Earth Science is a System

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Earth Science is a System?
The study of Earth materials and processes is
subdivided into a group of four interconnected
spheres of activity.
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A. Four Groups of Earth Science
1. Atmosphere
2. Lithosphere
2 A. Geosphere
3. Hydrosphere
4. Biosphere
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1. Atmosphere
The gaseous envelope of air surrounding earth.
Made up of a mixture of about 78 nitrogen, 21
Oxygen, and 1 other gases and water vapor.
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2. Lithosphere or Geosphere
The rocks, mountains, lithospheric plates, and
other physical features of Earth, except for
water.
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3. Hydrosphere
All Water in the Earth system gases (Water
vapor), solid (snow and ice), and liquid (rain
and water).
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4. Biosphere
was coined by Russian scientist Vladimir
Vernadsky in the 1929.
is the life zone of the Earth and includes all
living organisms, including man, and all organic
matter that has not yet decomposed.
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B. Cycles and the Earth
Cycle The physical or chemical processing of
Earth materials that repeats over time.
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What do you think is our Number 1 Cycle?
B1. Water Cycle
B2. Rock Cycle
B3. Carbon Dioxide Cycle
B4. Oxygen Cycle
B5. Nitrogen Cycle
B6. Energy Cycle
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B1. The Hydrologic Cycle
Parts
B1-1. Sun-powered cycle
Heating of the ocean water by the sun is the
key process that keeps the hydrologic cycle in
motion.
B1-2. Evaporation
it's surface molecules become sufficiently
energized to break free of the attractive force
binding them together, and then evaporate and
rise as invisible vapor in the atmosphere.
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B1-3. Transpiration
Water vapor is also emitted from plant leaves
by a process called transpiration.
B1-4. Condensation
As water vapor rises, it cools and eventually
condenses, usually on tiny particles of dust in
the air.
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B1-5. Condensation Nuclei
Particles suspended in the air that provide a
surface upon which condensation can occur.
B1-6. Aerosols
are tiny particles suspended in the air. Some
occur naturally, originating from volcanoes, dust
storms, forest and grassland fires, living
vegetation, and sea spray. Human activities, such
as the burning of fossil fuels.
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B1-7. Precipitation
Precipitation in the form of rain, snow and
hail comes from clouds. Clouds move around the
world, propelled by air currents.
B1-8. Runoff
Excessive rain or snowmelt can produce overland
flow to creeks and ditches.
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B1-9. Percolation
Some of the precipitation and snow melt moves
downwards, percolates or infiltrates through
cracks, joints and pores in soil and rocks until
it reaches the water table where it becomes
groundwater.
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B1-10. Groundwater
Subterranean water is held in cracks and pore
spaces. Depending on the geology, the groundwater
can flow to support streams. It can also be
tapped by wells.
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B1-11. Water table
The water table is the level at which water
stands in a shallow well.
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Energy
exists in many forms, such as heat, light,
chemical energy, and electrical energy.
Energy is the ability to bring about change or to
do work. Thermodynamics is the study of energy.
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B6-1. Solar Energy
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B6-2. Geothermal Energy
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B6-3. Tidal Energy
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First law of Thermodynamics
Energy is neither created nor destroyed, it
changes from one form to another.
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C. Earth's Energy Budget
Absorption and re-emission of radiation at the
earth's surface
The energy coming from the Sun to the Earth's
surface is called solar insolation or shortwave
energy.
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Energy goes back to space from the Earth system
in two ways reflection and emission.
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Reflection
Part of the solar energy that comes to Earth is
reflected back out to space in the same, short
wavelengths in which it came to Earth. The
percentage of solar energy that is reflected back
to space is called the albedo.
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Different surfaces have different albedos. Over
the whole surface of the Earth, about 30 percent
of incoming solar energy is reflected back to
space.
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Ocean surfaces (26 albedo) and rain forests
(15 albedo) reflect only a small portion of the
Sun's energy. Deserts however, have high
albedos (40) they reflect a large portion of
the Sun's energy. A cloud usually has a higher
albedo than the surface beneath it, the cloud
reflects more shortwave radiation back to space
than the surface would in the absence of the
cloud, thus leaving less solar energy available
to heat the surface and atmosphere.
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Emission
Another part of the energy going back to space
from the Earth is the longwave radiation emitted
by the Earth. The solar radiation absorbed by the
Earth increases the planet's temperature. Heat
energy is emitted into space, creating a balance.
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http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Aerosols/
http//www.ec.gc.ca/Water/en/nature/prop/e_cycle.h
tm
http//www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/
BioBookEner1.htmlThermodynamics
http//okfirst.mesonet.org/train/meteorology/Energ
yBudget2.html
http//eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/EDDOCS/radiation_facts
.html