Components of Earth
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Transcript Components of Earth
Components of Earth
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
Spaceship Earth
• Closed System
• Resources are limited
Why is earth so favorable for
life?
• Distance from the sun (Temp range)
• Size of the planet (Gravity)
What sustains life on earth?
• Earth’s 4 spheres help support organisms
– Atmosphere
– Hydrosphere
– Geosphere
– Biosphere
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Geosphere
Biosphere
Geosphere
Composition of Earth
• Crust, mantle, core
• Crust - 1% Earth’s mass thinnest layer
• Mantle - layers beneath the crust
• Core - innermost layer
Structure of the Earth
• Four layers
– Lithosphere
– Asthenosphere
– Outer core
– Inner core
Structure of the Earth
• Lithosphere (outer layer)
• crust and uppermost part of the mantle
• divided into pieces called tectonic plates
• Earthquakes (Ritcher Scale)
• Asthenosphere
– Solid layer of rock beneath the lithosphere
– Flows very slowly allowing tectonic plates to
move an top of it
• Outer core
– Dense liquid layer
• Inner core
– dense mostly made up of metals iron and
nickel
Atmosphere
• Nitrogen (makes up the majority),
oxygen, carbon dioxide
• Insulates the Earth’s surface reducing
the rate that Earth loses heat
• Concentration of gases and particles
are constantly changing
• Gases and particles are pulled
towards the Earth by gravity becoming
densest by the Earth’s surface
4 Layers of the Atmosphere
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Troposphere
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Thermosphere
Troposphere
• Closest to the Earth’s surface
• Weather occurs in this layer of the
atmosphere
• Temperature decreases as altitude
increases. (Particles become further apart)
Stratosphere
Located above the
troposphere
Ozone layer, O3
absorbs the sun’s UV
energy, warms the air
reduces the amount of
radiation that reaches the
Earth’s surface
High temp
Mesosphere
• Lies between the
stratosphere and the
thermosphere
• It is the coldest layer
of the atmosphere
Thermosphere
• Layer farthest from the Earth’s surface
– Nitrogen and oxygen absorb solar radiation
causing them to become electrically charged
– can produce radiant energy (light) known as
the aurora borealis.
Energy in the Atmosphere
• Sun’s energy can be transferred by;
radiation
convection
conduction
Radiation
• Heat travels across
space and in the
atmosphere
Conduction
• Heat from a warmer
object flowing to a
colder object when in
direct contact
Convection
• Heat transfer by
currents (Hot air rises,
cold air sinks
Movement of Energy in the
Atmosphere
• Air is constantly moving
• Troposphere
– currents of lighter air warmed by the Earth’s
surface rise into the atmosphere
– The currents of heavier air (cooler) sink
towards the ground.
• The rise and sink pattern of air creates a
circular current known as convection
current.
Greenhouse Effect
• Trapped gases heat the Earth
– natural process that keeps the environment at
temperatures in which life can exist
• When these gases known as greenhouse
gases become abundant
– water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous
oxide
– a thicker insulating layer forms trapping in
more heat
Hydrosphere
Includes all of the water on or near the Earth’s
surface
• Water;
% Fresh?
% Salt?
% Ice?
• Do you know?
Earth’s Oceans
•Important role in regulating our world’s
environment
•Absorbs over half the solar radiation
Biosphere
•Abiotic and Biotic Factors
•Uppermost part of the geosphere, most of
the hydrosphere, and lower part of the
atmosphere
Ecosystems (Sun)
• One – way flow of high – quality from the
sun
– Energy is lost as heat through process
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Warms atmosphere
Evaporates and recycles water
Generates winds
Supports plant growth
Cycling of Matter
• Fixed supply of nutrients are continually
recycled
– Carbon
– Nitrogen
– Phosphorus
– Potassium
Ecosystem Components
• Life exists in biomes and aquatic life zones
• Biomes
– Category given to regions of the world where
the plant and animal life are defined by the
region’s climate
• Temperature
• Precipitation
– Savannas, deserts, tropical rain forests,
alpine, temperate, arctic, taiga
Population
• Limiting factors
– Resources
– Law of tolerance
• too much or too little of abiotic factor
• Nutrients, precipitation, temperature
Biological Components
• Producers
• Consumers
• Biodiversity
Producers
• Autotrophs
• Make their own food
Consumers
• Heterotrophs
• Feed on other organisms
– Omnivores
– Carnivores
– Herbivores
– Detritivores
Food Chain
VS
Food Web
Feeding levels
• Trophic levels
– Producers are the lowest level
– Primary consumers
– Secondary consumer
– Tertiary consumer and so on
• 10% rule, 90% energy lost as heat,
growth, reproduction