Earth Systems and Angel Falls Vocabulary

A set of vocabulary flashcards reviewing Angel Falls geographical details, the scientific method, definition of a system, Earth's four main spheres, and planetary subsystems.

Angel Falls

The world's highest waterfall, located in Venezuela, measuring $3,212$ to $3,230\,\text{ft}$ tall with an uninterrupted drop of $2,647\,\text{ft}$.

Auyán-Tepuí

A table-top mountain known as "Devil's Mountain" in Venezuela over which Angel Falls descends.

Churún River

A tributary of the Rio Caroni whose name means "thunder," which feeds Angel Falls.

Jimmy Angel

An American explorer and bush pilot who crashed his plane on Auyán-Tepuí in $1937$, after whom Angel Falls was named.

Kerepakupai Merú

The indigenous name for Angel Falls, officially decreed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in $2009$.

System

A group of interacting parts that form a complex whole, typically driven by a source of energy.

Earth Science

The study of the interactions among subsystems within Earth and the interactions of Earth with larger systems, such as the solar system or universe.

Scientific Method

A systematic approach to inquiry consisting of observation, question formulation, hypothesis creation, reproducible testing, and accepting or rejecting the hypothesis.

Geosphere

The largest of Earth's spheres, encompassing the solid Earth, including the outer crust, lithosphere, and upper mantle.

Oblate Spheroid

The technical geometric shape of the Earth, which is slightly flattened at the poles rather than a true sphere.

Von Karman Line

The boundary at an altitude of $100\,\text{km}$ used for legal and regulatory measures to mark the edge of space.

Atmosphere

The gaseous envelope surrounding Earth, bounded at the altitude where air becomes too thin to support aeronautical flight.

Hydrosphere

All gaseous, liquid, and solid water on Earth, covering $71\%$ to $75\%$ of the surface but making up only $0.023\%$ of Earth's total mass.

Biosphere

The global ecological system integrating all living organisms and their relationships on land, in oceans, underground, and in the air.

Arctic Seabird-Atmosphere Interaction

An interaction where migrating seabirds deposit excrement that releases $33,000\,\text{tons}$ of ammonia annually into the Arctic atmosphere, creating clouds that cool the region.

Layers of the Atmosphere

The main vertical divisions of Earth's atmosphere, including the Troposphere ($6$–$20\,\text{km}$), Stratosphere ($50\,\text{km}$), Mesosphere ($85\,\text{km}$), Thermosphere ($690\,\text{km}$), and Exosphere ($10,000\,\text{km}$).

Earth's Internal Structure

The concentric spatial arrangement of Earth's subsurface layers: crust, lithosphere, asthenosphere, upper mantle, lower mantle, liquid outer core, and solid inner core.

Subsystems of Earth

The interconnected spheres—atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, mantle, and core—that continuously cycle energy and matter across the planet.