CAPIZ STATE UNIVERSITY 

College of Education 
Pontevedra Campus 

Sci 223 (Environmental Science) 

2 Semester, A.Y. 2020 – 2021 
nd

Instructor: Cheryl Ann F. Gicana, PhD.

BASIC SCIENTIFIC CONCEPT

LITHOSPHERE
The lithosphere is the solid, outer part of the Earth. The lithosphere includes the brittle upper
portion of the mantle and the crust, the outermost layers of Earth’s structure. It is bounded by
the atmosphere above and the asthenosphere (another part of the upper mantle) below.
Although the rocks of the lithosphere are still considered elastic, they are not viscous. The
asthenosphere is viscous, and the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary is the point
where geologists and rheologists—scientists who study the flow of matter—mark the difference
in ductility between the two layers of the upper mantle. Ductility measures a solid material’s
ability to deform or stretch under stress. The lithosphere is far less ductile than the
asthenosphere.
There are two types of lithosphere: oceanic lithosphere and continental lithosphere. Oceanic
lithosphere is associated with oceanic crust, and is slightly denser than continental lithosphere.
PLATE TECTONICS
The most well-known feature associated with Earth’s lithosphere is tectonic activity. Tectonic
activity describes the interaction of the huge slabs of lithosphere called tectonic plates.
The lithosphere is divided into tectonic plates including the North American, Caribbean, South
American, Scotia, Antarctic, Eurasian, Arabian, African, Indian, Philippine, Australian, Pacific,
Juan de Fuca, Cocos, and Nazca.
Most tectonic activity takes place at the boundaries of these plates, where they may collide, tear
apart, or slide against each other. The movement of tectonic plates is made possible by thermal
energy (heat) from the mantle part of the lithosphere. Thermal energy makes the rocks of the
lithosphere more elastic. Tectonic activity is responsible for some of Earth's most
dramatic geologic events: earthquakes, volcanoes, orogeny (mountain-building), and deep ocean
trenches can all be formed by tectonic activity in the lithosphere. 
Tectonic activity can shape the lithosphere itself: Both oceanic and continental lithospheres are
thinnest at rift valleys and ocean ridges, where tectonic plates are shifting apart from one
another. How the Lithosphere Interacts with Other Spheres
The cool, brittle lithosphere is just one of five great “spheres” that shape the environment of
Earth. The other spheres are the biosphere (Earth’s living things); the cryosphere (Earth’s frozen
regions, including both ice and frozen soil); the hydrosphere (Earth’s liquid water); and the
atmosphere (the air surrounding our planet). These spheres interact to influence
such diverse elements as ocean salinity, biodiversity, and landscape.
For instance, the pedosphere is part of the lithosphere made of soil and dirt. The pedosphere is
created by the interaction of the lithosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, and
biosphere. Enormous, hard rocks of the lithosphere may be ground down to powder by the
powerful movement of a glacier (cyrosphere). Weathering and erosion caused
by wind (atmosphere) or rain (hydrosphere) may also wear down rocks in the lithosphere.
The organic components of the biosphere, including plant and animal remains, mix with these
eroded rocks to create fertile soil—the pedosphere.
The lithosphere also interacts with the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and cryosphere to
influence temperature differences on Earth. Tall mountains, for example, often have dramatically
lower temperatures than valleys or hills. The mountain range of the lithosphere is interacting
with the lower air pressure of the atmosphere and the snowy precipitation of the hydrosphere to
create a cool or even icy climate zone. A region’s climate zone, in turn, influences adaptations
necessary for organisms of the region’s biosphere.
HYDROSPHERE
The Hydrosphere is associated with water in the liquid state, which covers about 70% of the
Earth's surface. Most liquid water is found in the oceans. Our Hydrosphere gives Earth a distinct
appearance as a blue marble and separates us from other planets in the solar system.  Only a
small portion of the Earth's water is freshwater, found in rivers, lakes, and groundwater. Water in
a gas state (water vapor) is probably best considered as a feature of the Atmosphere. 
Additionally, frozen water in the forms of snow, sea ice, icebergs, ice sheets, and glaciers are
identified as part of a separate sphere of the Earth System, the Cryosphere.
Water is necessary for sustaining life on Earth and helps connect the Earth's systems.
Precipitation, evaporation, freezing and melting and condensation are all part of the hydrological
cycle (AKA water cycle)- a never-ending global process of water circulation from clouds to land,
to the ocean, and back to the clouds. This cycling of water is intimately linked with energy
exchanges among the Atmosphere, Cryosphere, Hydrosphere, and Geosphere. These connections
help define the Earth's climate and cause much of natural climate variability.  Knowing details
about where precipitation occurs, how much, and its characteristics allows scientists to better
understand the impact of precipitation on streams, rivers, surface runoff and groundwater.
Scientists rely on frequent and detailed measurements to develop models to determine changes
and make predictions about future changes in Earth’s water cycle.
Water provides life, eases out heat, drains harmful substances and mediates many day-to-day
works. Water needs to be replenished, purified and circulated again and again so that it can
perform its functions. Nature does this job through a process called the water cycle. Also known
as hydrologic cycle, the water cycle is a phenomenon where water moves through the three
phases (gas, liquid and solid) over the four spheres (atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and
biosphere) and completes a full cycle. The water cycle has many effects: it regulates the
temperature of the surroundings. It changes weather and creates rain. It helps in conversion of
rocks to soil. It circulates important minerals through the spheres. It also creates the many
geographical features present on earth like the ice caps of mountains, icebergs, the rivers and the
valleys, lakes, and more. Hence it is quite important to understand and learn the processes of the
water cycle. The full cycle forms an endless loop, but let's start the whole process at the ocean.
Since that is where about 96% of total water exists on Earth.
Step 1: Evaporation
The water cycle begins with evaporation. It is a process where water at the surface turns into
water vapors. Water absorbs heat energy from the sun and turns into vapors. Water bodies like
the oceans, the seas, the lakes and the river bodies are the main source of evaporation. Through
evaporation, water moves from hydrosphere to atmosphere. As water evaporates it reduces the
temperature of the bodies.
Step 2: Condensation
As water vaporizes into water vapor, it rises up in the atmosphere. At high altitudes the water
vapors changes into very tiny particles of ice /water droplets because of low temperature. This
process is called condensation. These
particles come close together and form clouds and fogs in the sky.
Step 3: Sublimation
Apart from evaporation, sublimation also contributes to water vapors in the air. Sublimation is a
process where ice directly converts into water vapors without converting into liquid water. This
phenomenon accelerates when the temperature is low or pressure is high. The main sources of water from
sublimation are the ice sheets of the North Pole and the South Pole and the ice caps on the mountains.
Sublimation is a rather slower process than evaporation.

