2. The Planet Earth

King’s University College’s Geography 201 field trip to Maligne Lake, May 2014. Jasper National Park, Alberta.

Panorama of Maligne Lake, May 2014. Jasper National Park, Alberta.

Sphere of Earth System

The Earth System involves with interactions of the five spheres or subsystems on the planet, and they encompass parts of the regional subsystem. In the picture above, we can see all five spheres (subsystems). Atmosphere subsystem stretches from a few meters within the soil or water surface up to a height about 60,000 km above the Earth, with a layer of air that surrounds the Earth for regulating weather and climates. Lithosphere (lithos means rock) is the outermost shell of the Earth, and its upper surface covers with varieties of landforms and landscapes forms among the lands, mountains, and even the seafloor under the ocean. Hydrosphere consists of all water existing in the planet, and the ocean is the primary moisture source for precipitation which is carried in the moving atmosphere. Cryosphere can also be seen as there are frozen water on the lake and snow on the mountains (there might be glaciers too!), but probably not permafrost (permanently frozen subsoil for two or more years)! Although some of the aspect can be regarded as part of the hydrosphere, what makes this a unique subsystem is that it is the only sphere that is discontinuous across the planet. Biosphere is the zone of life, including animals, plants, and human life. Other than me in the picture, there are definitely plants and organisms within the lake (even though it might not be visible to our naked eye!).