Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Geosphere – Collective name for the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, and the atmosphere; Global change – planetary-scale changes in the Earth system; Planetary boundaries – Limits not to be exceeded if humanity wants to survive in a safe ecosystem
Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. [1] This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres: the biosphere , hydrosphere / cryosphere , atmosphere , and geosphere (or lithosphere ).
A biogeochemical cycle, or more generally a cycle of matter, [1] is the movement and transformation of chemical elements and compounds between living organisms, the atmosphere, and the Earth's crust. Major biogeochemical cycles include the carbon cycle , the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle .
Living biomass holds about 550 gigatons of carbon, [1] most of which is made of terrestrial plants (wood), while some 1,200 gigatons of carbon are stored in the terrestrial biosphere as dead biomass. [2] Carbon is cycled through the terrestrial biosphere with varying speeds, depending on what form it is stored in and under which circumstances. [3]
Plates in the crust of Earth. Earth's crust is its thick outer shell of rock, referring to less than one percent of the planet's radius and volume.It is the top component of the lithosphere, a solidified division of Earth's layers that includes the crust and the upper part of the mantle. [1]
Note: In chondrite model (1), the light element in the core is assumed to be Si. Chondrite model (2) is a model of chemical composition of the mantle corresponding to the model of core shown in chondrite model (1). [1] A photograph of Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 17 in 1972. A processed version became widely known as The Blue Marble. [2] [3]
The different collectives of the geosphere are able to exchange different mass and/or energy fluxes (the measurable amount of change). The exchange of these fluxes affects the balance of the different spheres of the geosphere. An example is how the soil acts as a part of the biosphere, [3] while also acting as a source of flux exchange.
Since the Industrial Revolution, and especially since the end of WWII, human activity has substantially disturbed the global carbon cycle by redistributing massive amounts of carbon from the geosphere. [1] Humans have also continued to shift the natural component functions of the terrestrial biosphere with changes to vegetation and other land ...