Step 4: Precipitation
The clouds (condensed water vapors) then pour down as precipitation due to wind or temperature
change. This occurs because the water droplets combine to make bigger droplets. Also when the
air cannot hold any more water, it precipitates. At high altitudes the temperature is low and hence
the droplets lose their heat energy. These water droplets fall down as rain. If the temperature is
very low (below 0 degrees), then the water droplets would fall as snow. In addition, water could
also precipices in the form of drizzle, sleet and hail. Hence water enters lithosphere.
Step 5: Transpiration
As water precipitates, some of it is absorbed by the soil. This water enters into the process of
transpiration. Transpiration is a process similar to evaporation where liquid water is turned into
water vapor by the plants. The roots of the plants absorb the water and push it toward leaves
where it is used for photosynthesis. The extra water is moved out of leaves through stomata (very
tiny openings on leaves) as water vapor. Thus water enters the biosphere and exits into gaseous
phase.
Step 6: Runoff
As the water pours down (in whatever form), it leads to runoff. Runoff is the process where
water runs over the surface of earth. When the snow melts into water it also leads to runoff. As
water runs over the ground it displaces the top soil with it and moves the minerals along with the
stream. This runoff combines to form channels, rivers and ends up into lakes, seas and oceans.
Here the water enters hydrosphere.
Step 7: Infiltration
Some of the water that precipitates does not runoff into the rivers and is absorbed by the plants or
gets evaporated. It moves deep into the soil. This is called infiltration. The water seeps down and
increases the level of ground water table. It is called pure water and is drinkable. The infiltration
is measured as inches of water-soaked by the soil per hour.
BIOSPHERE
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.

