Introduction to Earth System Sciences

These vocabulary flashcards cover the fundamental concepts of Earth System Science, including the four spheres, system feedbacks, and the unique characteristics of Earth.

Earth System Science

The study of Earth as an integrated system of interacting components and how these components exchange energy and matter.

Geosphere

The solid Earth consisting of the crust ($0-60\,km$), mantle ($60-2900\,km$), and core ($2900-6371\,km$), including rocks, minerals, and landforms.

Hydrosphere

All water on Earth in solid, liquid, and gaseous forms, including oceans, rivers, groundwater, and ice.

Atmosphere

The envelope of gases surrounding Earth, composed of approximately $78\%\,N_2$, $21\%\,O_2$, $0.04\%\,CO_2$, and variable $H_2O$.

Biosphere

All living organisms on Earth, spanning from the deep ocean to the high atmosphere, including approximately $8.7$ million species.

Tectonics

The movement of Earth's plates, critical for long-term climate regulation via the weathering thermostat and creating diverse landscapes.

Goldilocks zone

A region in the solar system where temperatures are not too hot and not too cold, allowing for the existence of stable liquid water on a planet's surface.

Great Whin Sill

A $295$ million year old dolerite intrusion located at Bamburgh, serving as a local example of geosphere processes.

Northern lights (Aurora Borealis)

An atmospheric phenomenon caused by charged particles from the solar wind colliding with gases like oxygen and nitrogen in the upper atmosphere.

Nitrogen fixation

A biological process within the biosphere that makes atmospheric $N_2$ usable for living organisms.

Skipsea, East Yorkshire

Known as the fastest eroding coastline in Europe, losing approximately $2$ meters of land per year due to sphere interactions.

Negative Feedback

A system mechanism that dampens or stabilizes change to keep things steady, such as a thermostat.

Positive Feedback

A system mechanism that amplifies or reinforces an initial change, such as viral memes on social media.

Albedo

The reflectivity of a surface, with ice having high reflectivity (approx. $80\%$) and ocean water having low reflectivity (approx. $10\%$).

Ice-Albedo Feedback

A positive feedback where warming melts ice, exposing darker ocean water that absorbs more heat, leading to even more ice melt.

Weathering Thermostat

A negative feedback mechanism where increased weathering in a warmer/wetter world removes $CO_2$ from the atmosphere, stabilizing Earth's temperature over millions of years.

Ocean acidification

A hydrosphere impact of climate change where increased dissolved $CO_2$ results in a lower pH level of seawater.

Permafrost thaw

A geosphere impact of climate change that increases erosion and releases trapped methane, further contributing to atmospheric warming.

Phenology

The study of the timing of biological events in the biosphere, such as flowering, migration, and breeding, which are being altered by climate change.

Thermal expansion

The increase in volume of seawater as it gains heat, contributing to sea-level rise in the hydrosphere.