All flashcards
Flashcard 1: Identify the Earth system interaction: plants release water vapor into the air.
Answer: Biosphere and atmosphere. Plants transfer water from living to gas systems.
Flashcard 2: What is the biosphere in Earth systems?
Answer: All living things and the places they live on Earth. Encompasses all life forms and their habitats.
Flashcard 3: What is the geosphere (lithosphere) in Earth systems?
Answer: The solid Earth: rocks, soil, landforms, and Earth’s interior. Includes Earth's solid materials from surface to center.
Flashcard 4: What is the hydrosphere in Earth systems?
Answer: All water on Earth: liquid, solid ice, and water vapor. Encompasses water in all three states of matter.
Flashcard 5: What is the atmosphere in Earth systems?
Answer: The layer of gases surrounding Earth. The gaseous envelope that protects and sustains life.
Flashcard 6: Which Earth system includes rocks, mountains, and soil?
Answer: Geosphere. These are solid Earth materials and landforms.
Flashcard 7: Which Earth system includes plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms?
Answer: Biosphere. All are living organisms that make up Earth's life zone.
Flashcard 8: What are the three main layers of Earth’s interior in the geosphere?
Answer: Crust, mantle, core. Listed from outermost to innermost layer.
Flashcard 9: What is Earth’s crust?
Answer: The thin, outer solid layer of Earth. The outermost solid layer where we live.
Flashcard 10: What is Earth’s mantle?
Answer: The thick layer of hot rock beneath the crust. Makes up most of Earth's volume and drives plate tectonics.
Flashcard 11: What is Earth’s core?
Answer: The central layer made mostly of iron and nickel. The densest layer at Earth's center.
Flashcard 12: Which Earth system includes glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice?
Answer: Hydrosphere. These are all forms of frozen water.
Flashcard 13: Which Earth system includes water vapor and clouds (even though they are in air)?
Answer: Hydrosphere. Water in any form belongs to the hydrosphere.
Flashcard 14: Which Earth system includes nitrogen and oxygen gases?
Answer: Atmosphere. These are the two main gases in Earth's air.
Flashcard 15: Identify the Earth system for this component: soil.
Answer: Geosphere. Soil is weathered rock mixed with organic matter.
Flashcard 16: Identify the Earth system for this component: a fish living in a lake.
Answer: Biosphere. Living organisms belong to the biosphere.
Flashcard 17: Identify the Earth system for this component: groundwater stored underground.
Answer: Hydrosphere. Water stored in rock pores and cracks underground.
Flashcard 18: Identify the Earth system for this component: a sand dune made of wind-blown sand.
Answer: Geosphere. Sand is a solid Earth material, regardless of how it moved.
Flashcard 19: What is an Earth system interaction (in one sentence)?
Answer: A change in one sphere that affects one or more other spheres. Shows how Earth's spheres are interconnected.
Flashcard 20: Identify the Earth system for the item: groundwater stored in aquifers.
Answer: Hydrosphere. Underground water is part of Earth's water system.
Flashcard 21: Identify the Earth system for the item: a volcanic eruption releasing lava.
Answer: Geosphere. Volcanic activity originates from the solid Earth.
Flashcard 22: Identify the Earth system for the item: carbon dioxide gas in the air.
Answer: Atmosphere. Gases in air are atmospheric components.
Flashcard 23: Identify the Earth system for the item: a forest ecosystem of trees and animals.
Answer: Biosphere. Living organisms and their habitats form this system.
Flashcard 24: Which Earth system includes air, clouds, and wind?
Answer: Atmosphere. These are all components of Earth's gaseous envelope.
Flashcard 25: Which Earth system includes plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria?
Answer: Biosphere. All life forms are part of this system.
Flashcard 26: What is the cryosphere as a component of Earth systems?
Answer: Earth water frozen as ice and snow. A subset of the hydrosphere in solid form.
Flashcard 27: Which Earth system component includes glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice?
Answer: Cryosphere. All frozen water features belong to this component.
Flashcard 28: What is the geosphere in Earth system science?
Answer: The solid Earth: rocks, minerals, soil, and landforms. Includes Earth's crust, mantle, and core structures.
Flashcard 29: What is the hydrosphere in Earth system science?
Answer: All Earth water: liquid, solid ice, and water vapor. Encompasses all forms of water on Earth.
Flashcard 30: What is the atmosphere in Earth system science?
Answer: The layer of gases surrounding Earth. Extends from Earth's surface to outer space.