Components of Earth Biotic and Abiotic Factors Spaceship

Components of Earth

Biotic and Abiotic Factors

Spaceship Earth • Closed System • Resources are limited

Why is earth so favorable for life? • Distance from the sun (Temp range) • Size of the planet (Gravity)

What sustains life on earth? • Earth’s 4 spheres help support organisms – Atmosphere – Hydrosphere – Geosphere – Biosphere

Atmosphere Hydrosphere Geosphere Biosphere

Biosphere • Abiotic and Biotic Factors • Uppermost part of the geosphere, most of the hydrosphere, and lower part of the atmosphere

Ecosystems (Sun) • One – way flow of high – quality from the sun – Energy is lost as heat through process • • Warms atmosphere Evaporates and recycles water Generates winds Supports plant growth

Cycling of Matter • Fixed supply of nutrients are continually recycled – Carbon – Nitrogen – Phosphorus – Potassium

Ecosystem Components • Life exists in biomes and aquatic life zones • Biomes – Category given to regions of the world where the plant and animal life are defined by the region’s climate • Temperature • Precipitation – Savannas, deserts, tropical rain forests, alpine, temperate, arctic, taiga

Population • Limiting factors – Resources – Law of tolerance • too much or too little of abiotic factor • Nutrients, precipitation, temperature

Biological Components • Producers • Consumers • Biodiversity

Producers • Autotrophs • Make their own food

Consumers • Heterotrophs • Feed on other organisms – Omnivores – Carnivores – Herbivores – Detritivores

Food Chain VS Food Web

Feeding levels • Trophic levels – Producers are the lowest level – Primary consumers – Secondary consumer – Tertiary consumer and so on • 10% rule, 90% energy lost as heat, growth, reproduction

Geosphere

Composition of Earth • Crust, mantle, core • Crust - 1% Earth’s mass thinnest layer • Mantle - layers beneath the crust • Core - innermost layer

Structure of the Earth • Four layers – Lithosphere – Asthenosphere – Outer core – Inner core

Structure of the Earth • Lithosphere (outer layer) • crust and uppermost part of the mantle • divided into pieces called tectonic plates • Earthquakes (Ritcher Scale)

• Asthenosphere – Solid layer of rock beneath the lithosphere – Flows very slowly allowing tectonic plates to move an top of it • Outer core – Dense liquid layer • Inner core – dense mostly made up of metals iron and nickel

Atmosphere • Nitrogen (makes up the majority), oxygen, carbon dioxide • Insulates the Earth’s surface reducing the rate that Earth loses heat

• Concentration of gases and particles are constantly changing • Gases and particles are pulled towards the Earth by gravity becoming densest by the Earth’s surface

4 Layers of the Atmosphere • • Troposphere Stratosphere Mesosphere Thermosphere

Troposphere • Closest to the Earth’s surface • Weather occurs in this layer of the atmosphere • Temperature decreases as altitude increases. (Particles become further apart)

Stratosphere Located above the troposphere Ozone layer, O 3 absorbs the sun’s UV energy, warms the air reduces the amount of radiation that reaches the Earth’s surface High temp

Mesosphere • Lies between the stratosphere and thermosphere • It is the coldest layer of the atmosphere

Thermosphere • Layer farthest from the Earth’s surface – Nitrogen and oxygen absorb solar radiation causing them to become electrically charged – can produce radiant energy (light) known as the aurora borealis.

Energy in the Atmosphere • Sun’s energy can be transferred by; radiation convection conduction

Radiation • Heat travels across space and in the atmosphere Conduction • Heat from a warmer object flowing to a colder object when in direct contact Convection • Heat transfer by currents (Hot air rises, cold air sinks

Movement of Energy in the Atmosphere • Air is constantly moving • Troposphere – currents of lighter air warmed by the Earth’s surface rise into the atmosphere – The currents of heavier air (cooler) sink towards the ground. • The rise and sink pattern of air creates a circular current known as convection current.

Greenhouse Effect • Trapped gases heat the Earth – natural process that keeps the environment at temperatures in which life can exist • When these gases known as greenhouse gases become abundant – water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide – a thicker insulating layer forms trapping in more heat

Hydrosphere

Includes all of the water on or near the Earth’s surface • Water; % Fresh? % Salt? % Ice? • Do you know?

Earth’s Oceans • Important role in regulating our world’s environment • Absorbs over half the solar radiation