EARTH SYSTEM

is essentially a closed system. It receives energy

from the sun and returns some of this energy to
space.
NOTE: Solar Energy= Geosphere, Biosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere
 GEOSPHERE
✓ The portion of Earth that includes the interior structure, rocks
and minerals, landforms, and all physical processes on land
that shape the Earth’s surface.

✓ All the continents and ocean floor are also considered parts of
the geosphere.

✓ Scientists that study this part of earth are called geologists.

 Earth’s Internal Structure
The interior structure of the Earth is composed of different
layers , each with unique features.

3 main layers:
*Crust
*Mantle
*Core
• Each layers vary in density, mineral composition, temperature,
and thickness.

• Two types of waves:

1. p-waves which travel fast through both solid and liquids
2. s-waves travel slower than p-waves and through solids only.

• Seismologists and volcanologists study the components of Earth

through seismic waves.(elastic wave generated by an impulse such as an
earthquake or an explosion.)
❖ The Crust is like the skin of an apple. It is very thin in comparison
to the other layers of Earth.
✓ The crust is only about 3-5 miles (8 kilometers) thick under the
oceans(oceanic crust) and about 25 miles (32 kilometers) thick under
the continents (continental crust).
✓ Most of the crust is composed of eight elements namely:
1. Oxygen 5. Calcium
2. Silicon 6. Sodium
3. Aluminum 7. Potassium
4. Iron 8. Magnesium
❖ The mantle is the solid rock and is the largest part of Earth.
✓ Earth's mantle is a silicate rocky shell with an average thickness of
2,886 kilometers (1,793 mi).
✓ It lies between the extremely hot core and the thin outer layer of the
crust.
✓ The mantle makes up about 84% of Earth's volume.
✓ It is predominantly solid but in geological time it behaves as a very
viscous fluid.
✓ * The rocks that make up the mantle are mostly made of silicate
minerals.
❖ The outer core of the Earth is a liquid layer about 2,266
kilometers thick.
✓ It is made of iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni).

❖ The inner core is the Earth's innermost part and according to

seismological studies, it has been believed to be primarily a solid
ball with a radius of about 1220 kilometers, or 768 miles (about
70% of the Moon's radius).
✓ It is composed of an iron–nickel alloy and some light elements.
• Iron is particularly important because this is the
primary source of Earth’s magnetic field.
• The magnetic field extends outward to protect
Earth from solar winds by deflecting them.
• Without this magnetic field, the solar winds could
damage the Earth’s atmosphere and all living
forms on Earth.
• Just above the upper mantle and
still part of the crust is the
Mohorovicic discontinuity or
simply Moho.
• It was termed as discontinuity
because the seismic waves
behaved differently as they
traveled through this layer.
• Moho is now recognized as the
transitional boundary that divides
the crust and the mantle.
Andrija Mohorovicic
(1857-1936)
-was an Croatian meteorologist
and seismologist who suggested
that there are lies a boundary
between the crust and boundary
and was later named as the
Mohorovicic discontinuity or the
Moho.
• The Gutenberg discontinuity serves as a
transitional boundary between the lower mantle
and the outer core.
• This boundary does not remain constant
because of changes in heat flow.
• When heat in mantle dissipates, the molten core
gradually solidifies and shrinks, moving this
boundary deeper and deeper within Earth’s core.
• The extreme temperature and pressure in this
area causes rocks to become ductile and thus
move like liquid.
• The flow of molten rocks forces some brittle
parts of the crust to break, causing faults to
form.
Beno Gutenberg
(1889-1960)
-was a German seismologist
who discovered the Gutenberg
boundary.
• The Lehmann discontinuity is a
transitional boundary between the
inner and outer core.

• It was discovered on 1929 when a

large earthquake occurred near
New Zealand.
Inge Lehmann
(1888-1993)
-was a Danish seismologist who
in 1936, asserted that Earth’s core
is not just a single molten sphere
but it comes with a solid inner core
based on seismic data.
 Atmosphere
✓ The atmosphere is the thin gaseous layer that envelopes the lithosphere.

✓ The present atmosphere is composed of 78% nitrogen (N), 21% oxygen

(O2), 0.9% argon, and trace amount of other gases.

✓ One of the most important processes by which the heat on the Earth's
surface is redistributed is through atmospheric circulation.

✓ There is also a constant exchange of heat and moisture between the

atmosphere and the hydrosphere through the hydrologic cycle.
 The Four Layers of the
Atmosphere
❖ the troposphere, where we live;
❖ the stratosphere, which contains the
ozone layer;
❖ the mesosphere, where meteors
burn; and
❖ the thermosphere, where satellites
orbit Earth.

