The Hydrosphere

Objectives
 Name the three major processes in the water cycle.
 Describe the properties of ocean water.
 Describe the two types of ocean currents.
 Explain how the ocean regulates Earth’s temperature.
 Discuss the factors that confine life to the biosphere.
 Explain the difference between open and closed
systems.
The Hydrosphere
 The hydrosphere includes all of the water on or
near the Earth’s surface.

 This includes
◦ water in the oceans
◦ lakes
◦ rivers
◦ wetlands
◦ polar ice caps
◦ soil
◦ rock layers beneath the Earth
◦ clouds
The Water Cycle
 The water cycle: is the
◦ continuous movement of water
 from the ocean to atmosphere to land back to ocean.

 Evaporation: change of a substance from

liquid to gas.

 Water continually evaporates from the Earth’s

oceans, lakes, streams, and soil, but the
majority evaporates from the oceans.
The Water Cycle
 Condensation is the change of state from a gas to
a liquid.
◦ Water vapor forms water droplets
◦ Droplets form clouds
◦ Clouds create heavier drops that fall as Precipitation

 Precipitation is any form of water that falls to the

Earth from the clouds including
◦ Rain
◦ Snow
◦ Sleet
◦ Hail
The Water Cycle
Earth’s Oceans
 All of the oceans are joined together called:
◦ world ocean.
 Oceans regulate the planet’s environment.
Earth’s Oceans
 The largest ocean is
the Pacific Ocean
◦ surface area of about
165,640,000 km2.
◦ The deepest point is
Challenger Deep.

 It is 11,033m (6.85miles)
below sea level
◦ deeper than Mount
Everest is tall.
Earth’s Oceans
 Largest Ocean: Pacific Ocean
◦ divided into two parts

 North Pacific and South Pacific

◦ based on the direction of the surface
currents.

 North Pacific: currents move clockwise

 South Pacific: currents move counter-

clockwise
Pacific Ocean Currents
Earth’s Oceans
 2nd largest ocean: Atlantic Ocean
◦ about 1/2 the size of Pacific Ocean
◦ Covers 81,630,000 km2.

 Can be divided into a north and south based

on the directions of surface currents.
Earth’s Oceans
 3rd largest ocean: The Indian Ocean
◦ covers73,420,000 km2.

 The smallest ocean: Artic ocean

◦ covers 14,350,000 km2.
◦ much of its surface is covered by floating ice

Summer in the Arctic

Ocean Water
 What makes ocean and fresh water different?
◦ SALT
 Salinity is a measure of the amount of
dissolved salts in water.
◦ lower in places:
 that get a lot of rain
 where fresh water flows in to the sea.
◦ higher where water evaporates rapidly leaving salts
behind.
Ocean Water
 Most of the salt in the ocean is sodium
chloride (NaCl a.k.a. table salt)
 although many other elements can be found

in the ocean as well.

Temperature Zones
 Surface: warmed by the sun
 stirred up by waves and currents so the

◦ warm surface zone may be 350 m deep.

 Thermocline: Below the surface zone
◦ about 300 to 700 m
◦ temperature falls rapidly.
 depths of the ocean
◦ no sunlight = very cold, just above freezing.
Temperature Zones
Ocean Layers
Ocean Layers
(From Surface to Floor)
 Epipelagic Zone

