EARTH AS A SYSTEM

EARTH- is the only planet that sustain or can support life.

2 Major Requirements for planet to be considered habitable:

1. The star should survive long enough for its planet to develop life.
2. The planet should exist in a region where water could remain liquid.

4 SUBSYSTEMS OF THE EARTH

1. HYDROSPHERE – contains all the solid liquid and gaseous water of the planet.
- It ranges from 10-20 kilometers in thickness
- 97% of earth’s water is salty

2. ATMOSPHERE – contains all the air in Earth’s system; 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and
1% other gases.

3. GEOSPHERE – contains all the cold, hard, solid land of the planet’s crust (surface), the
semi-solid land underneath the crust and the liquid land near the center of the planet.

4. BIOSPHERE – contains all the planet’s living things from ecological communities
based on the physical of an area.

3 LAYERS OF THE EARTH

1. CRUST – is the most outer layer of the earth.

2 type: a. oceanic crust- very dense made of Basalt
b. continental crust – less dense made of Granite

2. MANTLE - located below the crust, and it is the largest layer of the earth 2, 900 km
thick.
2 parts: a. upper mantle
b. lower mantle
3. CORE – located below the mantle
Divide into 2 layer:
a. outer core – liquid made up of mostly iron
b. inner core – center of the earth, 1200 km thick made of solid silicon and
nickel