NOTE: Each layer have the so called buffer zone

which divides the layer from each other.
 ❖ Troposphere
➢ this layer is considered to be the
densest among the other layers. Because
temperatures drops with altitude, warm
air on the surface of Earth rises readily.
➢ Air molecules travel up and back
down causing the formation of clouds
and eventually rain from the moisture in
the air.
➢ Almost all weather variations occur
within the troposphere.
➢ prior to reaching the next layer above
the troposphere is a thin buffer zone
called the tropopause.
 ❖ Troposphere
• Most jets and planes would
fly slightly above the
troposphere to avoid this
turbulence in weather
• Most clouds are in these
layer.
 ❖Stratosphere
➢ the air in this layer has strong ,
steady horizontal winds which is
advantageous to long distance flights.
➢ At its upper region is the ozone
layer at about 6.2 miles or about 33
000 feet above Earth’s surface which
contain a high concentration of ozone.
➢ another thin buffer zone exists
before the next layer above the
stratosphere and this zone is called
the stratopause.
 ❖Stratosphere
• OZONE-DEPLETING
SUBSTANCES-certain sprays
and chemicals that directly
destroy the ozone molecules in
the ozone layer.
• Most ODS contain chlorine.
• It is speculated that one
chlorine atom can destroy 100,
000 ozone molecules.
 ❖ Mesosphere
➢ this is the layer above the
stratosphere. The temperature here
reaches a minimum of -90 °C and is
considered to be the coldest layer.
➢ This layer is important in
protecting the Earth from planetary
debris.
➢ the thin buffer zone above the
mesosphere is called the mesopause.
This zone is actually the coldest
region in the atmosphere.
 ❖ Mesosphere
• It is considered the coldest layer
basically because the heat from
the sun is decreased as absorbed
by the thermosphere.
• Emission of carbon dioxide in this
layer allows absorption of solar
heat and emits the heat back to
space.
• This is where most of the space
rocks, like meteors get burned up
or break down into smaller
pieces.
 ❖Thermosphere
➢ this layer is the hottest layer because of its
absorption of highly energetic solar heat.
➢ the lower part of the thermosphere is the
ionosphere where most collision of oxygen
and nitrogen particles are electrically charged
by the solar wind.
➢ Solar wind is a stream of energized, charged
particles flowing from the sun.
➢ Charged particles- are called ions, consists of
protons and electrons with high kinetic energy
and the high temperature of the corona.
➢ there exists a thermopause above the
thermosphere that also serves as a buffer zone
which separates the thermosphere from space.
 ❖Thermosphere
• As the solar winds gets blocked by the Earth’s magnetic field, some of the
ions are able to reach the ionosphere.
• In here, they will collide with Earth’s oxygen and nitrogen atoms. The energy
released during this collisions causes a colorful glow around the poles called
auroras. Its intensity depends on the strength of the solar wind.
• Different color were produced if oxygen, and if nitrogen depending on the
intense solar wind.
• In Northern regions like Artic and Northern Canada it is called “Aurora
borealis” or “Northern Light”.
• In Southern region like Antarctica and Southern Australia it is called “Aurora
Australis”.
 Hydrosphere
✓ About 70% of the Earth is covered with liquid water
(hydrosphere) and much of it is in the form of ocean water.

✓ Only 3% of Earth's water is fresh: two-thirds are in the form of

ice, and the remaining one-third is present in streams, lakes, and
groundwater.
 Characteristics of Water
1. Water could be in liquid form, not just solid and gas.
2. Water has a neutral pH.
3. Water is a good conductor of heat and energy.
4. Water has a specific heat.
5. Water is a universal solvent.
 Distribution of Waters on Earth

The waters on Earth are divided into two groups:

1. surface water
2. groundwater.
 Distribution of Waters on Earth
❑ Surface water may be either marine water or fresh water.
Marine water has higher salt content and is found in larger
bodies of water such as oceans, seas, bays.
Freshwater are those in lakes, rivers, springs and falls. Has a salt
lower content. It is the best source of drinking water for all
organisms.
❑ Ground water is the water found beneath Earth’s surface
where there are spaces in the soil or fractures in rocks.
 Biosphere
✓ The biosphere is the set of all life forms on Earth.
✓ It covers all ecosystems—from the soil to the rainforest, from
mangroves to coral reefs, and from the plankton-rich ocean
surface to the deep sea.
✓ For the majority of life on Earth, the base of the food chain
comprises photosynthetic organisms. During photosynthesis,
CO2 is sequestered from the atmosphere, while oxygen is
released as a byproduct. The biosphere is a CO2 sink, and
therefore, an important part of the carbon cycle.
 Scientists with Significant
Contribution
to Our Knowledge of Earth
James Hutton (1726-1797)
-is recognized as the founder of
modern geology. He was a Scottish
naturalist and farmer.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
-was an English naturalist known for
the theory of evolution.
Alexander Oparin (1894-1980)
-was a Soviet biochemist who proposed
the primordial soup theory in 1924 to
explain the origin of life on Earth .
Stanley Miller (1930-2007)
-was a Jewish- American chemist
who conducted an experiment in
1952 to test the hypothesis of
Oparin’s primordial theory..