Earth: Earth Systems

A. Our Earth is Unique

 Earth is characterized by its blue waters, rocky brown
and green land masses with white clouds set against a
black background.
 It is the third planet from the Sun and a few hundred
kilometers larger than planet Venus in terms of diameter.
 Also, it is the fifth largest planet in the solar system.
It is the only planet in the solar system with rain falling
from clouds and water that runs over the land to collect
in extensive oceans.
Earth is the only place in the universe that can
support life. It is a modest-sized planet that
orbits an average-sized star, the sun.
Life on Earth is ubiquitous; it is found in boiling
mudspots and hot springs, in the deep oceans
and even under the Antarctic ice sheet. Many
continental areas are too steep, too high, or too
cold for humans to inhabit. Yet, Earth is so
hospitable to life.
 B. The Earth’s Four Subsystems
 The biophysical components of the Earth System
are often referred to as spheres and are divided into
four: geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and
biosphere.
 These four regulate the different functions on Earth
such as the climate system, ecological services
generated by the living biosphere, including food
production, and natural resources like fossil fuels
and minerals.
 The Geosphere
 The geosphere makes up the solid portion of the Earth, its
structure and land. It includes the non-living land features.
Geosphere came from a Latin name “Geo” which means
ground. Our planet’s surface is covered by a thin layer called
crust. The Earth’s crust has a thin layer measuring 40 km
deep composed of solid rocks and minerals with temperature
of 22 degrees Celsius. The crust is made up of large rocks. It is
divided into two forms: Oceanic crust and Continental crust.
The former is composed of the elements iron, oxygen,
magnesium and aluminum while the latter is made up of
granite, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.
 The Hydrosphere
 The hydrosphere is composed of all the waters on or near the Earth’s
surface.
 It can be in a form of liquid, vapor and ice such as glaciers, ice caps
and icebergs. This frozen part is called Cryosphere. Mostly 97% of the
Earth’s water is in the form of oceans(salty) and the rest is fresh water
(non salty). Three-quarters of this fresh water is solid and exists in the
ice sheets. Water moves through the hydrosphere in a cycle called the
Water Cycle. Water droplets as they coagulate form clouds, then fall to
the ground in the form of rain or snow. This water collects in rivers,
lakes and oceans. As heat rises, water in it evaporates in the
atmosphere to start the cycle all over again.
 The Atmosphere
 The Earth’s atmosphere is not just merely the air that we breathe
but also a blanket of gas that surrounds our planet up to the edge
of space.
 This thin layer of gas that envelops our planet is necessary to
sustain life because it contains gases essential for humans and
animals to breathe.
 It enables plants to make their own food, traps heat to keep us
warm, protects us from harmful radiation from the space and drives
ocean currents that spread heat which regulates our climate.
The
 parts of the atmosphere are: troposphere,
stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, ionosphere
and exosphere.
The troposphere of the atmosphere starts at the Earth’s

surface and extends 8 to 14.5 kilometers high.
It is considered the densest among the other parts of

the atmosphere. Almost all-weather types are in this
region. Above the troposphere is the stratosphere.
It extends up to 50 km high. It is in this region where we

can find the ozone layer which absorbs and scatters the
solar ultraviolet radiation.
  Mesosphere
 isthe region above the the stratosphere. It extends to 85
km. Meteors usually burn up in this region as they
approach our planet. Extending up to 600 km above the
mesosphere is the thermosphere. It is where aurora and
satellites occur.
 The ionosphere is the part of our atmosphere where
abundant layers of electron, ionized atoms and molecules
occur. It extends from about 48 km above the surface to
the edge of space up to 965 km. This region makes radio
communication possible.
 The upper limit of our atmosphere is the exosphere.
The Biosphere
 BIOSPHERE


The biosphere contains the entirety of Earth’s living things. It is sometimes

referred to as the “zone of life”. From a geophysical standpoint,
biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living things and
their relationship including their interactions with the elements of the
lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. 
 The biosphere is divided into biomes. Biomes are the world’s major
communities. They are classified according to the predominant
vegetation characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular
climate. 
 Five Major Biomes
Aquatic –
includes freshwater (ponds, lakes, rivers) and marine (ocean, estuaries). The aquatic
region houses numerous species of plants and animals. 
Forest-
can be tropical, temperate, boreal forest and taiga. Each type of forest has distinctive
features dominated by grasses rather than large shrubs or trees.
Desert-
characterized by low rainfall (less than 50 cm) per year. Most deserts have specialized
vegetation as well as specialized animals that can adapt to its condition. 
Tundra-
coldest of all biomes. It has low biotic diversity and simple vegetation. 
Grassland-
made of rolling hills of various grasses and could be divided into savannas and
temperate grasslands. . They receive just enough rain to sustain grass but not
enough to grow many trees. There are few tress that grow in grasslands but sporadic
wildfires keep them under control.
 C.Rock-forming Minerals
A ruby, a gold nugget, and a grain of salt
look very different from one another, but
they all have one thing in common. They
are all minerals, the basic materials of
the Earth’s crust.
 Physical Properties of Minerals
 Scientists identify more common minerals by
their color or appearance; others include their
taste, smell, feel and sound.
>The physical properties that can be tested are:
luster, hardness streak, cleavage, fracture,
color, specific gravity and crystal form.
 . Luster-

refersto the way light is reflected from a

mineral surface. Some have a metallic
surface such as gold, silver and copper.
Others are described as vitreous or glassy,
pearly, silky, resinous a nearthy or dull.
 Hardness-

 refers to the minerals resistance to being

scratched.
 Frederich Moh, a German mineralogist
prepared a scale of hardness with a number
of 1-10 in the increasing hardness.
 . Color and streak-

refersto the color of the powdered mineral.

The sample is rubbed across a piece of
unglazed porcelain or streak plate.
 . Cleavage-

is the tendency of minerals to break

along planes of weak bonding. It is
described by the number of planes
exhibited and the angles at which they
meet.
 . Fracture-

minerals that do not exhibit cleavage are

said to fracture when broken. Some break
like glass, some into splinters or fiber.
 Color-

some are of the same color like azurite

is always deep blue, malachite is green,
cinnabar is red, sulfur is yellow.
 Specific Gravity-

isa number which represents the ratio

to the weight of an equal volume of
water. Example, Galena is 7.5 times
heavier than a comparable volume of
water.
 . Crystal form-

external features of a mineral reflect its

orderly internal arrangement of atoms.
DRILL

is the part of our atmosphere where

abundant layers of electron, ionized atoms
and molecules occur.

ionosphere
 It is considered the densest among the
other parts of the atmosphere. Almost all-
weather types are in this region.

troposphere
refersto the way light is reflected from a
mineral surface. Some have a metallic
surface such as gold, silver and copper.

luster
,it is the fifth largest planet in the solar
system. It is the only planet in the solar
system with rain falling from clouds and
water that runs over the land to collect in
extensive oceans.

EARTH
A German mineralogist prepared a scale
of hardness with a number of 1-10 in the
increasing hardness.

 Frederich Moh,