Scientists describe the Earth in terms of spheres. The solid surface layer of the Earth is
the lithosphere. The atmosphere is the layer of air that stretches above the lithosphere. The
Earth’s water—on the surface, in the ground, and in the air—makes up the hydrosphere.
Since life exists on the ground, in the air, and in the water, the biosphere overlaps all these
spheres. Although the biosphere measures about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from top to bottom,
almost all life exists between about 500 meters (1,640 feet) below the ocean’s surface to about 6
kilometers (3.75 miles) above sea level.
Origin of the Biosphere

The biosphere has existed for about 3.5 billion years. The biosphere’s earliest life-forms,
called prokaryotes, survived without oxygen. Ancient prokaryotes included single-celled
organisms such as bacteria and archaea.

Some prokaryotes developed a unique chemical process. They were able to use sunlight to make
simple sugars and oxygen out of water and carbon dioxide, a process called photosynthesis.
These photosynthetic organisms were so plentiful that they changed the biosphere. Over a long
period of time, the atmosphere developed a mix of oxygen and other gases that could sustain new
forms of life.

The addition of oxygen to the biosphere allowed more complex life-forms to evolve. Millions of
different plants and other photosynthetic species developed. Animals, which consume plants
(and other animals) evolved. Bacteria and other organisms evolved to decompose, or break
down, dead animals and plants.
The biosphere benefits from this food web. The remains of dead plants and animals
release nutrients into the soil and ocean. These nutrients are re-absorbed by growing plants. This
exchange of food and energy makes the biosphere a self-supporting and self-regulating system.
The biosphere is sometimes thought of as one large ecosystem—a complex community of living
and non-living things functioning as a single unit. More often, however, the biosphere is
described as having many ecosystems.
People play an important part in maintaining the flow of energy in the biosphere. Sometimes,
however, people disrupt the flow. For example, in the atmosphere, oxygen levels decrease and
carbon dioxide levels increase when people clear forests or burn fossil fuels such
as coal and oil. Oil spills and industrial wastes threaten life in the hydrosphere. The future of the
biosphere will depend on how people interact with other living things within the zone of life.

In the early 1970s, the United Nations established a project called Man and the Biosphere
Programme (MAB), which promotes sustainable development. A network of biosphere reserves
exists to establish a working, balanced relationship between people and the natural world.

Currently, there are 563 biosphere reserves all over the world. The first biosphere reserve was
established in Yangambi, Democratic Republic of Congo. Yangambi, in the fertile Congo River
Basin, has 32,000 species of trees and such endemic species as forest elephants and red river
hogs. The biosphere reserve at Yangambi supports activities such as sustainable agriculture,
hunting, and mining. One of the newest biosphere reserves is in Yayu, Ethiopia. The area is
developed for agriculture. Crops such as honey, timber, and fruit are regularly cultivated.
However, Yayu’s most profitable and valuable resource is an indigenous species of plant, Coffea
arabica. This shrub is the source of coffee. Yayu has the largest source of wild Coffea arabica in
the world.
ATMOSPHERE
We live at the bottom of an invisible ocean called the atmosphere, a layer of gases surrounding
our planet. Nitrogen and oxygen account for 99 percent of the gases in dry air,
with argon, carbon dioxide, helium, neon, and other gases making up minute portions.
Water vapor and dust are also part of Earth’s atmosphere. Other planets and moons have very
different atmospheres, and some have no atmospheres at all.
The atmosphere is so spread out that we barely notice it, yet its weight is equal to a layer of
water more than 10 meters (34 feet) deep covering the entire planet. The bottom 30 kilometers
(19 miles) of the atmosphere contains about 98 percent of its mass. The atmosphere—air—is
much thinner at high altitudes. There is no atmosphere in space.
Scientists say many of the gases in our atmosphere were ejected into the air by early volcanoes.
At that time, there would have been little or no free oxygen surrounding the Earth. Free oxygen
consists of oxygen molecules not attached to another element, like carbon (to form carbon
dioxide) or hydrogen (to form water).
Free oxygen may have been added to the atmosphere by primitive organisms, probably bacteria,
during photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process a plant or other autotroph uses to
make food and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water. Later, more complex forms of plant life
added more oxygen to the atmosphere. The oxygen in today’s atmosphere probably took millions
of years to accumulate.