 Mesopelagic Zone

 Bathypelagic Zone

 Abyssopelagic Zone

 Hadalpelagic Zone

 Benthic Zone
Ocean Zones
Epipelagic Zone:
Surface – 650 ft
◦Upper ocean zone.
Full of life
◦enough sunlight to sustain
photosynthesis.
(a.k.a.) Euphotic Zone.
Ocean Zones
 Mesopelagic Zone:
 650 ft – 3300ft
◦ not enough sunlight to sustain
photosynthesis.
 (a.k.a.) Disphotic Zone.
Ocean Zones
 Bathypelagic Zone:
 3300 ft- 13000ft
 lowest level on the continental shelf.
 No sunlight.
 Aphotic Zone: No Sunlight
 Plants cannot grow.
 No primary productivity.
 All the food in this zone comes from
dead material sinking from the higher
layers.
Ocean Zones
 Abyssopelagic Zone:
 13000ft- ~20000ft
◦ Largest layer of the ocean.
◦ It is completely dark, and the
◦ Low oxygen concentration
 Extreme pressure.
 No sunlight.
 Aphotic Zone: No Sunlight
 Plants cannot grow.
 No primary productivity.
 Does Support life.
◦ Organisms feed off of dead and fecal
materials that sink to the sea floor.
Ocean Zones
 Hadalpelagic Zone:
 20000ft and Lower
 Deep ocean trenches such as the
Mariana Trench and others.
 Shares same characteristics as the
Abyssal Zone except even deeper.
 No sunlight.
 Aphotic Zone: No Sunlight
 Plants cannot grow.
Ocean Zones
 Benthic Zone:
 This is the ocean floor.

◦ Mudlike sediments form bodies of

dead organisms
◦ Fecal pellets of aquatic organisms
also accumulate here.
 Sediment of dead organisms
and fecal matter can be a mile
thick.
 Aphotic Zone: No Sunlight
 Extreme pressure
Light
A Global Temperature Regulator
 Important functions:
◦ Absorb and store energy from sunlight
◦ This regulates temperatures in Earth’s atmosphere.
 Because the ocean both absorbs and releases
heat slower than land, the temperature of the
atmosphere changes more slowly.
 If oceans did not regulate temperatures,

temperatures would be too extreme for life to

exist on Earth.
A Global Temperature Regulator
 Local temperatures are regulated by the
world ocean.
 Currents circulate warm water causing land

areas they flow past to have more moderate

climates.
 For example, the British Isles are warmed by

the waters of the Gulf Stream.

Ocean Currents
 surface currents: Streamlike movements of
water that occur at or near the surface.
◦ wind driven and result from global wind patterns.
 Surface currents:
◦ can be warm or cold
◦ They do not readily
mix with one another.
Ocean Currents
Ocean Currents
 Deep currents
◦ movements of water that flow very slowly along the
ocean floor.
 Deep currents form when the cold, dense
water from the poles sinks below warmer,
less dense ocean water and flows toward the
equator.
◦ The densest and coldest ocean water is located off
the coast of Antarctica producing a deep current
called the Antarctic Bottom Water.
Fresh Water and River Systems
 Fresh water:
◦ Most fresh water is locked up in icecaps and glaciers
◦ The rest is found in
 lakes
 rivers
 wetlands
 soil and
 atmosphere
 A river system:
◦ network of streams that drains an area of land
◦ including the main river, smaller streams or rivers
that flow into larger ones.
Ground water
 Precipitation sinks into the ground and run
off the land.
 Most of this water trickles down through the

ground and collects as groundwater.

 Groundwater fulfills the need for fresh

drinking water, and supplies agricultural and

industrial need.
 Makes up 1% of all the water on Earth,
Aquifers
 A rock layer that stores and allows the flow of
groundwater is called an aquifer.
The Biosphere
 The biosphere is the part of Earth where life
exists,
◦ 11 km into the ocean
◦ 9 km into the atmosphere.
 The materials that organisms require must be
continually recycled.
 Biosphere: only area with Suitable conditions

for life due to abundant sunlight.

The Biosphere
 Plants need sunlight to produce food
◦ almost every other organism gets its food from
plants and algae.
 Most of the algae float at the surface, known
as phytoplankton.
Energy Flow in the Biosphere
 When an organism dies, its body is broken
down and the nutrients become available for
use by other organisms.
 This flow of energy allows life on Earth to

continue to exist.
Energy Flow in the Biosphere
 Closed systems are systems that cannot
exchange matter or energy with its
surroundings.
 Open systems are systems that can exchange
both matter and energy with its surroundings.
 Earth is a closed system with respect to matter
 Earth is a open system for energy
 energy travel
◦ Sun
◦ Plant
◦ animal