Study of the Earth

Traci Carmichael

SCI245

December 16, 2009
Aimee Pellet

Study of the Earth

Breaking down a large complex system into smaller parts is called the system approach. The system approach allows for each element that makes up the earth to be focused on separately. Each unit of the Earth system is broken down further into subsystems known as: the Lithosphere, the Biosphere, the Atmosphere, and the Hydrosphere. Each of these elements performs a certain function that is dependent on the other. The Lithosphere is the Earth’s outermost rocker layer. The Biosphere consists of recently decayed and living organisms on Earth’s surface. The Atmosphere is the gases that surround the Earth. The Hydrosphere contains all of the earth’s water and ice, above and below the surface. Losing any of these systems would have a depleting effect on the earth as we know it. There is a cycle to how these systems work, plants gain nutrients from the lithosphere and then these nutrients are incorporated back into the biosphere. When the plants die some of the material left behind is released into the atmosphere and the rest goes back into the lithosphere. Each element provides what is needed to continue the cycle and the cycle is a constant. People depend on each subsystem in the same way that the earth depends on these systems to continue. The lithosphere is important because “There are high mountains ranges like the Rockies and Andes, huge plains like those in Texas, Iowa and Brazil, and the deep valleys of the ocean floor .We walk and climb on this part of the lithosphere (Wheeling Jesuit University, 2005).” The biosphere is important because it contains the environment that a person lies in. “The biosphere is as important as life itself because it is all of life. Without the biosphere, the Earth would be a lifeless planet such as Mars or Venus (US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2009).” The Atmosphere provides oxygen that a person needs in order to breathe; the atmosphere also provides protection from harmful radiation from the sun. The hydrosphere is important because it contains all of the earth’s water. Water is needed for fish to live that a person may eat and helps provide the earth with the water needed for life to grow, provides the atmosphere with water needed to rain or snow.

References:

US Fish and Wildlife Service. (2009). Why Do We Care About The Bioshpere. Retrieved from http://earth.rice.edu/MTPE/bio/biosphere/biosphere_why.html

Visualizing Geology. Retrieved from, SCI245 website

Wheeling Jesuit University. (2005). Lithosphere. Retrieved from http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/lithosphere.html

References
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