Earth Science : MOD 2

there is life on earth

What makes earth different from other planets in the solar system?

goldilocks zone

Habitable zones of stars

goldilocks zone

Orbits of planets that are neither too hot or too cold for life to exist

Earth

A living planet, and where energy flows continuously within its system

The sun

Most of the living processes on earth depends on the light energy from its star or also known as ___

The sun

This is considered to be the ultimate source of energy

Earth’s system

This refers to earth’s interacting physical, chemical and biological processes

geosphere, hydrosphere atmosphere and biosphere

The four major subsystems of earth’s system

The four major subsystems

After the changes in the earth’s system have finally settled it was presumed that it evolved into _____

Gaia hypothesis

It states that organisms interact with their organic surroundings and establish self regulating, complex systems that help maintain the condition necessary to support life on the planet

The geosphere

Is the solid portion of earth?

The geosphere

It includes the interior structure, rocks, and minerals, landforms, down to the deep depths of the core, and the process that shape earth’s surface

geologist

Scientist that study The geosphere

The geosphere

Covers all the solid part of the Earth both on its surface up to the deeper depth

Lithosphere

Only covers the crustal part and upper mantle of earth

The crust, mantle, and core

The three main layers of the Earth

Seismologists and Volcanologists

they study the components of earth through seismic waves

P waves and S waves

Two types of waves traveling through earth

p waves

A wave that travel fast through both solids and liquids

s waves

A wave which travel only through solids

crust

This consist of a 5 to 70 km thick of oceanic and continental crust

Continental crust

This is thicker than the oceanic crust

oceanic crust

This is composed of magic magma that erupts on the sea floor

sediments

This is primarily mud and the shells of tiny sea creatures that coat the sea floor

sediments

this is thickest when near the shore, where it comes off the continents in rivers and on wind currents

oceanic crust

Is relatively thin and lies above the mantle

Continental crust

Is made up of many different types of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks

Mohorovicic

just above the upper mantle and still part of the crust

Andrija Mohorovicic

a croatian seismologist that discovered the boundary Mohorovicic in 1909

Mantle

Is made up of solid rocks, is the largest part of the Earth, and makes up 84% of the Earth’s total volume

Mantle

Lies between the extremely hot core and thin outer layer—crust

asthenosphere

It is at the upper part of the mantle directly below the crust

asthenosphere.

it radiates heat from the mantle towards the surface

• solid rock

• heat flow

two characteristics of mantle

conduction and convection

Heat flows in 2 different ways within the Earth

conduction

is a transfer of thermal energy through direct contact. Mantle is hot mostly because of heat conducted from the core

convection

Transfer of thermal energy through the movement of a liquid or gas. The mantle gets hot when a material near the core heats up

convection currents

Are caused by the very hot material at the deepest part of the mantle rising, then cooling, sinking again, and then heating, rising, and repeating the cycle over and over

Gutenberg discontinuity

The transitional boundary between the mantle and the core

Gutenberg discontinuity

A transitional boundary named after its German discoverer Beno Gutenberg

Core

Made up of iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni)

Iron core

this core is known to be liquid while the inner core is solid

Iron

Particularly important because it is primary source of the earth’s magnetic field

Lehmann discontinuity

Also a transitional boundary between the inner and the outer core

Inge Lehmann

A Danish seismologist that discovered the Lehmann Discontinuity in 1929

hydrosphere

Is the total amount of water found on earth

hydrologic cycle

Involves the continuous circulation of water in the Earth-atmosphere system

2.5%

only less than ___ of the world’s water is considered freshwater

surface water and ground water

Waters are divided into two groups, which are :

surface water

May either be salt, water or freshwater

Salt water

Have higher salt content and are found in larger bodies of water such as oceans, seas, bays, and gulfs

freshwater

Are those found in lakes, rivers, streams, springs, and falls

freshwater

Because of the lower content of salt, these are the best source of drinking water for all organisms

ground water

The water found beneath earth surface in the zone of saturation

aquifer

This is an area underground, a layer of rock that carry or hold water

atmosphere

Is a layer of gases that surrounds a planet or other celestial body, held in place by gravity

78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and one percent other gases

The present atmosphere is composed of

layers of the atmosphere

It is these layers that protect earth from many external threats in space

• Troposhere

• Stratosphere

• Mesosphere

• Thermosphere

The layers of the atmosphere

troposphere

Considered to be the densest among layers of the atmosphere because of the weight of all the other layers compressing it

Troposphere

It is where almost all weather variations occur

Tropopause

The next layer above the troposphere is a thin buffer zone called

stratosphere

The air in this layer has strong, steady horizontal winds, which are advantageous to long distance flights

stratosphere

At its upper region is the ozone layer at about 6.2 miles or about 33,000 feet above the Earth surface

Stratopause

another thin buffer zone, It is also a zone that separates the stratosphere from the mesosphere

Mesosphere

The layer above the Stratosphere

Mesosphere

considered to be the coldest layer(astmosphere)

Mesopause

another thin buffer zone above the mesosphere, this zone is actually the coldest region in the entire Earth

thermosphere

It is the hottest layer(atmosphere) because it absorbs highly energetic heat from the sun

ionosphere

The lower part of the thermosphere

solar wind

Is a stream of energized charge particles flowing from the sun

ions

The charged particles that consist of electrons and protons

Auroras

a phenomenon that occur at about 60 to 620 miles above earth surface

Aurora

maybe visible in high altitudes of earth

aurora borealis or northern lights

Witnessed in the northern region, like the Arctic and northern Canada

Aurora australis

Seen in the southern regions like the Antarctic and southern Australia

exosphere

Not considered as another layer, but it separates earth’s atmosphere from space

biosphere

A closed system that makes up all the living components of earth