Earth science

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Earth science (also known as geoscience, the geosciences or the Earth sciences) is an all-embracing term

for the sciences related to the planet Earth.[1] It is arguably a special case inplanetary science, the Earth being
the only known life-bearing planet. There are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Earth sciences. The
formal discipline of Earth sciences may include the study of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, oceans and
biosphere, as well as the solid earth. Typically Earth scientists will use tools
from physics, chemistry, biology, chronology andmathematics to build a quantitative understanding of how the
Earth system works, and how it evolved to its current state.

A volcano eruption is the release of stored energy from below the surface of Earth, originating from radioactive decay and
gravitational sorting in the Earth's core and mantle, and residual energy gained during the Earth`s formation. [2]

Contents
  [hide] 

1 Fields of study

2 Earth's interior

3 Earth's electromagnetic field

4 Atmosphere

5 Methodology

6 Earth's spheres

o 6.1 Partial list of the major earth

science topics

 6.1.1 Atmosphere

 6.1.2 Biosphere

 6.1.3 Hydrosphere

 6.1.4 Lithosphere or
 geosphere

 6.1.5 Pedosphere

 6.1.6 Systems

 6.1.7 Others

7 See also

8 References

9 Further reading

10 External links

[edit]Fields of study

Lava flows from the Kīlauea volcano into the ocean on the Island of Hawaii

The following fields of science are generally categorized within the geosciences:

 Geology describes the rocky parts of the Earth's crust (or lithosphere) and its historic development.

Major subdisciplines
are mineralogy andpetrology, geochemistry, geomorphology, paleontology, stratigraphy, structural
geology, engineering geology and sedimentology.[3][4]

 Physical geography covers the aspects

of geomorphology, oceanography, climatology and biogeography.[citation needed]

 Geophysics and geodesy investigate the shape of the Earth, its reaction to forces and

its magnetic and gravity fields.[citation needed]Geophysicists explore the Earth's core and mantle as well as
the tectonic and seismic activity of the lithosphere.[4][5][6]

 Soil science covers the outermost layer of the Earth's crust that is subject to soil formation processes
(or pedosphere).[7] Major subdisciplines include edaphology and pedology.[8]
 Oceanography and hydrology (includes limnology) describe the marine and freshwater domains of
the watery parts of the Earth (orhydrosphere). Major subdisciplines
include hydrogeology and physical, chemical, and biological oceanography.[citation needed]

 Glaciology covers the icy parts of the Earth (or cryosphere).

 Atmospheric sciences cover the gaseous parts of the Earth (or atmosphere) between the surface and
the exosphere (about 1000 km). Major subdisciplines are meteorology, climatology, atmospheric
chemistry and atmospheric physics.
[edit]Earth's interior

Plate tectonics, mountain ranges, volcanoes, and earthquakes are geological phenomena that can be

explained in terms of energy transformations in the Earth's crust.[9]

Beneath the Earth's crust lies the mantle which is heated by the radioactive decay of heavy elements. The

mantle is not quite solid and consists of magma which is in a state of semi-perpetualconvection. This
convection process causes the lithospheric plates to move, albeit slowly. The resulting process is known
as plate tectonics.[10][11][12][13]

Plate tectonics might be thought of as the process by which the earth is resurfaced. Through a process
called spreading ridges (or seafloor spreading), new earth crust is created by the flow of magma from
underneath the lithosphere to the surface, through fissures, where it cools and solidifies. Through a process
called subduction, crust is pushed underground—beneath the rest of the lithosphere—where it comes into
contact with magma and melts—rejoining the mantle from which it originally came. [11][13][14]

Areas of the crust where new crust is created are called divergent boundaries, those where it is brought back
into the earth are convergent boundaries and those where plates slide past each other, but no new lithospheric
material is created or destroyed, are referred to as transform boundaries[11][13][15] Earthquakes result from the
movement of the lithospheric plates, and they often occur near covergent boundaries where parts of the crust
are forced into the earth as part of subduction.[16]

