Earth’s Four “Geo-spheres”

LITHOSPHERE Solid, rocky crust covering entire planet. http://mediatheek.thinkquest.nl/~ll125/images/struct.jpg

The air surrounding Earth ATMOSPHERE The air surrounding Earth 79% Nitrogen Just under 21% Oxygen Some carbon dioxide & other gasses www.space.gc.ca

HYDROSPHERE All the water in or near the Earth

BIOSPHERE Composed of all living organisms Plants Animals One-celled organisms

Continents & Oceans C B A D Water covers 70% of Earth’s surface Continents: largest areas of land on the planet A B C D

Bodies of Water Oceans Lakes, Rivers & Streams 4 major: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic Helps distribute Earth’s heat Lakes, Rivers & Streams Lakes hold 95% of our fresh water Lake Baikal in Russia is the largest Rivers and streams flow into larger bodies of water

Hydrologic Cycle Continuous cycle of water between the atmosphere, oceans and earth

Continental Drift Earth had once been a “supercontinent” (Pangaea) that divided and slowly drifted apart over millions of years How do they know this?

ROCKS! Scientists discovered that the youngest rocks in the seafloor were in the middle of the ocean This indicates that new sea floor was forming, which would push continents apart

Plate Tectonics Explained

Reference pg. 38 Draw & label Name the motion Give a specific example & result (ocean, mountains, etc.)

Earthquakes and Volcanoes, Oh My! Violent movement of earth as plates grind or slip past each other Epicenter- point on earth’s surface that corresponds to the center of an earthquake Occurs at a fault Measured by a seismograph & the Richter Scale Can cause tsunamis (giant waves)

Japan Tsunami- 2004 Locate Japan

Earthquakes and Volcanoes, Oh My! Magma, gases & water from below the earth’s crust erupt and pour out of earth’s surface Unpredictable Most located around the Ring of Fire in the Pacific Ocean Label the Pacific Ocean

Please Mark the Ring of Fire on your New Map