EARTH SUBSYSTEMS

1. THE SUBSYSTEMS (GEOSPHERE,
HYDROSPHERE, ATMOSPHERE, AND
BIOSPHERE) THAT MAKE UP THE EARTH
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE

2. •Earth is sometimes called
the water planet or the
blue planet because azure
seas cover more than two-
thirds of its surface.

3. THE EARTH’S FOUR SPHERES
•THE GEOSPHERE
•THE HYDROSPHERE
•THE ATMOSPHERE
•THE BIOSPHERE

4. THE GEOSPHERE
•The solid Earth,
consisting of the entire
planet from the center
of the core to the outer
crust.

6. THE
HYDROSPHERE
• The hydrosphere
includes all of
Earth’s water,
which circulates
among oceans,
continents,
glaciers, and the
atmosphere.

7. THE ATMOSPHERE
• The atmosphere is a mixture of
gases: mostly nitrogen and oxygen,
with smaller amounts of argon,
carbon dioxide, and other gases.
• The atmosphere supports life,
because animals need oxygen and
plants need both carbon dioxide and
oxygen.

8. THE ATMOSPHERE
•The atmosphere supports life
indirectly by regulating climate.
•Air serves as both a blanket and
a filter, retaining heat at night
and shielding us from direct solar
radiation during the day.

9. • TROPOSPHERE
• tasked with holding all the air plants need for
photosynthesis and animals need to breathe, and
also contains about 99 percent of all water vapor and
aerosols.
• STRATOSPHERE
• home to Earth’s ozone layer, which protects us from
the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation.
• MESOPHERE
• the top of this layer is the coldest place found within
the Earth system, with an average temperature of
about minus 85 degrees Celsius.
• The very scarce water vapor present at the top of the
mesosphere forms noctilucent clouds, the highest
clouds in Earth’s atmosphere
• THERMOSPHERE
• The aurora borealis and aurora australis are
sometimes seen here. The International Space
Station orbits in the thermosphere.
• EXOSPHERE
• this layer doesn’t behave like a gas, and particles
here escape into space. Most Earth satellites orbit in
the exosphere.

10. THE BIOSPHERE
• The biosphere is the
zone that life
inhabits. It includes
the uppermost
geosphere, the
hydrosphere, and
the lower parts of
the atmosphere.