What is hydrosphere

This web page contains hydrosphere facts for school and is an excellent resource for anyone of any age looking to learn about the Earth’s hydrosphere. Our goal is to provide you with accurate, up to date facts about the planet’s hydrosphere. In addition to facts about the hydrosphere, we provide additional resources to help you with your research on this important resource. The hydrosphere facts below will help you learn about the hydrosphere, what makes up the hydrosphere, how the hydrosphere was created, why the hydrosphere is important and other hydrosphere related facts. We hope these hydrosphere facts are interesting and help you learn more about this important aspect of the planet Earth. If any of the below hydrosphere facts are inaccurate, please 22 Hydrosphere Facts for School 1. The hydrosphere is a term used to describe the total mass of water found on Earth. 2. The hydrosphere includes both liquid and frozen water. 3. The hydrosphere includes both freshwater and saltwater. 4. The hydrosphere includes water in oceans, lakes, streams, ponds, groundwater, glaciers and other ice forms. 5. The Earth’s hydrosphere contains around 366.3 sextillion gallons of water, that’s 21 zeros! 6. The Earth’s hydrosphere is estimated to be around 4 billion years old. 7. 97.5% of the Earth’s hydrosphere is saltwater and 2.5% is freshwater. 8. Only 0.3% of the freshwater in the Earth’s hydrosphere is easily accessible by humans. The rest is in the form ice (glaciers, snow and permafr...

The four spheres of the Earth. • The four spheres of the Earth are: the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere • The biosphere includes all living life on Earth: animal, plant, fungi, protist and monera • All four spheres must work in harmony to allow for the balance of life to succeed of Earth. Any threat to one sphere, will have drastic effects on the others. The earth can be split into one of four major subsystems, namely: land, water, air, and all living things. These categories are known as spheres, and are the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere, respectively. The first three of these spheres are abiotic, meaning they are not living things, while the fourth - the biosphere - contains all biotic, or living creatures and organisms (everything from plants, to animals, to bacteria). Atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth, which we casually refer to as simply ‘air’, is actually made up of a mixture of gases and vapours. The Earth’s atmosphere forms a barrier, or bubble around the Earth, and is held there by the force of gravity. This keeps the vapours of the atmosphere from escaping into outer space. It is also this atmosphere which makes the earth inhabitable. The combination of chemicals in the air, as well as the way in which the atmosphere creates a barrier between the Earth and the harmful rays of the sun, makes an environment in which animals, plants and human life can thrive. The layers of the Earth's atmosphere. The atmosphere can be separa...

Menu • Home • How to use this website • What is Global Change? • Close • Understanding Global Change 101 • Understanding Global Change Infographic • How the Earth System Works • Atmosphere • Biosphere • Elemental Cycles • Geosphere • Global Energy Budget • Hydrosphere • Causes of Global Change • Human causes • Non-human causes • Measurable Changes • Atmosphere • Biosphere • Geosphere • Hydrosphere • Quality of human life • Weather / extreme events • Close • Teaching Resources • Close • Planning for Instruction • Example Units and Lessons • Downloadable Graphics • Infographic • Icon Sets • Earth Scene • Close • Construct a Model While most of the Earth’s carbon can be found in the geosphere, carbon is found in all living things, soils, the ocean, and atmosphere. Carbon is the primary building block of life, including DNA, proteins, sugars and fats. One of the most important carbon compounds in the atmosphere is carbon dioxide (CO 2), while in rocks carbon is major component of limestone, coal, oil and gas. Carbon cycles through the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere via processes that include volcanism. By understanding how human activities have altered the carbon cycle, we can explain many of the climate and ecosystem changes we are experiencing today, and why this rapid rate of change is largely unprecedented in the Earth’s history. Global Change Infographic The carbon cycle is an essential part of How the Earth System Works. Click the image on the left to ...

Go back to: • Index • Earth Science and Physical Science • Ecology and Earth Science Earth’s Systems – Geosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, and Biosphere To view these resources with no ads, please School subscriptions can access more than 175 downloadable unit bundles in District subscriptions provide huge group discounts for their schools. Email for a quote: Earth is a complex system of interacting living organisms and nonliving materials. Scientists break down Earth’s major systems into four; the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. The geosphere, also called the lithosphere, includes all Earth’s rock, soil and sand in all its forms from mountains to its rocky stream beds, mudflats, ocean trenches, sandy beaches and lava flows. It even includes the very ground that is made up of tectonic plates forming our islands and continents. The hydrosphere includes Earth’s water. Most (97%) is salt water in the oceans. Freshwater is found in underground in aquifers, on the surface in lakes, rivers and frozen in glaciers. Earth’s water is always moving through a water cycle. It evaporates from the surface up into the atmosphere as a gas. In the atmosphere, it builds up and cools to fall back to Earth as rain or snow ( precipitation). It then fills surface waterways, seeps into the soil and aquifers and flows into lakes, rivers and the ocean. The atmosphere surrounds the Earth in gaseous layers held in place by gravity. It is made up of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen an...

What is the Hydrosphere? As per the definition as it is used in physical geography, the hydrosphere is the collective mass of water found on, over, and under the Earth’s surface. It includes both the marine and freshwater resources of the planet, and encompasses oceans, rivers, lakes, glaciers, polar ice caps, clouds, underground water such as aquifers, and all other sources of water. The presence of the vast hydrosphere distinguishes planet Earth from other planets in the solar system, and is one of the primary factors responsible for sustaining the life seen on Earth. Distribution of Water in the Hydrosphere Oceans comprise 97.25% of the total water mass on the Earth’s surface, followed by ice caps and glaciers (2.05%), deep groundwater (0.38%), and shallow groundwater (0.30%). Lakes and rivers, moisture trapped in soils, and water vapor in the atmosphere, as well as water contained within living organisms of the biosphere, are the other constituents of the Earth’s hydrosphere. Origin of the Hydrosphere The Earth’s water content is relatively much higher than that of any of the other known planetary bodies of similar size. Though "outgassing" of water vapor from the Earth’s interior is considered as one of the sources of water on this planet, it cannot account for the exceedingly high volumes of the Earth’s water resources. As per the most popularly accepted scientific theory on the matter, water on Earth was added to by the collision of this planet with several water-ri...