Lesson 2: Earth Systems Important Dates that Determines the Start

of the Seasons in the “Northern

Motions of the Earth Hemisphere”

It is important to note that the Earth 1. June 21 or 22

(along with the solar system) moves through  Longest day of the year
the Milky Way about 3/5 of the way from the  Identifies the beginning of the
center to the edge of the galaxy, with the summer season
average speed of 250 km/s.  Called the “Summer Solstice”
(Solstice is a Latin word
Three Basic Motions of the Earth meaning “Sun stand still”)
1. Rotation – it rotates on its axis every 23
hrs. 56 min. 4.09 sec in an eastward 2. September 22 or 23
direction  Equal nights and days
2. Revolution – the Earth revolves around  Identifies the beginning of the
the sun once every 365 days, 6 hrs. 9 autumn season
min. 9.54 sec. in a slightly elliptical orbit.  Called the “Autumnal
- Our planet moves with a speed Equinox” (Equinox is a Latin
that varies. It moves fastest when it is word meaning “equal
closest to the sun (Perihelion – closest to nights”)
the sun). It moves slowest when it is
farthest from the sun (Aphelion – 3. December 21 or 22
farthest to the sun).  Longest night of the year
3. Precession – this is the slow wobble of  Identifies the beginning of the
the earth’s axis. It is the earth’s reaction winter season
to the gravitational pull of the moon  Called the “Winter Solstice”
and the sun on its equational bulge. It
takes 26 000 years to complete one turn 4. March 20 or 21
or wobble of the earth’s axis.  Equal nights and days
 Identifies the beginning of the
spring season
 The earth is inclined at 23.50 from a  Called the Spring (or Vernal)
line perpendicular to the plane. The Equinox
inclination, rotation and revolution
results to: Factors that Make a Planet Habitable
o Day and nights that vary in
length  It has to be a comfortable distance
o Seasons that change during away from a star (Habitable Zone/
the course of a year Goldilocks Zone).
o Climates that vary with o For a planet to sustain life, it has to be
latitudes a comfortable distance away from a
star, such as the sun of our solar
 Aside from the equator, there are 4 system. Around a star, there is a shell-
great circles: shaped region of space, called the
o Tropic of Cancer Habitable Zone (HZ), where a planet
o Tropic of Capricorn can maintain liquid water on the
o Arctic Circle surface. If a planet lies in this region,
o Antarctic Circle then there are good chances for the
habitability of life on the surface.

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 However, if life could exist without is a terrific source of geothermal
water in a certain part of the energy, allows the cycling of raw
universe, then the definition of an HZ materials, and spawns a magnetic
will change drastically. Also, since a field around the planet to protect it
star becomes more luminous as it from harmful radiation. It should be
ages, a planet must be farther away noted that Mars was known to have
from it in the HZ to sustain life. a liquid core at one time, but its heat
 The stars around it have to be 'stable'. dissipated quickly because Mars is a
smaller planet.
o For a planet, it’s important that the
stars closest to it are stable in terms of  It should hold an atmosphere.
their luminosity. Although every star’s o Earth’s atmosphere not only fulfills
luminosity increases with time, it our most basic needs of providing
should not be too severe, or else it oxygen but also keeps the planet
could simply burn up everything on warm by trapping carbon dioxide
the closest planet. and other gases. It also protects life
 It should not have a very low mass. on the planet by blocking the vast
majority of harmful radiation.
o A planet with low mass is not suitable
Therefore, any habitable planet must
for habitation because low mass
have all the necessary conditions in
means low gravity. Low gravity
place to have an atmosphere or at
further means that the planet won’t
least a protective layer of essential
be able to retain an atmosphere, as
gases.
constituent gases will easily reach
escape velocity and be lost in open
space. However, there are some The Earth’s Subsystems
exceptions to this condition: one of
Jupiter’s moons, Io, is a small celestial
When changes in Earth’s system
body, yet it is volcanically dynamic
(refers to its interacting physical, chemical,
and has distant chances of
and biological processes) have finally
harboring life.
settled, it was presumed that the systems
 It must rotate on its axis and revolve. evolved into four subsystems (geosphere,
o A planet must also rotate on its axis hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere)
and revolve around its parent star that carry out many different natural
(like the Earth going around the sun) processes.
to be habitable. Furthermore, if life Geosphere
on the planet is to be given a
 The solid portion of the Earth that
chance to evolve, certain other
includes the interior structure, rocks
conditions have to be met in its
and minerals, landforms, down to the
rotational motion. For example,
deep depths of the core and the
there should be some axial tilt
processes that shape Earth’s surface.
perpendicular to its orbit, which will
All the continents and the ocean
result in seasons on the planet or
floor are also considered part of the
celestial object.
geosphere.
 It should have a molten core.  Geologist – they study the solid part
o To sustain any type of life, a planet of the earth
requires a rapidly rotating magnetic
field to protect it from flares from
nearby stars. This is what we call the
core of the planet. A planetary core

