Geosphere Facts
Geosphere Facts
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| Interesting Geosphere Facts: |
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| Some people use the term lithosphere to describe the geosphere. Depending on the definition of geosphere (which is debated by scientists), lithosphere can mean the same thing. |
| Aristotle, the Greek philosopher who lived from 384 - 322 BC, considered the geosphere to include the motion of earth, water, fire, and air. |
| The lithosphere is the part of the geosphere made up of landforms. |
| The pedosphere is the part of the geosphere made up of rocks, minerals, and soil. |
| The interior is the part of the geosphere made up of the solid earth. |
| The geosphere is constantly in motion because the tectonic plates are constantly in motion. These plates shift and move and cause landforms to rise, earthquakes to occur, and volcanoes to erupt. |
| The liquid rock, or molten rock found below the earth's surface is part of the geosphere. |
| The geosphere includes everything that looks like solid ground, including the ocean floors, sand in the deserts, rocks, mountains and every bit of land or formation on the continents. |
| The layer of the earth's crust covering the entire planet is referred to as the 'sima'. |
| The layer of earth that begins and ends where the plates begin and end is referred to as the 'sial'. |
| Scientific study related to the earth's geosphere can be broken down into specific disciplines including those covered in geology, geography, geochemistry, geomorphology, geophysics, glaciology, mineralogy, petrology, and volcanology. |
| There are eight major tectonic plates making up the earth's geosphere. They are constantly moving, but usually only a few centimeters each year, |
| An earthquake occurs when the tectonic plates of the geosphere move quickly. The tectonic plates are floating on a layer of molten rock called the asthenosphere. |
| As the continents move this is referred to as 'continental drift'. |
| The geosphere has processes that occur continually. This include the rock cycle, which occurs when rock melts, solidifies, erodes, deposits, is buried, and is recycled to do it all again. |
| The sedimentary rock in the geosphere is formed from the erosion, deposit, cementing, and compaction of rock. |
| The igneous rock in the geosphere is formed when molten rock cools and crystalizes. |
| The metamorphic rock is formed when rock is pressurized or heated. |
| Originally the continents of the earth were one. Scientists refer to this large continent as Pangaea. When it broke apart the eight major continents were formed. Proof of the super continent Pangaea exists in the rock formations on the west coast of Africa and South America's east coast, which match up. |
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