The Solar System and the Earth's Geospheres

1. The Solar System

2. Solar system - the sun and all the objects that revolve around it.

3. The terrestrial planets have solid, rocky crusts. They are – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

4. Gas-Giant Planets – gaseous and less dense than the terrestrial planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune

5. Pluto is a ball of ice and rock. It has lost it’s status as a planet, but the text calls it a planet.

6. LITHOSPHERE Solid, rocky crust covering entire planet. http://mediatheek.thinkquest.nl/~ll125/images/struct.jpg

7. ATMOSPHERE The air surrounding Earth • 78% Nitrogen • Just under 21% Oxygen • less than 1% argon, carbon dioxide & other gasses www.space.gc.ca

8. HYDROSPHERE All the water in or near the Earth

9. BIOSPHERE Composed of all living organisms • Plants • Animals • One-celled organisms

10. The 4 Geo-spheres” of the earth are all interconnected akjdfajdfljadsfjaljdflajdfljalsfjaljflajfljaldfjafjfjjfjf http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/images/misc/spheres3.jpg

11. Layers of the Earth

12. Inner Core The super-hot solid inner layer of iron and nickel under extreme pressure

13. Outer Core The liquid layer of melted iron and nickel that surrounds the inner core.

14. Mantle The thickest layer. This layer is made up of hot, dense rock – silicon, aluminum, iron, magnesium, and oxygen. This layer rises, cools, sinks, warms up, rises, etc.

15. Crust lithosphere The rocky shell that covers the earth’ surface. The shell is broken up into plates that move apart or ground together to push up mountains, create volcanoes, and produce earthquakes.

16. Internal Forces of Change

17. Continental Drift The theory that the land of the earth was once connected as one large super continent (Pangaea) and has moved “drifted” to its current locations (still moving) Plate Tectonics The theory that the crust of the earth is broken up into plates (8 major and many minor) that “float” on the mantle

18. Subduction – When a sea plate and continental plate collide, the heavier sea plate DIVES under the lighter continental plate. The sea plate then is heated and becomes magma which escapes through volcanoes.

19. Accretion – slow process that occurs when a sea plate SLIDES under a continental plate. This causes debris which makes continents grow outward.

20. Spreading – When sea plates pull apart leaving a rift, or deep crack. Magma wells up between the two plates to make underwater volcanoes and ridges.

21. Folding – when moving plates squeeze the earth’s surface until it bends the layers of rock.

22. Faulting - When moving plates grind past each other, creating cracks in the curst.

23. Earthquake – sudden, violent moving of plates along a fault where built up pressure suddenly snaps and shifts.

24. Ring of Fire – area along the edge of the Pacific Ocean that is a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanoes.

25. Volcano – mountains formed by lava (magma) that breaks through the earth’s crust.

26. Click on the underlined headings to see animation: Subduction & Accretion: • Convergent Continental-Oceanic Plates Folding & Faulting: • Convergent Continental Plates Spreading • Oceanic Divergent Plates

27. External Forces of Change

28. Weathering – process that breaks down rocks on the earth’s surface into smaller pieces Physical Weathering – Form of weathering that occurs when large masses of rock are broken down into smaller pieces. Example: Cracks in rocks fill with water and then freeze. Ice expands and cracks the rocks.

29. Chemical Weathering – Form of weathering that occurs when the make-up of the rock is changed by transforming minerals or combining with new elements. Example: carbon dioxide in the air dissolves limestone.

30. Erosion is the wearing away of the earth’s crust by water, wind, and glaciers. Wind erosion – movement of dust, sand, and soil from one area to another. Plants help prevent this.

31. Glacial erosion – large bodies of ice move slowly across the earth’s surface. As the glaciers move they pick up rocks and soils in their path. As the glacier retreats it can also leave fields of debris behind.

32. Water erosion – fast-moving water cuts into the land as it flows downstream. Ocean waves can also erode coastal cliffs. WATER is the most significant cause of erosion.

33. Continental Shelf The part of a continent that extends under the water.

34. Highest Point on Land – Mt. Everest – 29,035 feet

35. Lowest Point on dry land – shore of the Dead Sea, 1,349 below sea level

36. Lowest point on earth – Mariana Trench – 35,827 below sea level

37. WATER

38. Water cycle – the regular movement of water from ocean to air to ground and back to the ocean.

39. Evaporation – liquid water turns into water vapor

40. Sublimate – ice and snow can turn from solid directly into water vapor (skipping liquid form)

41. Evapotranspiration – water transpired from plants and evaporated from the soil

42. Condensation – water vapor in the clouds is changed into liquid water

43. sleet Precipitation – moisture that falls to earth in the forms of snow, sleet, hail, and rain.

44. Ice caps and glaciers – store frozen water for thousands of years. 2% of all the world’s water is frozen freshwater.

45. Snowmelt – surface runoff produced by melting snow.

46. Surface runoff – water flow that occurs from excess water from rain, meltwater, or other sources that flow over the land.

47. Freshwater storage – accumulation of runoff, stream flow, and other fresh water (lakes)

48. Infiltration – downward movement of water through soil. Ground water – water under the earth’s surface from rain, melted snow, lakes, and rivers (freshwater – not salt water).

49. Aquifer – underground water -bearing layers of porous rock, sand, or gravel.