1 / 20

Earth Science 1.2

Earth Science 1.2. A View of Earth. Earth’s M ajor Spheres. Earth is divided into 4 major spheres Hydrosphere Atmosphere Geosphere Biosphere. Hydrosphere. All the water on Earth makes up the hydrosphere . Oceans account for 97% of all water on Earth

tawana
Download Presentation

Earth Science 1.2

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Earth Science 1.2 A View of Earth

  2. Earth’s Major Spheres • Earth is divided into 4 major spheres • Hydrosphere • Atmosphere • Geosphere • Biosphere

  3. Hydrosphere All the water on Earth makes up the hydrosphere. Oceans account for 97% of all water on Earth Groundwater, lakes, streams, and glaciers account for the other 3%

  4. Atmosphere • The atmosphere is the life sustaining, thin, gaseous envelope that surrounds the Earth • It reaches 100 kilometers above Earth • 90% of it occurs within 16 miles above Earth

  5. Atmosphere • Earth’s atmosphere • Provides the air we breath • Protects us from sun’s heat and radiation • The energy exchange between space, the atmosphere, and Earth’s surface produce weather and climate

  6. Geosphere • The Geosphere is composed of the Earth’s rocks and minerals • It is divided into three main parts • The core • The mantle • The crust

  7. Earth’s Core • Earth’s core is the region in the earth’s center that is composed primarily of iron-nickle alloy • It is divided into two sections • Outer core • Inner core

  8. Inner Core • Earth’s Inner Core • Is a sphere having a radius of 1220 km • Despite high temperatures, the tremendous pressure compresses the inner core to a solid state of iron-nickle

  9. Outer Core • Earth’s outer core • Is a liquid layer about 2260 km thick composed of flowing iron-nickle • The flow of metallic iron in this zone creates the earth’s magnetic fields

  10. Earth’s Mantle Earth’s mantle is the layer that links the Earth’s crust to the Earth’s outer core Earth’s mantle is divided into two parts • Upper mantle: extends from about 70 kilometers to 700 km • Lower mantle: extends from about 700 km to 2900 km • The rocks of the mantle are partially molten, or melted. They are able to slowly flow because of the uneven distribution of heat deep within the earth. This region is called the asthenosphere

  11. Earth’s Crust • The earth’s crust extends from 3 miles to 30 miles ( 5-70 kilometers) • The earth’s crust is thinnest beneath the oceans and thickest beneath the continents • The crust and uppermost mantle make up a rigid out layer that is called the lithosphere

  12. Earth’s Biosphere • Earth’ s biosphere includes all life on Earth • It includes a zone that extends from the ocean floor upward several miles into the atmosphere • The biosphere includes all plants and animals, all living organisms on Earth • All living organisms interact with their environment and help maintain and alter their physical environment

  13. Biospheres • Scientists, in attempts to understand Earth’s biosphere, have built sealed environments that are artificial biospheres • These biospheres are used to study the life processes and interactions of all parts of an ecological system

  14. Earth: a dynamic planet • Earth is a dynamic planet, it is always in change even though some of the changes happen so slowly that we do not easily notice them • Forces that are affecting the Earth constantly • Destructive forces (erosion and weathering) • Constructive forces ( volcanoes and mountain building)

  15. Pangaea • In the last several decades a theory has emerged that the earth’s land masses have been in movement slowly over time • The idea that Earth’s continents were once all a single land mass called Pangaea

  16. Continental Drift • The theory exists that over time Pangaea broke up and the continents drifted gradually to their present locations • This is called the theory of continental drift

  17. Plate Tectonics • What makes the theory of continental drift a possibility is plate tectonics • Currently there are 7 major plates that the Earth is divided into as well as several smaller plates North American Plate Pacific Plate Australian Plate Eurasian Plate African Plate Antarctic Plate South American Plate

  18. Plate Tectonics • The rubbing together or grinding of plates grinding against each other create fault lines which account for Earthquakes

  19. Plate Tectonics • Plate tectonics accounts for much of the constructive forces that create new land materials • When plates separate materials from beneath the Earth’s surface flow forth in the form of volcanic actions. This accounts for the creation of mountain ranges and creation of new land masses

More Related