Download Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Lithosphere

THE FOUR
ENVIRONMENTAL
SPHERES
Norielyn N. Abalos
The area near the surface of the earth can
be divided up into four inter-connected "geospheres:"
Lithosphere (stone)
Hydrosphere (water)
Biosphere (life)
Atmosphere (air)
Earth System (4 physical systems)
Atmosphere
Layer of gases that surround the Earth.
 The air of our planet is :

 79%
nitrogen
 21% oxygen
 small amount remaining is composed of carbon
dioxide and other gasses.

Allows you to breathe and protects earth.
Lithosphere (crust and MOHO)
•The solid, rocky crust covering entire
planet.
•This crust is inorganic and is composed
of minerals.
•It covers the entire surface of the earth
from the top of Mount Everest to the
bottom of the Mariana’s Trench.
Moho, or Mohorovičić discontinuity, boundary between the Earth’s crust and
its mantle. The Moho lies at a depth of about 22 mi (35 km) below continents
and about 4.5 mi (7 km) beneath the oceanic crust.
Hydrosphere
All the water on or near the earth
 This includes the oceans, rivers, lakes, and
even the moisture in the air.
 97% of the earth's water is in the oceans.
 3% is fresh water; three-quarters of the fresh
water is solid and exists in ice sheets

Biosphere
•composed of all living organisms.
•Plants, animals, and one-celled
organisms are all part of the biosphere.
•Most of the planet's life is found from
three meters below the ground to thirty
meters above it and in the top 200 meters
of the oceans and seas.
Lithosphere
METEOROLOGY
GEOLOGY
Biosphere
Atmosphere
ASTRONOMY
Hydrosphere
OCEANOGRAPHY
Inner Core –
1200 km made
of solid Fe, Ni.
 Outer Core –
2250 km made
of liquid Fe, Ni.
 Mantle – 2900
km made of
dense rocks.
 Crust – 5 – 40
km made of
solid lighter
rocks.

Lithosphere (Crust and MOHO) –
100km thick.
MOHO = Mohorovicic Discontinuity