storm protection, figh eggs laying
Organ 2. Rivers and Seas
3. Estuaries - area where fresh and salt water meets
- do not mix due to varying density and salinity
Organ System - estuarine , water in between
- organism that can live in both : Salmon
(anandromous) - hypotonic to hypertonic
Individual/Organism 4. Coral Reefs (animals) - flowers of the sea
5. Lakes and Ponds
6. Oceans
Population 7. Intertidal Zones - near to the shore
8. Wetlands
9.
Community Gabii (init) - land breeze
Buntag (bugnaw) - sea breeze

Ecosystem 2. Forest Biome

Biosphere
Biosphere is simply the collection of all the living beings on the
earth. In other words, all the ecosystems of the earth could be
collectively referred to as the biosphere. The biosphere is that part
of the Earth where living things thrive and live. It is the portion of
the planet that can sustain life. The Earth has three other spheres:
the atmosphere, the lithosphere, and the hydrosphere. However, not
all of them are inhabited by living things. The portions or regions
where organisms are found are collectively called the biosphere.
Thus, it can also be said that the biosphere is the sum of all the
ecosystems on Earth.
Forest biomes are made up of trees and other woody
plants. There are many types of forests. They are located in
different parts of the world. The climate is different in each type
of forest. Therefore, the plants and animals that can live in
each type of forest are different. Photo: Deciduous forest in
temperate biome.
Tropical forests are found near the equator. They
grow in parts of South America, Africa, and the East Indies. It
is very hot in these parts of the world. In some places there are
also very wet. They receive a lot of rain. That is why tropical
forests are called "rainforests." The climate in these forests is
the same nearly all year. There is no cold winter season. The
only seasons are rainy and dry.

Biomes The biosphere is

composed of biomes; the
biome is a collection of
similar ecosystems, and the
ecosystem is a collection of
different species where that
coexist with each other by
sharing different ecological
niches. The large biosphere
is divided into large parts of
biomes. Scientists classified
biomes into five different
types: tundra, grassland,
forests, deserts, and Temperate rainforests are found in the Pacific
aquatic biomes. Rivers, Northwest of the United States. They also occur in southern
lakes, seas, oceans, and other aqueous habitats are inhabited by a Chile and northern Japan. Temperate rainforests are similar to
large diversity of plants and animals. Conversely, deserts are the both tropical forests and temperate forests. Like tropical
driest areas of the Earth with the lowest measurement of rain per forests, temperate rainforests are very wet. They get a lot of rain
year. Grasslands cover the green areas of the Earth. each year. However, temperate rainforests are cooler than
tropical forests. Temperate forests are found between Earth's
Ecosystem - an interaction of living and non living in an area, a poles and the tropics. They are in parts of North America, Asia,
collection of species that coexist with the same niche and Europe. These forests are cooler and drier than tropical
Ecology - branch of science that deals with the study of the forests. The climate in temperate forests goes through four
interaction between living and non-living In an area seasons. There is a warm summer season, a cold winter season,
and two in-between seasons—spring and fall. Each of the four
seasons lasts about three months
The Large Biosphere is divided into the major biomes:
1. Aquatic Biome 4. Tundra Biome
2. Forest Biome 5. Grassland Biome
3. Desert Biome

1. Aquatic Biome
 fires, and grazing by animals are three factors that maintain
grasslands. In grassland regions, the climate is ideal for the
growth of grasses only. The low precipitation rates are enough
to nourish grasses but not enough for a forest of trees.
Frequent fires also play a role in maintaining grassland
ecosystems. Grasses are well adapted to grow back after a fire.
Grassland animals are also prepared for fires, fleeing or
burrowing underground to wait out the flames. Large animals,
such as African elephants, can also trample the ground and
discourage the growth of trees.

The two distinct types of grasslands are savannas and

Boreal forests, or taiga, make up the largest land-based
temperate grasslands. These two types of grasslands may look
biome. They are found between 50 and 60 degrees in north
similar, but they differ in some significant ways. For example,
latitudes. They are in parts of Eurasia, North America, Siberia,
elephants are found in African savannas but not in the
Scandinavia, Alaska, and Canada. These forests are cold. They
temperate grasslands of the United States. In contrast,
receive very little precipitation. Most of it is in the form of snow. The
burrowing animals, such as prairie dogs, are commonly found
climate in boreal forests goes through two seasons. There is a moist,
in temperate grasslands. Temperate grasslands also are known
somewhat warm summer. Boreal summers are very short. There is
to have richer soils than savannas.
a cold, dry winter. Boreal winters are very long.
Savannas
Savannas are present in areas that have a warm
climate with a rainy season and a dry season. Most of the
precipitation falls during just a few months of the year. This
results in a long dry season that inhibits the growth of trees.
Savannas and their abundant wildlife are famous in Africa, but
savannas can also be found in South America, Asia, and
Australia.

Temperate
Temperate grasslands, on the other hand, are known
for their rich soil that yields abundant growth of grasses.
Temperate grasslands are found in places such as North
America and Eastern Europe.

3. Desert Biome
Desert biomes are the driest of all biomes. In fact, the most
important characteristic of a desert is that it receives very little
rainfall. Most deserts receive less than 300 mm a year compared to
rainforests, which receive over 2,000 mm. That means that the
desert only gets 10 percent of the rain that a rainforest gets! The
temperature in the desert can change drastically from day to night
because the air is so dry that heat escapes rapidly at night. The
daytime temperature averages 38°C while in some deserts it can get
down to -4°C at night. The temperature also varies greatly
depending on the location of the desert.

Since desert conditions are so severe, the plants that live

there need to have adaptations to compensate for the lack of water.
Some plants, such as cacti, store water in their stems and use it
very slowly, while others like bushes conserve water by growing few
leaves or by having large root systems to gather water. Some desert Lahi lahig bacteria gigamit sa nitrogen cycle sa dagat ug
plant species have a short life cycle of a few weeks that lasts only terresrialo chuchu
during periods of rain.

Plants in deserts have adaptations to conserve water. For

example, cacti have enlarged stems to store water, as well as spines
to protect these water reserves from thirsty animals. Animals such
as the black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) are also adapted
to life in the desert: Their extra-long ears help to transfer out excess
heat from their body into the air.

4. Tundra Biome
Tundra regions typically get less than 25 centimeters (10
inches) of precipitation annually, which means these areas are also
considered deserts. They have long, cold winters with high winds
and average temperatures below freezing for six to ten months of
the year. On average, only six to ten weeks of the year have
sufficiently warm temperatures and long days for plant growth. The
soil in the Arctic is largely permafrost or soil that remains frozen
year-round, leaving only a thin surface layer of thawed soil in
summer for plant roots to grow in. Tundra soil is also scarce in
many of the nutrients that plants need to grow.

Animals in the tundra are also adapted to extreme

conditions, and they take advantage of the temporary explosion of
plant and insect life in the short growing season. Tundra wildlife
includes small mammals such as Norway lemmings, arctic hares,
and arctic ground squirrels, and large mammals, such as caribou.
These animals build up stores of fat to sustain and insulate them
through the winter. They also have thick coats of fur for further
insulation. Some save energy by hibernating during the long winter
months. Others migrate to warmer climes during winter. Many
birds also migrate into the tundra during the growing season to
feed, mate, and nest.

5. Grassland Biome
Grassland biomes consist of large open areas of grass.
Trees can be present, but they are infrequent. Low rainfall, wildland