Earth system science

• atmosphere


  layer of gases surrounding earth
• hydrosphere


  sum of water on Earth

  71% of earth is covered in water
• cryosphere


  refers to the region where water freezes into snow or ice
• biosphere


  global ecosystem made up of living organisms
• lithosphere


  solid outer part of Earth, consisting of the crust and mantle
• global hyposmetry


  the distribution of the heights of the earth's surface above and below sea level
• isostasy


  The balancing of the downward force of the crust and the upward force of the mantle.

  state of balance within earth's crust
• pratt model


  part of the crust stands higher because of its lower density
• airy model


  part of the crust stands higher because of its lower density and greater thickness
• orogeny


  mountain building process
• crust made up of 7 major plates

  Antarctica

  N. American

  S. American

  Pacific

  Indo-Australian

  African

  Eurasian
• 3 types of plate boundary

  Divergent

  convergent

  transform
• Divergent


  moving away from each other
• Convergent


  Destructive: One plate slides under another

  Collision: Collides and welds together
• Transform


  Sliding past each other