Volcanoes result primarily from the melting of subducted crust material. Crust material that is forced into
the asthenosphere melts, and some portion of the melted material becomes light enough to rise to the surface
—giving birth to volcanoes.[11][16]

[edit]Earth's electromagnetic field

An electromagnet is a magnet that is created by a current that flows around a soft iron core.[17] Earth has a solid
iron inner core surrounded by semi-liquid materials of the outer core that move in continuous currents around
the inner core;[18] therefore, the Earth is an electromagnet. This is referred to as the dynamo theory of Earth's
magnetism.[19][20]
[edit]Atmosphere

The magnetosphere shields the surface of Earth from the charged particles of the solar wind. It is compressed on the day
(Sun) side due to the force of the arriving particles, and extended on the night side. Image not to scale.

The troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere are the five layers which make up

Earth's atmosphere. In all, the atmosphere is made up of about 78.0% nitrogen, 20.9% oxygen, and
0.92% argon. 75% of the gases in the atmosphere are located within the troposphere, the bottom-most layer.
The remaining one percent of the atmosphere (all but the nitrogen, oxygen, and argon) contains small amounts
of other gases including CO2 and water vapors.[21] Water vapors and CO2 allow the Earth's atmosphere to catch
and hold the Sun's energy through a phenomenon called the greenhouse effect.[22] This allows Earth's surface
to be warm enough to have liquid water and support life.

The magnetic field created by the internal motions of the core produces the magnetosphere which protects the

Earth's atmosphere from the solar wind.[23] As the earth is 4.5 billion years old,[24] it would have lost its
atmosphere by now if there were no protective magnetosphere.

In addition to storing heat, the atmosphere also protects living organisms by shielding the Earth's surface
from cosmic rays. Note that the level of protection is high enough to prevent cosmic rays from destroying all life
on Earth, yet low enough to aid the mutations that have an important role in pushing forward diversity in the
biosphere.[citation needed]

[edit]Methodology

Like all other scientists, Earth scientists apply the scientific method. They formulate hypotheses after observing
events and gathering data about natural phenomena, and then they test hypotheses from such data.

A contemporary idea within earth science is uniformitarianism. Uniformitarianism says that "ancient geologic
features are interpreted by understanding active processes that are readily observed". [citation needed] Simply stated,
this means that features of the Earth can be explained by the actions of gradual processes operating over long
periods of time; for example, a mountain need not be thought of as having been created in a moment, but
instead it may be seen as the result of continuous subduction, causing magma to rise and form continental
volcanic arcs.
[edit]Earth's spheres

Earth science generally recognizes four spheres, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and
the biosphere;[25] these correspond to rocks, water, air, and life. Some practitioners include, as part of the
spheres of the Earth, the cryosphere (corresponding to ice) as a distinct portion of the hydrosphere, as well as
the pedosphere (corresponding to soil) as an active and intermixed sphere.

[edit]Partial list of the major earth science topics

See: List of basic earth science topics
[edit]Atmosphere

 Atmospheric chemistry

 Climatology

 Meteorology

 Hydrometeorology

 Paleoclimatology
[edit]Biosphere

 Biogeography

 Paleontology

 Palynology

 Micropaleontology

 Geomicrobiology

 Geoarchaeology
[edit]Hydrosphere

 Hydrology

 Geohydrology

 Limnology (freshwater science)

 Oceanography (marine science)

 Chemical oceanography

 Physical oceanography

 Biological oceanography (marine biology)

 Geological oceanography (marine geology)

 Paleoceanography
[edit]Lithosphere or geosphere
 Geology  Geophysics
 Economic geology  Geochronolo
 Engineering geology  Geodynamic
 Environmental geology  Geomagnetis
 Historical geology  Gravimetry (
 Quaternary geology  Seismology
 Planetary geology  Glaciology
 Sedimentology  Hydrogeology
 Stratigraphy  Mineralogy
 Structural geology  Crystallogra
 Geography  Gemology
 Physical geography  Petrology
 Geochemistry  Speleology
 Geomorphology  Volcanology
[edit]Pedosphere