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 Internal Structure

a. Crust – uppermost layer of solid Earth, Distribution of Water on Earth

extends down to 40 km All the water found on Earth are natural
1. Oceanic Crust (8 km thick) – structure but not all is considered safe for drinking. In
is uniform, a layer of sediment covers fact, 2.5% of the world’s water is considered
three layers of igneous rock of which freshwater.
the thickest is the layer of gabbro Water is divided into two groups:
2. Continental Crust (40 km thick) – Surface water – found on Earth’s surface
structure is varied and changes over  Salt water – has higher salt
short distances, upper and lower content and it is found in larger
continental crusts divided by a bodies of water such as oceans,
diffuse boundary called the Conrad seas, bays, and gulfs.
discontinuity (between 14.5 and 24  Freshwater – has lower salt
km) content and it is found in lakes,
rivers, streams, and falls. Because
b. Mantle – silica-rich layer that lies between of its lower salt content,
crust and core (40 km – 2 897 km below the freshwater is the best source of
surface), partly liquid (asthenosphere) and drinking water for all organisms.
partly solid and produces the convection - Accounts for only 2.5% of the
currents that move the plates of the world’s water. This is precisely the
surface; Mohorovicic discontinuity – reason for advocacies on water
boundary between crust and mantle; conservation. While it is evident that
temperature is about 2 200oC water is found almost everywhere on
Earth, most of it is salty, and thus is not
c. Core – the central portion below the readily fit for drinking.
Gutenberg discontinuity that separates it
from the mantle, forms a sphere 3 470 km in Groundwater – found below the ground
diameter and comprises an inner, solid part - Water found beneath the Earth’s
and an outer liquid part surface in the zone of saturation (where
1. Outer Core – about 2 350 km thick, every pore space between the rock and
hot, liquid, containing iron, nickel, soil particles is saturated with water). This
and other metals area underground is called an aquifer, a
2. Inner Core – about 1 300 km thick, layer of rocks that carry or hold water.
hottest part mainly made up of Because the water is found beneath soil
heavy metals such as iron and nickel; layers, it may contain large amounts of
temperature is about 7 000o C minerals such as magnesium and calcium.

Hydrosphere Atmosphere

 The total amount of water found on Composition of the Atmosphere

Earth. This includes the water in various  The atmosphere at present is composed
forms – whether in ice, vapor, or liquid – of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1%
found on or below the surface of the other gases such as carbon dioxide,
earth and in gas in the atmosphere. argon, and water vapor.
 Water covers 70% of the entire Earth’s
surface and most of it is ocean water. Layers of the Atmosphere
 Cryosphere – made up of all the frozen The atmosphere is composed of
water on Earth. various layers which differ in thickness,

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temperature, and density. These layers  Very hot as temperature can reach
protect Earth from many external threats in up to 5 0000 F because the air in the
space, such as impacts from celestial thermosphere consumes lots of solar
bodies and radiation. The boundaries of the radiation, most of x-ray and UV
different layers of Earth were also radiation from the sun are absorbed
established based on the temperature in this sphere
trends observed in each layer.
1. Troposphere 5. Exosphere
 1st layer of the atmosphere  Last layer of the atmosphere
 Where we live  Starts at the thermosphere but it
 Extends from the earth’s surface to doesn’t really have a sharp bend it
about 12.5 miles in the sky just thins out till it gets empty as the
 Weather is formed outer space
 Water evaporates from land to  Temperature varies between night
become snow or rain and day
 Vapor contributes to the greenhouse  At night it becomes freezing cold
effect while during the daytime it can be
 It traps the sun’s heat close to our very hot
planet, as a result warm or cool  Atoms and molecules escape in the
weather comes space and the satellites orbit the
 Hot air balloons fly in the area earth

2. Stratosphere  Ionosphere - layer of the

 Layer above the troposphere atmosphere that reflects radio
 Spans from the tropopause to about waves
31 miles up - The region of the Earth’s
 Contains about 20% of the earth’s atmosphere between the
gas stratosphere and the exosphere
 Ozone layer is found in this sphere
 Ozone layer protects us from harmful
rays from the sun Biosphere
 The top part of the stratosphere is the
hottest because the ozone layer Closed system – energy enters or leaves but
generates a lot of heat not matter.
 Airplanes and jet aircrafts fly in this - Earth absorbs electromagnetic
stratosphere layer energy from the Sun and returns that energy
to space in a different form, but very little
3. Mesosphere matter enters or departs Earth's system.
 Layer above the stratosphere
 Extends from the stratosphere to Open system – system and its surroundings
approximately 58 miles high freely exchange both matter and energy
 Coldest layer of the atmosphere
about -1300 F near the top The Earth is considered an open
 Part where most meteors burn up system when it comes to the transfer of
 Sounding rockets may go up energy and a closed system when it comes
to matter that makes up all the living
4. Thermosphere components of Earth.
 Layer above the mesosphere In this system, an organism can
 Spans almost 300 miles consume another organism to allow energy

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to transfer to other orders of consumers in
the ecosystem.

Life exists in all the subsystem of Earth

– on land (geosphere), in water
(hydrosphere), and in the air (atmosphere).

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