The atmosphere acts as a gigantic filter, keeping out most ultraviolet radiation while letting in the
sun’s warming rays. Ultraviolet radiation is harmful to living things, and is what causes
sunburns. Solar heat, on the other hand, is necessary for all life on Earth.

Earth’s atmosphere has a layered structure. From the ground toward the sky, the layers are
the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere. Another layer, called
the ionosphere, extends from the mesosphere to the exosphere. Beyond the exosphere is outer
space. The boundaries between atmospheric layers are not clearly defined, and change depending
on latitude and season.
The Troposphere
This is the lowest part of the atmosphere - the part we live in. It contains most of our weather -
clouds, rain, and snow. In this part of the atmosphere the temperature gets colder as the distance
above the earth increases, by about 6.5°C per kilometre. The actual change of temperature with
height varies from day to day, depending on the weather.
The troposphere contains about 75% of all of the air in the atmosphere, and almost all of the
water vapour (which forms clouds and rain). The decrease in temperature with height is a result
of the decreasing pressure. If a parcel of air moves upwards it expands (because of the lower
pressure). When air expands it cools. So air higher up is cooler than air lower down.
The lowest part of the troposphere is called the boundary layer.  This is where the air motion is
determined by the properties of the Earth's surface.  Turbulence is generated as the wind blows
over the Earth's surface, and by thermals rising from the land as it is heated by the sun.  This
turbulence redistributes heat and moisture within the boundary layer, as well as pollutants and
other constituents of the atmosphere. 
The top of the troposphere is called the tropopause. This is lowest at the poles, where it is
about 7 - 10 km above the Earth's surface. It is highest (about 17 - 18 km) near the equator.
The Stratosphere
This extends upwards from the tropopause to about 50 km. It contains much of the ozone in the
atmosphere. The increase in temperature with height occurs because of absorption of ultraviolet
(UV) radiation from the sun by this ozone. Temperatures in the stratosphere are highest over the
summer pole, and lowest over the winter pole.
By absorbing dangerous UV radiation, the ozone in the stratosphere protects us from skin cancer
and other health damage. However chemicals (called CFCs or freons, and halons) which were
once used in refrigerators, spray cans and fire extinguishers have reduced the amount of ozone in
the stratosphere, particularly at polar latitudes, leading to the so-called "Antarctic ozone hole".
Now humans have stopped making most of the harmful CFCs we expect the ozone hole will
eventually recover over the 21st century, but this is a slow process.
The Mesosphere
The region above the stratosphere is called the mesosphere. Here the temperature again decreases
with height, reaching a minimum of about -90°C at the "mesopause".
The Thermosphere and Ionosphere
The thermosphere lies above the mesopause, and is a region in which temperatures again
increase with height. This temperature increase is caused by the absorption of energetic
ultraviolet and X-Ray radiation from the sun.
The region of the atmosphere above about 80 km is also caused the "ionosphere", since the
energetic solar radiation knocks electrons off molecules and atoms, turning them into "ions" with
a positive charge. The temperature of the thermosphere varies between night and day and
between the seasons, as do the numbers of ions and electrons which are present. The ionosphere
reflects and absorbs radio waves, allowing us to receive shortwave radio broadcasts in New
Zealand from other parts of the world.
The Exosphere
The region above about 500 km is called the exosphere. It contains mainly oxygen and hydrogen
atoms, but there are so few of them that they rarely collide - they follow "ballistic" trajectories
under the influence of gravity, and some of them escape right out into space.
The Magnetosphere
The earth behaves like a huge magnet. It traps electrons (negative charge) and protons (positive),
concentrating them in two bands about 3,000 and 16,000 km above the globe - the Van Allen
"radiation" belts. This outer region surrounding the earth, where charged particles spiral along
the magnetic field lines, is called the magnetosphere.
Atmosphere Importance
The atmosphere is made of gases that are essential for photosynthesis and other life activities.
The atmosphere is a crucial part of the water cycle. It is an important reservoir for water, and the
source of precipitation.
The atmosphere moderates Earth's temperature. Weather takes place in the atmosphere.
Without air, Earth would be silent.