 Soil science

 Edaphology

 Pedology
[edit]Systems

 Environmental science

 Geography

 Human geography

 Physical geography

 Gaia hypothesis
 Earth science (also known as geoscience, the geosciences or the Earth Sciences), is an all-
embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. It is arguably a special case in
planetary science, being the only known life-bearing planet. There are both reductionist and
holistic approaches to Earth science. The major historic disciplines use physics, geology,
geography, mathematics, chemistry, and biology to build a quantitative understanding of the
principal areas or spheres of the Earth system.

Like all other scientists, Earth scientists apply the scientific method: formulate hypotheses after
observation of and gathering data about natural phenomena and then test those hypotheses. In
Earth science, data usually plays a critical role in testing and formulating hypotheses.

Earth science is interdiplined - it crosses all other sciences and study fields - so it's scope is
 everything that impacts on the earth 

Science 
In the broadest sense, science (from the Latin scientia, 'knowledge') refers to any systematic
methodology which attempts to collect accurate information about the shared reality and to model
this in a way which can be used to make reliable, concrete and quantitative predictions about
events, in line with hypotheses proven by experiment. In a more restricted sense, science refers
to a system of acquiring knowledge based on the scientific method, as well as to the organized
body of knowledge gained through such research.

So the scope of science is knowledge through reason - and the scope of earth science is
knowlege of earth systems through the study od combined sceinces. 

As for limitations - well it's in the anwser for scope - Reason. 

Science is bounded by reason and argument and proof - it doesn't step into the realm of belief
systems.

 Source(s):
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_scien…

Earth – Overview

Earth, our home, is the third planet from the sun. It is the only planet known to have an atmosphere containing free

oxygen, oceans of liquid water on its surface, and, of course, life. Earth is the fifth largest of the planets in the solar

system — smaller than the four gas giants, Jupiter, Saturn,Uranus and Neptune, but larger than the three other rocky

planets, Mercury, Mars and Venus.

Earth has a diameter of roughly 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers), and is round because gravity pulls matter into a ball,

although it is not perfectly round, instead being more of an "oblate spheroid" whose spin causes it to be squashed at

its poles and swollen at the equator. Roughly 71 percent of Earth's surface is covered by water, most of it in the

oceans. About a fifth of its atmosphere is made up of oxygen, produced by plants. While scientists have been

studying our planet for centuries, much has been learned in recent decaded by studying pictures of Earth from space,

like the one below.

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Our planet as seen from space.
CREDIT: NASA/JPL

View full size image

Orbital Characteristics

 
The Earth spins on an imaginary line called an axis that runs from the north pole to the south pole, while also orbiting

the sun. It takes Earth 24 hours to complete a rotation on its axis, and roughly 365 days to complete an orbit around

the sun.

The Earth's axis of rotation is tilted in relation to the ecliptic plane, an imaginary surface through Earth's orbit around

the sun. This means the northern and southern hemispheres will sometimes point toward or away from the sun

depending on the time of year, varying the amount of light they receive and causing the seasons.

Earth's orbit is not a perfect circle, but is rather an oval-shaped ellipse, like that of the orbits of all the other planets.

Earth is a bit closer to the sun in early January and farther away in July, although this variation has amuch smaller

effect than the heating and cooling caused by the tilt of Earth's axis. Earth happens to lie within the so-called

"Goldilocks zone" around its star, where temperatures are just right to maintain liquid water on its surface.

History: Earth's formation and evolution

Earth probably formed at roughly the same time as the sun and other planets some 4.6 billion years ago, when the

solar system coalesced from a giant, rotating cloud of gas and dust known as the solar nebula. As the nebula

collapsed because of its gravity, it spun faster and flattened into a disk. Most of the material was pulled toward the

center to form the sun. Other particles within the disk collided and stuck together to form ever-larger bodies, including

the Earth. The solar wind from the sun was so powerful that it swept away most of the lighter elements, such as

hydrogen and helium, from the innermost worlds, rendering Earth and its siblings into small, rocky planets.

