Earth's Systems: Geosphere & Interactions

Earth's Systems: Geosphere

• The geosphere is Earth's solid part, including rocks, minerals, and soil.
• It includes Earth's crust and mantle.
• Rocks, minerals, and soil make up the geosphere.
• The geosphere can be solid or molten (melted).

Earth's Systems: Interacting Systems

• The geosphere interacts with other Earth systems, such as the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.
• Wind erosion shapes rocks over time, creating arches and pillars.
• Water erosion, from rivers and waves, creates canyons and sea caves.
• Plant roots grow into cracks in rocks, breaking them apart, and forming soil.
• Mountain building occurs when parts of the geosphere collide, forming folded or fault-block mountains.

Earth's Systems: Volcanoes

• Volcanoes form when molten rock (magma) reaches the Earth's surface.
• Volcanic eruptions release gases into the atmosphere.
• Lava cools and creates new landforms, often in the ocean.
• Some volcanoes form over "hot spots" in Earth's mantle, creating island chains like the Hawaiian Islands.

Earth's Systems: Landslides

• Landslides occur when rock, soil, or debris moves down a slope.
• Landslides are caused by rain, earthquakes, or human activity.
• Landslides illustrate the interactions between the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.

Earth's Systems: Minerals

• Minerals are natural, solid substances that make up rocks.
• Minerals have specific chemical compositions and crystal structures.
• Examples include quartz, gold, and diamond.

Earth's Systems: The Rock Cycle

• Rocks change form through the rock cycle.
• Igneous rocks form from cooled magma.
• Sedimentary rocks form from compressed sediments.
• Metamorphic rocks form when existing rocks are changed by heat and pressure.

Earth's Systems: Putting It All Together

• The geosphere constantly interacts with other Earth systems.
• These interactions shape Earth's surface and affect life.
• Understanding these connections helps protect the environment.

Extreme Weather Events: Thailand

• Extreme weather events like thunderstorms, tornadoes, tropical storms, and flooding occur in Thailand.
• Thunderstorms bring heavy rain, strong winds, and lightning.
• Tornadoes are rare but can occur.
• Derechos are long-lived windstorms.
• Tropical storms are organized systems of thunderstorms from warm tropical oceans and bring heavy rainfall and strong winds.
• Typhoons are the same as hurricanes but are named differently in Asia.
• Flooding is a major concern, especially in Bangkok.
• Extreme weather affects Thai farmers and crops.

Earth's Biosphere

• The biosphere includes all living things on Earth—plants, animals, and tiny organisms.
• The biosphere interacts with other Earth systems—atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.

Types of Pollution

• Pollution includes water, land, and air pollution.
• Water pollution comes from harmful substances.
• Land pollution comes from waste and chemicals.
• Air pollution comes from smoke, gases, and factory emissions.

Overfishing, Deforestation, Endangered Species

• Overfishing depletes fish populations, disrupting marine ecosystems.
• Deforestation removes forests faster than they can regrow, leading to habitat loss and contributing to climate change.
• Endangered species are at risk of extinction from human activities.

Protecting Earth's Systems

• Reduce, reuse, recycle.
• Conserve water & energy
• Plant trees

Earth's Atmosphere & Weather Systems

• The atmosphere is the layer of gases surrounding Earth.
• It has different layers: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere.
• Weather is the day-to-day state of the atmosphere.
• Climate is long-term weather patterns.

Air Masses

• Air masses are large bodies of air with similar temperatures and humidity.
• Warm air masses form over tropical or subtropical areas.
• Cold air masses form over polar or arctic regions.
• Air masses that affect Thailand include Maritime Tropical, Equatorial, Continental Tropical, Continental Polar, and Maritime Polar air masses.

Fronts

• Fronts are boundaries between different air masses.
• Fronts can bring changes in weather.
• Types of fronts include warm, cold, and stationary fronts.

Modeling Earth's Systems

• Scientists use models to understand how Earth's systems interact, and affect each other.
• These models can show how the atmosphere affects weather patterns.

The Amazon Rainforest

• The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, located in South America.
•  It is home to a vast biodiversity of plants, animals, and insects.
•  The Amazon is a crucial part of the global climate system.
• Deforestation in the Amazon is a threat to the environment.