Earth Science Earth Spheres Notes

1. Notes:
Summarize: Five lines to write on
Width ~ 3 Fingers
Earth’s Spheres Notes

2. What is
Earth
Systems
Science?
•Considers interactions between the Earth's
"spheres"—atmosphere, hydrosphere,
geosphere, and biosphere
•As well as the impact of human societies on
these components.

3. Hydrosphere
• All solid, liquid, and gaseous water on Earth
• Found in the ground, bodies of water, and in the
atmosphere
• Overwhelming majority is salt water (97%)
• (sometimes frozen water put in a separate sphere called
the cryosphere)

4. Biosphere • All the planet’s living things
• Microorganisms, plants, animals

5. Lithosphere
• All portions of the Earth
• Mantle, core, crust
• (Sometimes its used to describe just the cold, upper,
rocky portion of the Earth

6. Atmosphere
• All air (1m depth to ~10,000 km)
• Protects Earth from solar radiation
• Retains heat allowing for life
• Weather occurs within it