Scientists think Earth started off as a waterless mass of rock. Radioactive materials in the rock and increasing

pressure deep within the Earth generated enough heat to melt Earth's interior, causing some chemicals to rise to the

surface and form water, while others became the gases of the atmosphere. Recent evidence suggests that Earth's

crust and oceans may have formed within about 200 million years after the planet had taken shape.

The history of Earth is divided into four eons — starting with the earliest, these are the Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic,

and Phanerozoic. The first three eons, which together lasted nearly 4 billion years, are together known as the

Precambrian. Evidence for life has bee found in the Archaean about 3.8 billion years ago, but life did not become

abundant until the Phanerozoic.

The Phanerozoic is divided into three eras — starting with the earliest, these are the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and

Cenozoic. The Paleozoic Era saw the development of many kinds of animals and plants in the seas and on land, the

Mesozoic Era was the age of dinosaurs, and the Cenozoic Era we are in currently is the age of mammals.
Most of the fossils seen in Paleozoic rocks are invertebrate animals lacking backbones, such as corals, mollusks and

trilobites. Fish are first found about 450 million years ago, while amphibians appear roughly 380 million years ago. By

300 million years ago, large forests and swamps covered the land, and the earliest fossils of reptiles appear during

this period as well.

The Mesozoic saw the ascendence of dinosaurs, although mammals also appear in the fossil record about 200

million years ago. During this time, flowering plants became the dominant plant group and continue to be so today.

The Cenozoic began about 65 million years ago with the end of the age of dinosaurs, which many scientists think was

caused by a cosmic impact. Mammals survived to become the dominant land animals of today.

Composition & Structure

 Atmosphere

The atmosphere is roughly 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, with trace amounts of water, argon, carbon

dioxide and other gases. Nowhere else in the solar system can one find an atmosphere loaded with free oxygen,

which ultimately proved vital to one of the other unique features of Earth — us.

Air surrounds Earth and becomes thinner farther from the surface. Roughly 100 miles (160 kilometers) above Earth,

the air is so thin that satellites can zip through with little resistance. Still, traces of atmosphere can be found as high

as 370 miles (600 kilometers) above the surface.

The lowest layer of the atmosphere is known as the troposphere, which is constantly in motion, causing the weather.

Sunlight heats the Earth's surface, causing warm air to rise. This air ultimately expands and cools as air pressure

decreases, and because this cool air is denser than its surroundings, it then sinks, only to get warmed by the Earth

once again.

Above the troposphere, some 30 miles (48 kilometers) above the Earth's surface, is the stratosphere. The still air of

the stratosphere contains the ozone layer, which was created when ultraviolet light caused trios of oxygen atoms to

bind together into ozone molecules. Ozone prevents most of the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching

Earth's surface.

Water vapor, carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere trap heat from the sun, warming Earth. Without this

so-called "greenhouse effect," Earth would probably be too cold for life to exist, although a runaway greenhouse

effect led to the hellish conditions now seen on Venus.

Earth-orbiting satellites have shown that the upper atmosphere actually expands during the day and contracts at night

due to heating and cooling.

 Magnetic field

The northern lights are more formally known as auroras, and are caused by interactions between the solar wind and
the Earth's magnetic field.
CREDIT: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Contributor

View full size image

The Earth's magnetic field is generated by currents flowing in Earth's outer core. The magnetic poles are always on

the move, with the magnetic north pole recently accelerating its northward motion to 24 miles (40 km) annually, likely

exiting North America and reaching Siberia in a few decades.

Earth's magnetic field is changing in other ways, too — globally, the magnetic field has weakened 10 percent since

the 19th century. These changes are mild compared to what Earth's magnetic field has done in the past —

sometimes the field completely flips, with the north and the south poles swapping places.

