Analysing Earth and Its Subsystems

1451 Words3 Pages

Everything in the Earth’s system can theoretically be placed into one of the five subsystems: earth, fire, water, air, and life. The Earth is an open system, meaning that energy and matter can be exchanged between several different systems. Since the planet’s formation, the key subsystems have continuously co-evolved. They are symbiotic in nature and the world would be a completely different place than it is today if one of these key subsystems was altered or disappeared altogether. These subsystems are frequently divided into different spheres of the earth, like the biosphere or the hydrosphere. The earth subsystem, often called the geosphere, can be considered as all the parts that make up the mass of the earth. The earth has three main layers, the core, the mantle, and the crust. However, the lithosphere is just the upper part of the geosphere, the crust and the top portion of the mantle. These parts contribute to the active plate tectonics. The theory of plate tectonics is that the crust of the earth is divided into separate solid plates that move independently on top of the mantle. The two major processes of plate tectonics are spreading and subduction. This idea was discovered by Alfred Wegner in order to support his idea that the earth originally had one large common continent, Pangaea, before drifting into the several continents we have today. Plates have three kinds of boundaries: constructive, destructive, and conservative. Constructive boundaries are mainly ocean ridges. They are simultaneously being created and destroyed and the crust is moved horizontally in the process. Destructive is when the boundaries of oceanic plates are dipping down diagonally below a neighboring plate. These neighboring plates are frequently... ... middle of paper ... ...gazine, 227 (5325), 494-499. doi:10.1126 Olbers, D. (2012, January 29). The Earth System. Retrieved May 11, 2014, from http://www.awi.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Research/Research_Divisions/Climate_Sciences/Climate_Dynamics_new/Publications/earth_system_olbers.pdf Plate Tectonics. (1993). Bloomsbury Guide to Human Thought. Retrieved from http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/bght/plate_tectonics/0 Pollard, D. (Ed.). (2010). Hunaity now needs 1.5 Earths. Living Planet Report. Snow, D. J. (2001, August 24). Fundamental Concepts of the Earths Systems. (University of Oklahoma) Retrieved May 11, 2014, from Earth System Science Education: http://www.esse.ou.edu/fund_concepts/fund_concept_ess.html#FunCon06 What is Soil Pollution. (2014). Retrieved May 13, 2014, from Conserve Energy Future: http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-soil-pollution.php

More about Analysing Earth and Its Subsystems

Open Document