Earth and its Subsystems

Earth
•The third planet in the Solar System
•According to radiometric dating, it is said to be
4.56 billion years old
•Revolves the sun around 365-366 days
•The only planet to harbor life
Earth Science
It is also called as “geoscience”. It is the
study of the Earth’s characteristics and
behavior.
Why is the Earth habitable?
•It has a right distance from the Sun
•It has a strong magnetic field that shields us from the
electromagnetic radiation coming from the sun
•It is protected by the plate tectonics from the very hot
temperature of the Core
•It has the right chemical materials that could support
life (e.g. water)
Why is the Earth habitable?
•The presence of oxygen in the atmosphere
•Right atmospheric conditions
Earth’s System as a Closed System
Closed System – it means that the something
gets what it wants but neither it returns it back.

The Earth gets energy or heat from the Sun but it

returns only some of the energy back to space.
Cycles
•It is one of the major themes of the Earth’s
subsystems
•It is the process wherein the material in the Earth
system was continuously recycled in numerous
overlapping cycles
Earth’s Subsystems
•Atmosphere
•Hydrosphere
•Geosphere
•Biosphere
Atmosphere
• Set of layers of gases that
surrounds or protects the
planet that is held by the
planet’s gravity
• Atmosphere of Earth
Compositions:
Nitrogen – 78%
Oxygen – 20.95%
Argon – 0.93%
Other Gases – 0.04%
Atmospheric Circulation
•It is the cycle happening in the atmosphere that is
a way of redistributing the heat from the sun to
the surface of the Earth
Hydrosphere
• It is the liquid component of
the Earth (including glacial
waters)
• Covers 70% of the Earth’s
surface

98% of the water on Earth is

saltwater
• Helps the atmosphere to
become its current state
Hydrological Cycle (Water Cycle)
•It is the cycle that explains the continuous
movement of the water, above or below the
Earth’s surface
•It also involves the transfer of energy
(e.g. evaporation → condensation)
•The sun is the driving agent of this cycle
Processes of Hydrological Cycle (Water
Cycle)
•Evaporation
•Transpiration
•Condensation
•Precipitation
•Infiltration
Evaporation
•It is the first major step in the hydrological cycle
•The sun is the major driving force of this process
for it will heat the water and it will become water
vapor
•It involves the molecular change of water from
liquid to gas
Transpiration
•It is a type of water movement that is typically
happening in plants
•The sun absorbs the water from the aerial parts
of a plant (e.g. leaves) and it will evaporate and
become water vapor
•If there are many leaves in the plant, it would lose
more water because it has a bigger surface area.
Condensation
•It is the reverse process of the evaporation
•It is happening when the evaporated water vapor
cooled down to its dew point
•It is usually when the clouds are formed
Precipitation
•It is the water released from the condensed
clouds
•It is the primary connection in the water cycle that
provides for the delivery of the atmospheric water
to the Earth.
Types of Precipitation
•Rain
•It is the liquid water droplets that is responsible
for the bringing of freshwater into the Earth
Types of Precipitation
•Snow
•It is the solid type of precipitation that has a
temperature of below 0˚C
•It is the ice crystals that precipitate from the
atmosphere
•It is usually precipitated in the polar regions or
places with cold moistures
Types of Precipitation
•Hail
•It is the other type of solid precipitation
•Hails are small irregular lumps or balls of ice,
about the size of 5 mm to 15 cm
•Usually occurs in thunderstorms
Infiltration
•It is the process by which precipitation (water)
was absorbed by the soil and moves into the
rocks and usually replenishes the groundwater
system.
Geosphere
• It is the solid state of Earth
• It includes the structure,
composition, minerals, and
processes of Earth
• Lithosphere – it is a part
of the geosphere that is
composed of the solid,
outermost part of the planet.
Tectonic Plates
•These are the rocky parts of the lithosphere
that are divided into numerous plates due to
the drifting of the plates as times goes by.
•Estimated to move about 1-16 cm per year
Group Activity:
•Research about the following topics regarding the
parts of the Earth:
•Group 1 – Crust
Group 2 – Mohorovicic Discontinuity (Moho)
Group 3 – Mantle
Group 4 – Outer Core
Group 5 – Inner Core
Crust
•It is the Earth’s outermost and thinnest layer
•It is the layer of the Earth where life exists
•It comprises of 1% of the Earth’s volume
•Two types of Earth’s Crust: Oceanic (found in
oceanic bases) and Continental (found beneath
the continents)
•Temperature ranges from 200˚-400˚C
Mohorovicic Discontinuity (Moho)
•It is the boundary of the crust and the mantle
•Discovered by Croatian seismologist Andrija
Mohorovicic in 1909
•Showed there are two kinds of seismic waves:
P-Waves (first arrived but slowly)
S-Waves (last arrived but faster)
Mantle
•Also called as “sima”
•The biggest part of the Earth in terms of depth
and volume
•The mantle is 2,900 km thick
•The average temperature is 3,000˚C
Outer Core
•It is the fluid (magma-like) part of the Core
•It is 2,890 – 5,000 km beneath the Earth’s
surface
•The temperature of the outer core ranges from
4,500 – 6,000˚C
•This is the layer that creates the Earth’s magnetic
field
Inner Core
•It is the deepest part of the Earth and made up of
iron-nickel alloy
•The average temperature of the Inner Core is
5,500˚C
•Unlike the Outer Core, it is solid due to the
pressure created by the total weight of the three
other layers.
Biosphere
• It is the most important
subsystem on Earth
• It is the totality of all the
ecosystems in the whole
Earth
• It drives us to be in
constant need of
interaction with the planet
• Coined by the geologist
Eduard Suess in 1875