ACLC COLLEGE TACLOBAN

Tacloban City

THE FOUR SUBSYSTEMS OF THE EARTH

Group Members Names

Niño Albert R. Francisco

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page i

Table Of Contents ii

Contents 1

Contents 2

Contents 3

References iii

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 The Four Subsystems of the Earth

Everything in Earth’s system can be placed into one of four major subsystems
Land, Water, Air, or Living Things. These four subsystems are called “Spheres.”
Specifically, they are the “Lithosphere” (land), “Hydrosphere” (water), “Atmosphere”
(air), and “Biosphere” (living Things). Each of these four spheres can be further divided
into sub-spheres. (Belnay, 2016, p.1).

The Atmosphere One of the main components of Earth’s interdependent physical

systems. An atmosphere is made of the layers of gases surrounding a planet or other
celestial body. (National Geographic Society, 2024). Atmosphere has five layers this are
the “Troposphere”, “Stratosphere”, “Mesosphere”, “Thermosphere”, and “Exosphere”.
Atmosphere protect Earth from the Harmful Ultraviolet (UV)Radiation from the Sun.

The Troposphere is the first layer of the atmosphere and also known as the lower
atmosphere, almost all weather occurs in this region. The troposphere begins at the
Earth's surface, but the height of the troposphere varies. The transition layer at the
bottom of the stratosphere is called the “Tropopause”. (National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, 2024).

The Stratosphere is the second atmospheric layer from the ground level. It sits
above the troposphere and is directly below the mesosphere. bounded by the
tropopause and stratopause. It’s characterized by a highly stable temperature gradient
that cools from top to bottom. (EarthHow, 2023). And also, stratosphere contains high
level of “Ozone”

The Mesosphere is the third highest layer of atmosphere and occupies the region
above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere, between 50 and 90 km, in which
temperature decreases with height. The transition between the mesosphere and the
thermosphere is called the mesopause and is the altitude at which the temperature
reaches a minimum before increasing with height in the thermosphere. (Huaman &
Kelley, 2003).

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 The Thermosphere is the fourth layer of the atmosphere, lies between the
exosphere and the mesosphere it has 4,500 degrees Fahrenheit According to
SpacePlace.Nasa (2019). It is characterized by high temperature and large variability, in
response to changes in solar ultraviolet radiation and solar-driven geomagnetic activity.
(Solomon & Roble, 2015).

The Exosphere is the fifth layer of the atmosphere and the outermost layer of the
atmosphere it interfaces between earth and space. The exosphere is an atmosphere so
thin that its few atoms or molecules are unlikely to collide with one another. In Earth's
atmosphere, the exosphere is the highest part of the atmosphere where the density of
gas molecules is very low. (Murchie & Strom, 2014).

The Lithosphere also known called “Geosphere “. The lithosphere is the

outermost layer of Earth, composed of the crust and the brittle part of the upper mantle.
The term lithosphere is derived from the Greek words "lithos," meaning stone, and
"sphaira," meaning globe or ball. (Dobrijevic, 2022). Lithosphere are divided into two
varieties “Continental Crust” and “Oceanic Crust”.

Oceanic Crust is the outermost layer of Earth’s lithosphere that is found under
the oceans and formed at spreading centres on oceanic ridges, which occur at
divergent plate boundaries. (Luyendyk, 2023). Oceanic crust is denser than the
continental crust but the continental crust is thicker than the Oceanic crust.

Continental Crust is the outermost layer of Earth’s lithosphere that makes up the
planet’s continents and continental shelves and is formed near subduction zones at
plate boundaries between continental and oceanic tectonic plates. The continental crust
forms nearly all of Earth’s land surface. (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica &
Aakanksha, 2023).

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 The Hydrosphere comes from the Greek word hydro which means water and
sphere which means sphere. Hydrosphere refers to the water on or surrounding the
surface of the globe, as distinguished from those of the lithosphere and the atmosphere.
More specifically, the hydrosphere includes the region that includes all the earth's liquid
water, frozen and floating ice, water in the upper layer of soil, and the small amounts of
water vapor in the earth's atmosphere. The hydrosphere is the major setting for the
earth's hydrologic cycle. (Negusse, 2005).

The Biosphere, relatively thin life-supporting stratum of Earth’s surface, extending

from a few kilometers into the atmosphere to the deep-sea vents of the ocean. The
biosphere is a global ecosystem composed of living organisms (biota) and the abiotic
(nonliving) factors from which they derive energy and nutrients. (Thompson et al.,
2020).

So, the Earth has it owns Subsystem that work together this are the Atmosphere,
Lithosphere, Hydrosphere, and Biosphere. Together these four subsystems can support
life. Atmosphere that produced Oxygens for living and non-living beings and protects
earth from the harmful Ultra (UV)Radiation from the sun. Lithosphere or also known
called the Geosphere It provides us forests, grassland for grazing, land for agriculture
and human settlements. It is also a treasure of various minerals. Hydrosphere which is
produced water cycle for the living and non-living beings. And lastly the Biosphere
which is provides the necessary environmental conditions for survival. Living organisms
are required to adapt to the environment of the biosphere. The biosphere is home to
biodiversity within ecosystems while providing a reliable source of food on Earth.

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 References

Belnay, L. (2016). What are the Four Subsystems of the Earth? NOAA Global
Monitoring Laboratory (.Gov).
https://gml.noaa.gov/outreach/info_activities/pdfs/TBI_earth_spheres.pdf
National Geographic Society. (2024). What is Atmosphere? National Geographic
Education.
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/earths-systems/
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2024). What is troposphere? NOAA
Logo National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/atmosphere/layers-of-atmosphere
Earth How. (2023). What is stratosphere. Earth How
.https://earthhow.com/stratosphere/
Huaman, M. M., Kelley, M. C., & Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences. (2003). The
mesosphere. Science Direct. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-
sciences/mesosphere
Solomon, S. C., Roble, R. G., & Science Direct. (2015). What is thermosphere. Science
Direct.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/thermosphere
Murchie, L., Strom, G., & Encyclopedia of the Solar System (Third Edition). (2014).
What is exosphere. Science Direct.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/exosphere
Dobrijevic, D. (2022). What is lithosphere. Space.com.
https://www.space.com/lithosphere-earth-outer-layer
Luyendyk, B. P. (2023). What is Oceanic crust. Britannica.com.
https://www.britannica.com/science/oceanic-crust
Aakanksha, G. & The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2023). What is Continental
crust. Britannica.com. https://www.britannica.com/science/continental-crust/additional-
info
Negusse, A., Yoseph. (2005). What is Hydrosphere. The Open University.
https://oro.open.ac.uk/6219/
Thompson, B., Gates, M., & Thompson, N. (2020). What is Biosphere to a Subsystems.
Britannica.com. https://www.britannica.com/science/biosphere

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