Earth's Subsystem

Saltwater or seawater has an average salinity of 3.5%.

Salinity refers to the proportions of dissolved salt to pure water, expressed in parts per thousand.

ACTIVITY

- self-contained or smaller system within a larger system.

Subsystem

System

- is a collection of elements or components that are interacting or interdependent forming as a whole, for a common purpose.

Earth's Subsystem

atmos, Greek word meaning "vapour"

It is a layer of gases surrounding a other material body, that is held in place by the gravity of that body.

LITHOSPHERE

ATMOSPHERE

- Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (20.94%), Argon (0.93%), Other gases (Carbon dioxide, neon, helium, methane, krypton and hydrogen)

-Thermosphere –

• it is the second highest of the layer of Earth’s atmosphere.
• It extends from the mesopause at an altitude of 80 km to the thermosphere at around 700 km. The temperature in this layer can rise so high as 1500 C
• There is a portion in the thermosphere between 80 and 550 km above the Earth is called ionosphere
• Kennelly-Heaviside layer. This reflects radio waves and help radio waves pass around Earth.
• Auroras are also found in this layer.

Mesosphere

• the third layer of the atmosphere, extends from the stratopause at an altitude of 50 km to the mesopause at 80 km.
• The coldest region in the atmosphere, the upper mesopause.
• This layer protects the Earth from meteoroids.

Stratosphere

• The second (lowest) layer of Earth’s atmosphere
• this extends from the top of the troposphere at 12 km above the Earth’s surface, to the stratopause w/ an altitude of 50km.
• This is where the ozone layer is located.

-Troposphere

• lowest layer & contains about 80% of the total mass of the atmosphere.
• All weather-associated cloud types are found in this layer.
• It extends from the Earth’s surface to an average height of 12 km.

lithos, a Greek word that means rock

consists of the entire Earth’s crust and the rigid upper mantle.

1

extends from the surface of Earth to a depth of about 70–100 km

BIOSPHERE

This section of Earth is believed to "float" on top of the warmer, non-rigid, and partially melted material directly below.

It is not a continuous layer

HYDROSPHERE

• -The biosphere contains the entirety of the Earth’s living things. It’s sometimes referred to as the “zone of life”.
• The term “biosphere” was coined by geologist Edward Suess in 1875.

Pangaea

A biome is a formation of plants and animals that have common characteristics due to similar climates and can be found over a range of continents.

hydro, in Greek meaning water

the combined mass of waterfound on, under, and above the surface of a planet.

4 major biomes:

1. Aquatic (freshwater: ponds, lakes, rivers, etc.) (marine: ocean, estuaries, etc.)

2. Forest (tropical, temperate and boreal forests and taigas)

3. Desert is characterized by low rainfall

4. Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes. It has low biotic diversity and simple vegetation.

5. Grassland are characterized as lands dominated by grasses rather than large shrubs or trees.

• Nearly 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by bodies of water.
• This consists of saltwater and freshwater

Water (96.5%)

Salt (3.5%)

One of the major source of this salt is from chemical weathering of rocks on land.

- Saltwater accounts for 97.5% of water on the Earth’s crust, from oceans and midland seas. Only 2.5% is freshwater. Of this freshwater, 68.9% is locked in glaciers, 30.8% exists on groundwater and only 0.3% is easily accessible in lakes and river systems.

What are the 4 subsystems of the Earth?

THE END

- Plate Tectonic Theory -proposed by Alfred Wegener, it states that the lithosphere is divided into major plates and smaller plates resting upon the lower soft layer, asthenosphere.

- This zone which lies directly below the lithosphere is called the asthenosphere, from the Greek word asthenes, meaning weak.

The border between the tectonic plates is called boundary.

- 3 Main Types of Boundaries

- Convergent Boundary

- Divergent Boundary

- Transform Boundary