EARTH SYSTEM THE EARTH SYSTEM

Week 2 - Earth is a system of four interacting

components.
SYSTEM
- SET OF INTERCONNECTED - GIVE THE FOUR EARTH’S
COMPONENTS THAT ARE SUBSYSTEMS OR SPHERES.
INTERACTING TO FORM A
UNIFIED WHOLE EARTH’S SPHERES OR SUBSYSTEMS

- IS EARTH A SYSTEM? ★ GEOSPHERE

Fitting puzzle pieces together is analogous ★ HYDROSPHERE
to how we study the Earth. By considering ★ BIOSPHERE
Earth as an integrated system, with many ★ ATMOSPHERE
interlocking parts, we are able to
understand the larger picture of global THE EARTH SYSTEM
change. - The Earth is divided into different
Spheres:
The Earth is a complex system where all the HYDROSPHERE, the water portion;
parts (spheres) interact. The Earth consists ATMOSPHERE, the gaseous envelope;
of four spheres: the lithosphere, the GEOSPHERE, the solid component; and
hydrosphere, the atmosphere and the BIOSPHERE, the living component of
biosphere. Earth.

Earth is also made up of five major parts or - What makes Earth a system?
subsystems: the Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, ★ The spheres interact with one
Biosphere, Cryosphere, and Geosphere. another, enabling Earth to sustain
Each major part is connected to the other life. The interaction of the
parts in a complex web of processes. spheres is what makes Earth a
system - one sphere cannot act
Scientists increasingly view Earth as a
independently from the rest.
dynamic system – a combination of
interrelated, interdependent or interacting
parts forming a collective whole or entity.
GEOSPHERE
On a macro level, the Earth system
➔ It is the solid region of Earth. It is a
maintains its existence and functions as a
major sphere of Earth that deals with
whole through the interactions of its parts,
the solid components such as
called components.
landforms, rocks and layers of Earth.
- interact to produce the environments
➔ It is not a lithosphere.
we are familiar with.
➔ It has a depth of 6400 km, making it
the largest sphere of Earth.
- WHAT MAKES IT A SYSTEM?
LITHOSPHERE CRUST

➔ It is the entire surface of the earth ➔ At the very surface of the earth is the
from the top of the highest mountain crust, the topmost layer, made
to the bottom of the deepest trench. mostly out of solid silicate rocks like
➔ It refers only to the crust and the top basalt and granite. It is relatively thin
portion of the upper mantle. and occupies just about 1% of
Earth’s Volume.
● It is composed of the earth’s crust
and the underlying cool, dense, and
rigid upper part of the upper
mantle.
● It is a large reservoir of resources
which are important to our survival.

➔ There are two types of crust: the

continental crust and the oceanic
crust. The thickness of the crust
varies with location: on land at sea
level(about 35 km thick), in a
mountainous region (about 70 km
thick), or at the bottom of an ocean
(about 7 km thick).

MANTLE
➔ The mantle under the crust is about
2,890 km deep. It is composed
mostly of silicate rocks rich in Mg
and Fe.

LAYERS OF THE EARTH

 ➔ The denser mantle is separated from
the crust by the MOHOROVICIC
discontinuity.
➔ The mantle comprises 82% of the
Earth’s volume.
➔ About 100km of the upper mantle is
made of solid rocks and makes up
the lithosphere.
➔ Below the solid portion of the upper
mantle is the weaker semisolid or
plastic ASTHENOSPHERE.
OUTER CORE
➔ made up of liquid iron and nickel
➔ 4400 to 5500 ℃
➔ creates a magnetic field that protects
Earth from harmful solar winds.
INNER CORE
➔ made up of iron and nickel,just like
the outer core, but solid in form
➔ located deep within the earth,
meaning it is under extreme
pressure.
➔ So much pressure, that even though
it is the hottest layer of the earth
(>5000 ℃),it is still solid.
HYDROSPHERE
➔ Earth is sometimes called the BLUE
PLANET or the BLUE MARBLE.
➔ This consists of those parts of the
earth system composed of water in
its liquid, gaseous (vapour) and solid
(ice) phases.
➔ The hydrosphere includes both
saltwater and freshwater systems,
and it also includes the moisture
found in the soil (soil water) and
within rocks (groundwater).
➔ The abundance of liquid water
supports life on earth.
● About 70 % of the Earth is covered
with liquid water (hydrosphere) and
much of it is in the form of ocean
water.
● Earth’s water is made up of 97%
saltwater and 3% freshwater. Only
22% of the freshwater is accessible
for human use in the form of
groundwater.
● Only 3% of Earth’s water is fresh:
two-thirds are in the form of ice
found in glaciers, and the remaining
one-third is present in streams,
lakes, and groundwater.
● Groundwater is the largest reservoir
of freshwater available to humans.
How would the waters found mostly on
oceans get distributed over the land?
➔ Hydrosphere is a dynamic mass of
water that interact with each of
Earth’s sphere through the water
cycle. The water moves from the
hydrosphere to the atmosphere
through evaporation, to the
geosphere through precipitation, and
back to the hydrosphere through
runoff.
How does hydrosphere interact with the
geosphere?
The interaction of the geosphere and the
hydrosphere is responsible for sculpturing
Earth’s surface and produces its
magnificent landforms.
ATMOSPHERE
➔ this is the gaseous layer surrounding
the earth and held to its surface by
gravity
● The present atmosphere is
composed of 78%Nitrogen, 21%
Oxygen, 0.9% Argon, and trace
amounts of other gasses.
LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
● Exosphere
10 000 km
● Ionosphere
48 - 965 km
● Thermosphere
600 km
aurora and satellite, high T
● Mesopause - coldest
- 80 km, meteors burn, low T
● Stratosphere
- 50 km, ozone, high T
● Troposphere
- 14.5 km
- weather, densest
BIOSPHERE
- It is composed of organisms and
their habitat which includes the
upper lithosphere, the hydrosphere
and the lowest atmosphere.
● The interconnectedness of the four
spheres helps support life on earth.
● During volcanic eruption, earth
releases carbon, nitrogen and
hydrogen which attach oxygen
molecules present in the
atmosphere.
● When allowed to cool, it condenses
to form water.
● Droplets of water fall and become
part of the ocean and other bodies of
water.
WHAT ARE CONDITIONS NECESSARY the virus in this
FOR LIFE? pandemic?
- WATER
- ATMOSPHERE
- A DYNAMIC CORE
- SUN
- MOON

Why do we need an
atmosphere?

a. The atmosphere protects us from

the harmful rays of the sun.
b. The atmosphere also protects us
from meteorites.
c. Both A and B

WHAT ARE THE

LAYERS OF THE
EARTH?

In a system, every
branches or
components must do
their own part in order
to succeed as a
whole.

Therefore, as citizens
of our country, what
are the things that we
can do to help fight