Earth’s

subsystems
Earth’s four
subsystem:
•Lithosphere
•Atmosphere
•Hydrosphere
•biosphere
LITHOSPHE
RE
•‘‘Litho’’- rock and “sphere”- round
•The solid outer section of the earth
•It is believed that at the beginning,
the continents are all locked up into
a huge landmass called PANGEA
WHY IS IT THAT THIS
HUGE LANDMASS
BROKE APART AND
GRADUALLY DRIFTED
TO THEIR PRESENT
POSITION?
 PLATE TECTONIC THEORY

•Explains the large-scale

movement of earth’s plates
•Probably related to convection
current within the mantle
• Proposes that the lithosphere is
divided into major plates and
smaller plates resting upon the
lower soft layer called
ASTHENOSPHERE.
BOUNDARY- the border
between tectonic plates

3 types of plate boundaries:

- convergent
- divergent
- transform
 Convergent plate
boundaries
•Plates move onto each other
•Crust is destroyed as one plate dives under
another
•2 processes during convergence of two plate
- subduction
- continental collision
 Divergent plate boundaries
• Plates move away from each other
• New crust is generated as the plates pull
away from each other
• 3 processes during divergence
- Rifting
- occurrence of divergence
- sea-floor spreading
 Transform plate boundaries
•Plates move past one another in
opposite direction
•Also known as transform fault
•Doesn’t allow molten rock to move
upward therefore causes little or no
volcanism.
 Earth’s layer
•Core
•Mantle
•crust
CORE: inner and outer
•The INNER CORE
- Inge Lehmann discovered in 1936
that the earth has a solid inner core.
- consist mainly of iron-nickel alloy and
is magnetic.
- its temperature is 6000˚C
 The OUTER CORE
- Made mostly of iron and nickel
- its temperature is 4000˚C to 5000˚C
- because of very high temperature, the
outer core is liquid
• LEHMANN DISCONTINUITY- The boundary
between the outer and inner core.
• Earth’s molten metallic core gave rise to
magnetic field.
 MANTLE
•The mantle is the longest part of
the Earth.
•It is made up of molten rock called
MAGMA.
•It has a total thickness of 2,900 km.
THE LOWER MANTLE:
•Hot and exhibits plasticity
•The higher pressure causes formation of
minerals that are different from the
upper layer.
•GUTENBERG DISCONTINUITY- boundary
between lower mantle and outer core
•It is 2,240 km thick
 THE UPPER MANTLE
• The uppermost mantle and Earth’s crust that
form the lithosphere are relatively rigid.
• Usually made up of mechanically strong rocks
• MOHOROVICIC (MOHO)DISCONTINUITY- the
boundary between upper mantle and the Earth’s
crust.
• Moho is 5km to 10km below the ocean floor and
20km to 90km beneath typical continents.
• ASTHENOSPHERE- is a layer that lies after
the lithosphere about 100km to 250km
beneath.
• Joseph Barell- British geologist who named
earth’s layer asthenosphere.
LOWER/MID-MANTLE UPPER MANTLE
• ASTHENOSPHERE • LITHOSPHERE
• SOFT/MAGMA • RIGID/SOLID
• 2,240 KM • 660 KM
 THE CRUST- makes up the lithosphere; the
outermost layer of the earth
•TWO TYPES OF CRUST:
OCEANIC CRUST CONTINENTAL CRUST
• DARK-COLORED • LIGHT-COLORED
• ROCK SAMPLE- BASALT • ROCK SAMPLE- GRANITE
• MORE DENSE • LESS DENSE
• THIN LAYER • COARSE-TEXTURED
• 50 KM • THICK LAYER
• 40-70 KM
BIOSPHERE
 BIOSPERE
•Contains entirely of earth’s living
things.
•Refers to “zone of life”
•Edward Suess – coined the term
biosphere in 1875.
BIOMES- division of biosphere; the world’s major communities.
4 MAJOR BIOMES
1. Aquatic- includes freshwater and marine where plants and
animals live.
2. FOREST- includes tropical, temperate,
and boreal forest, as well as taiga. Each forest
has distinctive features dominated by grasses.
3. DESERT- is characterized by low rainfall.
Most desert have specialized vegetation as well
as specialized animals that can adapt to its
condition.
4. TUNDRA- is the coldest of all the biomes. It
has low biotic diversity and simple vegetation
structure.
HYDROSPHERE
• Earth’s early history, the volcanic eruption spewed
gases, such as water, carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide, and other gases.
• As earth cooled, water vapor condensed to form the
early ocean while the other gases remained in the
gaseous state, which make up the early atmosphere.
• Earth consist mostly of water, the reason why earth
is called the BLUE PLANET.
• nearly 71% of its surface is ocean
• The world’s ocean is divided into 4 main
ocean basins:
* PACIFIC OCEAN
*ATLANTIC OCEAN
*INDIAN OCEAN
*ARCTIC OCEAN
 WHAT IS THE
DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN OCEAN
AND SEA?
•SEA - is a part of ocean that is
partially surrounding a landform

