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
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
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
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• Water;
% Fresh?
% Salt?
% Ice?
• Do you know?
Earth’s Oceans
•Important role in regulating our world’s
environment
•Absorbs over half the solar radiation