When charged particles from the sun get trapped in Earth's magnetic field, they smash into air molecules above the

magnetic poles, causing them to glow, a phenomenon known as the aurorae, the northern and southern lights.

 Chemical composition

Oxygen is the most abundant element in rocks in Earth's crust, composing roughly 47 percent of the weight of all

rock. The second most abundant element is silicon at 27 percent, followed by aluminum at 8 percent, iron at 5

percent, calcium at 4 percent, and sodium, potassium, and magnesium at about 2 percent each.

The Earth's core consists mostly of iron and nickel and potentially smaller amounts of lighter elements such as sulfur

and oxygen. The mantle is made of iron and magnesium-rich silicate rocks. (The combination of silicon and oxygen is

known as silica, and minerals that contain silica are known as silicate minerals.)

 Internal structure
The Earth's core is about 4,400 miles (7,100 kilometers) wide, slightly larger than half the Earth's diameterand

roughly the size of Mars. The outermost 1,400 miles (2,250 kilometers) of the core are liquid, while the inner core —

about four-fifths as big as Earth's moon at some 1,600 miles (2,600 kilometers) in diameter — is solid.

Above the core is Earth's mantle, which is about 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) thick. The mantle is not completely

stiff, but can flow slowly. Earth's crust floats on the mantle much as a wood floats on water, and the slow motion of

rock in the mantle shuffles continents around and causes earthquakes, volcanoes, and the formation of mountain

ranges.

Above the mantle, Earth has two kinds of crust. The dry land of the continents consists mostly of granite and other

light silicate minerals, while the ocean floors are made up mostly of a dark, dense volcanic rock called basalt.

Continental crust averages some 25 miles (40 kilometers) thick, although it can be thinner or thicker in some areas.

Oceanic crust is usually only about 5 miles (8 kilometers) thick. Water fills in low areas of the basalt crust to form the

world's oceans. Earth has more than enough water to completely fill the ocean basins, and the rest of it spreads onto

edges of the continents, areas known as the continental shelf.

Earth gets warmer toward its core. At the bottom of the continental crust, temperatures reach about 1,800 degrees F

(1,000 degrees C), increasing about 3 degrees F per mile (1 degrees C per kilometer) below the crust. Geologists

think the temperature of Earth's outer core is about 6,700 to 7,800 degrees F (3,700 to 4,300 degrees C), and the

inner core may reach 12,600 degrees F (7,000 degrees C), hotter than the surface of the sun. Only the enormous

pressures found at the super-hot inner core keep it solid.

Orbit & Rotation

Average Distance from the Sun

English: 92,955,820 miles      

Metric: 149,597,890 km

Perihelion (closest)

English: 91,400,000 miles

Metric: 147,100,000 km

Aphelion (farthest)
English: 94,500,000 miles                  

Metric: 152,100,000 km

Average Length of Solar Day

24 hours

Length of Year

365.24 Earth days

Equatorial Inclination to Orbit

23.45 degrees

(Source: NASA.)

Moon

Earth's moon is 2,159 miles (3,474 kilometers) wide, about one-fourth of Earth's diameter. Earth has one moon, while

Mercury and Venus have none and all the other planets in our solar system have two or more.

The leading explanation for how the moon formed was that a giant impact knocked off the raw ingredients for the

moon off the primitive molten Earth and into orbit. Scientists have suggested the impactor was roughly 10 percent the

mass of Earth, about the size of Mars.

Species Overview

Earth is the only planet in the universe known to possess life. There are several million known species of life, ranging

from the bottom of the deepest ocean to a few miles into the atmosphere, and scientists think far more remain to be

discovered. Scientists figure there are between 5 million an 100 million species on Earth, but science has only

identified about 2 million of them.

 50 Amazing Earth Facts

RELATED: See our Solar System Planets overview, or our broader Solar System Facts overview, or learn more

about each of the other planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and the demoted dwarf

planet Pluto.