Different Spheres of the Earth
Lets take a look at these four spheres of the earth in bit more detail to understand how they help make up the earth.
Hydrosphere (Water)
The hydrosphere includes all the gaseous, liquid, and solid water of the planet earth. The hydrosphere stretches all the way from the Earth’s surface downward numerous miles into the lithosphere and high above the crust into the atmosphere. Most of the water in the atmosphere is in gaseous form and as it rises higher into the atmosphere it condenses to form clouds which fall back on earth as precipitation.
Biosphere (Living Things)
All the living things in the planet are categorized under the biosphere. In this view, the biosphere includes all of the animals, plants, and microorganisms of earth. Humans as well belong to this group. The entire ecological communities within the physical surrounding of the earth are within the umbrella of living things (biosphere). These ecological communities interact together with the physical aspects of the earth including the hydrosphere, lithosphere, and the atmosphere.
Lithosphere (Land)
The lithosphere is made up of all the hard and solid land mass on the earth’s surface, the semi-solid rocks (molten materials) underneath the earth crust, and the liquid rocks in the inner core of the earth. The surface of the lithosphere is uneven as it is characterized by various landform features. Some of the landforms include mountains like the Mount Fuji in Japan and Mount Vesuvius in Italy, deep valleys within the mountain ranges, huge plains like the ones in Texas and Brazil, extensive plateaus like Bolivian plateau in South America and the Colorado plateau of the United States, and hills like the black hills.
Atmosphere (Air)
All the air in the atmosphere makes up the atmosphere. The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen (about 78%), oxygen (about 21%), and other gasses (about 1%) such as carbon dioxide (0.039%), argon (0.93%) and the rest are trace gases (krypton, neon, helium , and xenon). The higher the atmosphere, the thinner it becomes and this trait gradually moves towards space. The atmosphere extends all the way from the earth’s crust to more than 6200 miles (10,000 kilometers) above the earth’s surface into space. The atmosphere is divided into several layers and among the layers is the stratosphere that contains the ozone layer which protects the organisms in the biosphere from the sun’s harmful radiation.