•OCEAN – is a body of saltwater with

almost no boundaries and limitless
volume.
 OCEAN ZONES
•HORIZONTAL ZONE – divide the
ocean from land to sea
•VERTICAL ZONE – divide the ocean
based on depth
 HORIZONTAL ZONE
• COASTAL ZONE – region in which the sea bottom is
exposed during low tide and is covered during high
tide.
• PELAGIC ZONE- located seaward of the coastal
zone’s low tide mark.
2 DIVISION OF PELAGIC ZONE
Oceanic zone
Neritic zone
VERTICAL ZONE
EPIPELAGIC ZONE (0-200M) – zone that gets
a lot of sunlight.
MESOPELAGIC ZONE (200-1000M)- characterized by dim
light due to limited amount of sunlight it receives.
BATHYPELAGIC ZONE (1000-4000 M) – does
not receive any sunlight.
ABYSSOPELAGIC (4000-6000M) – described as
deep sea. Most animals that live here are
invertebrates.
HADALPELAGIC ZONE (6000-bottom) –
deepest part of the ocean floor. Mostly found
in trenches and canyons.
THE END
Layers of the
Atmosphere
ATMOSPHERE
Essential Question
•How do each of the layers of the
Earth’s atmosphere differ from each
other?
Five layers of the earth’s
atmosphere:
•Troposphere
•Stratosphere
•Mesosphere
•Thermosphere
•Exosphere
Create a saying to remember them

•Such as “Try Sending Me

To Exosphere!”
The Troposphere
• Lowest layer.
• All weather associated cloud
types are found in the
troposphere.
• We live in it.
• “Tropo” means turning or
changing conditions.
• Densest layer.
• Temperature is warmer at
the surface and decreases
with altitude.
Temperature/Density and the
Troposphere
• Troposphere:
temperature at surface is
warmed by the earth
absorbing energy from
the sun.
• Air cools as it rises.
• Density decreases since
there is less air above.
 The Stratosphere
• “Strato” means layer or spreading
out
• Contains the ozone layer which
absorbs energy and causes the
temperature to rise.
• The ozone layer protects life on earth
from dangerous UV rays (ultraviolet
radiation from the Sun).
• The stratosphere lacks the
weather-producing air
turbulence
• Completely free of clouds and
other forms of weather.
Temperature and the
Stratosphere
• Ozone, made of
oxygen, absorbs
ultraviolet radiation
from the sun, causing
the temperature to
increase.
• Density still
decreases.
The Mesosphere
• Drop in temperature
marks beginning of
mesosphere
• “Meso” means middle
• Most meteors burn up
here
 Temperature and the
Mesosphere
• This layer does not
absorb energy from
the sun, so it starts
to cool again.
 The Thermosphere
• “Thermo” means heat
• Very hot (over 1000°C), but since
air is so thin (not very dense) it
would not feel warm at all.
• The space shuttle orbits here.
• IONOSPHERE- layer consisting of
highly ionize gas
• The ions interact with air
molecules to form an aurora.
 The Exosphere
• “Exo” means outer
• Extends for 1000’s
of miles
• Satellites orbit here
• No definite edge
• Molecules gradually
escape out into
space
Atmospheric gases
Layers of the Earth’s Atmosphere

• Thermosphere
• Mesopause

• Mesosphere
• Stratopause

• Stratosphere
• Tropopause

• Troposphere
Global Warming

• An increase in Earth’s average surface temperature caused by an

increase in greenhouse gases.

• caused by Greenhouse Effect

Greenhouse Effect
• the trapping of heat by gases in the atmosphere
Greenhouse gases
> carbon dioxide
> sulfur dioxide
> ozone
> CFCs
> water vapor
Effects of Greenhouse Gas Pollution
• Global warming
> ice in polar caps will begin
to melt
> water in the ocean
expands
> flooding in lowlands
and coastal areas
> changes in weather
patterns
A journey through the Atmosphe
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