The geosphere is the earth itself: the rocks, minerals, and landforms of the surface and interior. Below the crust - which varies in depth from about 5 km beneath the ocean floor to up to 70 km below the land surface, temperatures are high enough for deformation and a paste-like flow of elements. At one time, roughly 200 million years ago, the continents were joined together in a supercontinent called Pangaea, but since then tectonic plates have slowly separated, creating the arrangement of the continents we are accustomed to today.
The biosphere is made up of the parts of Earth where life exists. The biosphere extends from the deepest root systems of trees to the dark environment of ocean trenches, to lush rain forests and high mountaintops.
A hydrosphere is the total amount of water on a planet. The hydrosphere includes water that is on the surface of the planet, underground, and in the air. A planet's hydrosphere can be liquid, vapor, or ice. On Earth, liquid water exists on the surface in the form of oceans, lakes and rivers.
Earth's atmosphere is composed of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and one percent other gases. These gases are found in layers (troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere) defined by unique features such as temperature and pressure.
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The geosphere is the earth itself: the rocks, minerals, and landforms of the surface and interior. Below the crust - which varies in depth from about 5 km beneath the ocean floor to up to 70 km below the land surface, temperatures are high enough for deformation and a paste-like flow of elements. At one time, roughly 200 million years ago, the continents were joined together in a supercontinent called Pangaea, but since then tectonic plates have slowly separated, creating the arrangement of the continents we are accustomed to today.
The biosphere is made up of the parts of Earth where life exists. The biosphere extends from the deepest root systems of trees to the dark environment of ocean trenches, to lush rain forests and high mountaintops.
A hydrosphere is the total amount of water on a planet. The hydrosphere includes water that is on the surface of the planet, underground, and in the air. A planet's hydrosphere can be liquid, vapor, or ice. On Earth, liquid water exists on the surface in the form of oceans, lakes and rivers.
Earth's atmosphere is composed of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and one percent other gases. These gases are found in layers (troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere) defined by unique features such as temperature and pressure.