Download The Physical world

THE PHYSICAL WORLD
LET’S START WITH THE ‘SPHERES’
• Atmosphere – layer of gases surrounding
the earth.
• Lithosphere – the solid rock portion of the
earth’s surface. Some of the Lithosphere is
below water and forms the ocean floor. The
huge landmasses above water on the
earth are called continents. There are
seven total.
• Hydrosphere – the water elements on earth.
Oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, and the water in
the atmosphere make up the Hydrosphere.
• Ecosphere – the part of the earth where
plants and animals live.
• Biosphere – all of the spheres combine for a
livable habitat.
LANDFORMS
ARE
NATURALLY
FORMED
FEATURES ON
THE EARTH’S
SURFACE.
Topography – Is the combination of the
surface, shape, and composition of the
landforms and their distribution in the
region.
Elevation is the distance above sea
level. It answers the question “How high
is it?
Relief is the difference in elevation of a
landform from its lowest point to its
highest point. It answers the question
“How tall is it?
The highest spot on earth is Mt Everest.
The deepest is Mariana Trench.
FORCES OF
CHANGE
INTERNAL FORCES
• The earth is about 24,900 miles in
circumference .
• Although the earth seems like a
solid ball, it is really more like a
series of shells that float on one
another.—Think of an egg!
• Core – solid metallic center made
of nickel and iron
• Mantle – soft layer of molten rock
(magma)
• Crust – thin layer of rock on earth’s
surface
The internal forces that shape the
earth’s surface begin just beneath the
crust.
These are called tectonic plates. These
plates are enormous pieces of the
earth’s crust that shift & move.
Alfred Wegener first presented the
theory of Continental Drift . He claimed
that in Earth’s early existence there was
only one body of land, Pangaea. That
supercontinent then slowly split and
separated into the continents we see
today.
WHEN PLATES MEET, THEY MAY CAUSE
FOLDING AND CRACKING OF ROCKS.
THIS FRACTURE IN THE EARTH’S CRUST
IS CALLED A FAULT. IT IS AT THE FAULT
LINE THAT PLATES MOVE PAST EACH
OTHER.
Divergent Boundary Where
plates move apart or
spread, creating rift valleys
or seafloor spreading.
Convergent Boundary
Where plates come together .
Can cause folding or
subduction zones
Transform Boundary
Where plates slide past one
another.
NATURAL
DISASTERS
Earthquake – The violent movement of the earth
produced when tectonic plates grind or slip past
each other.
• Seismograph – A device that measures the
size of waves created by an earthquake.
• Epicenter – The location on the earth’s
surface directly above where an
earthquake originates.
• Richter Scale – Scale that uses seismograph
results to determine the force of an
earthquake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoZB50LB5HE
Tsunami – A giant wave
in the ocean caused
by an earthquake.
https://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=EZCTV65
B-Io
The Ring of Fire, a huge ring of
volcanic and seismic (earthquake)
activity, was noticed and
described before the invention of
the theory of plate tectonics
theory. Today we now know that
the Ring of Fire is located at the
borders of the Pacific Plate and
seven other major tectonic plates.
It is home to 75% of the worlds
Volcanoes and 90% of the world’s
earthquakes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=IfAcAxX81tk
THE RING OF FIRE