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Use This! Earth and Earth System

The document summarizes the key characteristics of Earth that allow life to exist. It describes Earth's four interacting subsystems - the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere - through which matter and energy flow. Specifically, it explains that the presence of liquid water, internal and external heat sources, and Earth's position in the habitable zone of the sun have enabled the development of life through evolutionary processes like photosynthesis in cyanobacteria. The cycling of carbon and other elements between Earth's spheres also sustains the biosphere.

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Princess Jaymee Suarez
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208 views48 pages

Use This! Earth and Earth System

The document summarizes the key characteristics of Earth that allow life to exist. It describes Earth's four interacting subsystems - the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere - through which matter and energy flow. Specifically, it explains that the presence of liquid water, internal and external heat sources, and Earth's position in the habitable zone of the sun have enabled the development of life through evolutionary processes like photosynthesis in cyanobacteria. The cycling of carbon and other elements between Earth's spheres also sustains the biosphere.

Uploaded by

Princess Jaymee Suarez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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LIFE ON EARTH

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

•describe the characteristics of Earth that


are necessary to support life.
•explain that the Earth consists of four
subsystems, across whose boundaries
matter and energy flow
MAIN IDEA: Processes and events
dating back to the big bang eventually
led to the existence of life on earth.

EQ: What are the unique characteristics of


Earth that allow the existence of life?
If all planets in the Solar System
share the same origin with Earth-
as dust-sized particles that
combined through accretion, how
come Earth is the only planet that
can sustain life?
 LIQUID WATER
The presence of
water allowed the first
photosynthetic
organisms to thrive.
Cyanobacteria-used
sunlight, carbon
dioxide, and water to
produce biomass and
CYANOBACTERIA
 LIQUID WATER
Water on Earth came
from two possible
sources:
1. Water released
through volcanism, and
2. Water came from
the icy meteors of the
outer regions of the
Solar System that
Liquid Water
• Habitable zone - the distance from a
star where liquid water can exist in its
liquid form.
– Goldilocks Zone
• Distance of the earth from the sun,
the amount of heat and solar
energy received is just enough.
 HEAT SOURCE
Internal heating of
Earth
caused by radiogenic
heat from radioactive
decay of materials in
the core and mantle
extruded via active
tectonic activities,
such as volcanism and
 HEAT SOURCE
External heating from
the sun
The heat provided by
the sun is in the form
of radiation which
enters Earth.
As sunlight strikes
Earth, some of the heat
is trapped by a layer of
EARTH SYSTEMS
EARTH
Approximately 4.6
billion years old.
It is the only planet
presently known to
support life.
closed system
There is an exchange of
energy, but only a small
exchange of matter.
Earth can sustain life
it is the perfect distance
because: from the sun. Not too hot,
not too cold
the light from the sun
can be used for
photosynthesis
the Earth has a
breathable atmosphere
the Earth has water
the Earth’s climate can
support life
Spheres
of the EARTH
atmosphere
biosphere
hydrosphere
geosphere
 GEOSPHERE
The solid
Earth that
includes the
continental and
ocean crust as
well the various
 GEOSPHERE
94% of the Earth is
composed of the
elements oxygen,
silicon, and magnesium.
The geosphere is not
static. Its surface is in a
constant state of motion.
Mineral resources are
mined from the
LAYERS OF THE GEOSPHERE

Earth’s Primary Layers


 HYDROSHERE

ocontains all
the
water found
 HYDROSHERE
Water found on the surface of our
planet includes the ocean as well as
water from lakes and rivers,
streams, and creeks.
Water found under the surface of
our planet includes water trapped
in the soil and groundwater.
Water found in our atmosphere
includes water vapor.
 HYDROSHERE
o Frozen water on our
planet includes ice caps
and glaciers.
o Only about 3% of the
water on Earth is
“fresh” water, and about
70% of the fresh water
CRYOSPHERE
oall of the
frozen
water on
Composition of the Hydrosphere
• Saltwater or seawater has an average
salinity of 3.5%
• Salinity- refers to the proportion of
dissolved salts to pure water, expressed
in parts per thousand.
• Volcanic outgassing - during volcanic
eruptions, large quantities of water and
gases are emitted to Earth’s surface.
 ATMOSPHERE
The mixture of gases
(nitrogen, oxygen, argon,
carbon dioxide, and water
vapor) that surround the planet.

Body of gas that envelopes


Earth.
 ATMOSPHERE
blanket of air
reaches over 560 kilometers
(348 miles) up from the surface
of the Earth.
primarily composed of
nitrogen (about 78%), oxygen
(about 21%), argon (.9%), and
carbon dioxide (0.04%). Other
components exist in small
LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE

oTroposphere
oStratosphere
oMesosphere
oThermosphere
Layers of the Atmosphere
TROPOSPHERE
• Lowest layer
• Contains about 80% of the total mass of the
atmosphere.
• Most of the water vapor present.
• All weather-associated cloud types.
• Tropopause- found at the top of the
troposphere.
STRATOSPHERE
• The layer that contains the gas called ozone.
• It protects life on Earth by absorbing the ultraviolet
radiation.
• Jet planes fly.
• Stratopause- top of the stratosphere, temperature stops
increasing.
MESOSPHERE
• Extends from the stratopause at an
altitude of 50 km to the mesopause at
around 80 km.
• Upper mesosphere- coldest region
• Protects Earth from meteoroids.
• “shooting star” or “burning meteors”
• Meteorites- meteoroids that manage to
reach Earth.
THERMOSPHERE
• The layer where artificial satellites can orbit.
• Ionosphere- the portion of the thermosphere between
80 and 550 km above the Earth.
• Consisting of highly-ionized gas.
• Kennelly-Heaviside layer- layer of the
ionosphere that reflects radio waves.
• The ions interact with air molecules to form
an aurora.
• They may be called aurora borealis, also
called northern lights, or aurora
australis, also called southern lights.
EXOSPHERE
• Outermost layer of
Earth’s atmosphere.
• Extends about 700 km to
about 1000 km above sea
level.
 BIOSPHERE

the “life
zone” of
the Earth
 BIOSPHERE
includes all living organisms
(including humans), and all organic
matter that has not yet decomposed
structured into a hierarchy known as
the food chain (all life is defendant on
the first tier – mainly the primary
producers that are capable of
photosynthesis).
Energy and mass is transferred from
one level of the food chain to the next.
Biosphere
• Coined by geologist Edward Suess in 1875.
Four Major Biomes:
1. Aquatic- includes freshwater (ponds, lakes, rivers,
etc.) and marine (ocean, estuaries, etc.) biomes.
2. Forest- includes tropical, temperate, and boreal
forests, as well as taiga.
3. Deserts- low rainfall (less than 50 cm/year)
4. Tundra- coldest of all biomes.
SYSTEM INTERACTIONS
The Carbon Cycle

• Biogeochemical cycle-
compound is changed and moved
throughout the Earth’s spheres
• Carbon is commonly called the
“building block of life”
• Carbon is not just a solid- it
forms gases such as CO2 and
Methane
The Carbon Cycle

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