What is the Earth's lithosphere? Lithosphere as an element of the geographical shell.

Plains, lowlands, mountains, ravines - we all walk on the earth, but we rarely think about what the upper shell of our planet with all its reliefs and landscapes is called. And its name is lithosphere.


It includes not only the earth’s crust, visible to the eye, but also a whole layer of solid earth rocks, as well as the upper part of the mantle, which has not yet been reached by deep drilling.

What does the word "lithosphere" mean?

First time toponym "lithosphere" appeared in the dictionary of the ancient Greeks, who combined two words together: λίθος , which means "stone", And φαίρα , translated as "sphere" or "ball". The study of this concept began in earnest only in 1911, when the scientist A.E. Love published the monograph “Some Problems of Geodynamics.”


His idea was taken up in 1940 by Harvard geologist Reginald Daley, who wrote the seminal work “The Force and Structure of the Earth.” This work was accepted by many geologists and geophysicists, and by 1960 the so-called theory of tectonic plates was formed, which confirmed the existence of the lithosphere.

How thick is the lithosphere?

Under continents and oceans, the lithosphere has different composition. Under the sea surface, over the millions of years of its history, it has gone through a number of stages of partial melting, so now it is about 5–10 km thick and consists mainly of harzburgite and dunite rocks. At the same time, there is no granite layer in its composition. Beneath the continents are several solid layers, the thickness of which is usually determined by the speed of seismic waves.

On the plains, the lithosphere layer reaches about 35 km, in the mountains it is somewhat larger - up to 70 km, and in the Himalayas the height of the upper layer of the Earth is over 90 km.

How many layers are there in the lithosphere?

The lithosphere covers the entire surface of the globe, but, despite the large weight of the solid shell, it has a mass of only about 1% of the total mass of our planet.


According to research, the lithosphere under the continents consists of three layers, differing in the method of formation and type of rocks. Most of them contain crystalline substances formed as a result of cooling of magma - as it cools, hot solutions release minerals, which either remain in their original form, or disintegrate under pressure and temperature and form new substances.

The upper sedimentary layer, which is loose continental sediments, appeared due to the chemical destruction of the rock, weathering and washing out by water. Over time, soil formed on it, which has a major influence on the interaction of living organisms and the earth's crust. Compared to the total thickness of the lithosphere, the thickness of the soil is relatively small - in different places it ranges from 20–30 cm to 2–3 meters.

As mentioned above, the intermediate granite layer exists only under the continents. It is composed mainly of igneous and metamorphic rocks that appeared after the crystallization of basaltic magma. These are, first of all, feldspars, the amount of which reaches 65% of the total mass of granite, as well as quartz and all kinds of dark-colored minerals - biotite, muscovite. The largest volumes of granite layer are present at the junctions of continental plates, where their depth ranges from 10 to 20 km.


The lower basalt layer is characterized by a high content of igneous rocks, gabbro, iron, and non-ferrous minerals. Their bulk forms the oceanic crust and is concentrated mainly in mountain ranges on the ocean floor. However, large deposits of basalt can also be found on the continents. In particular, in the CIS they occupy more than 44% of the total territory.

Lithosphere- the outer hard shell of the Earth, which includes all earth's crust with part of the Earth's upper mantle and consists of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. The lower boundary of the lithosphere is unclear and is determined by a sharp decrease in the viscosity of rocks, a change in the speed of propagation of seismic waves and an increase in the electrical conductivity of rocks. The thickness of the lithosphere on continents and under the oceans varies and averages 25-200 and 5-100 km, respectively.
Let's consider in general view geological structure Earth. The third planet beyond the distance from the Sun, Earth, has a radius of 6370 km, an average density of 5.5 g/cm3 and consists of three shells - the crust, the mantle and the core. The mantle and core are divided into internal and external parts.

The Earth's crust is the thin upper shell of the Earth, which is 40-80 km thick on the continents, 5-10 km under the oceans and makes up only about 1% of the Earth's mass. Eight elements - oxygen, silicon, hydrogen, aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium - form 99.5% of the earth's crust. On continents the crust is three-layered: sediment

Hard rocks cover granite rocks, and granite rocks overlie basalt rocks. Under the oceans the crust is of the “oceanic”, two-layer type; sedimentary rocks simply lie on basalts, there is no granite layer. There is also a transitional type of the earth's crust (island-arc zones on the margins of the oceans and some areas on continents, for example the Black Sea). The earth's crust is greatest in mountainous regions (under the Himalayas - over 75 km), average in platform areas (under the West Siberian Lowland - 35-40, within the Russian Platform - 30-35), and least in the central regions of the oceans (5-7 km). The predominant part earth's surface- These are the plains of continents and the ocean floor. The continents are surrounded by a shelf - a shallow strip with a depth of up to 200 g and an average width of about 80 km, which, after a sharp steep bend of the bottom, turns into a continental slope (the slope varies from 15-17 to 20-30°). The slopes gradually level out and turn into abyssal plains (depths 3.7-6.0 km). Oceanic trenches have the greatest depths (9-11 km), the vast majority of which are located on the northern and western edges Pacific Ocean.

The main part of the lithosphere consists of igneous igneous rocks (95%), among which granites and granitoids predominate on the continents, and basalts in the oceans.

The relevance of the ecological study of the lithosphere is due to the fact that the lithosphere is the environment of all mineral resources, one of the main objects of anthropogenic activity (components natural environment), through significant changes in which the global environmental crisis. In the upper part of the continental crust there are developed soils, the importance of which for humans is difficult to overestimate. Soils are an organo-mineral product of long-term (hundreds and thousands of years) general activities living organisms, water, air, solar heat and light are some of the most important natural resources. Depending on climatic and geological-geographical conditions, the soils have a thickness from 15-25 cm to 2-3 m.

Soils arose together with living matter and developed under the influence of the activities of plants, animals and microorganisms until they became a very valuable fertile substrate for humans. The bulk of organisms and microorganisms of the lithosphere are concentrated in the soil, at a depth of no more than a few meters. Modern soils are three-phase system(different-grained solid particles, water and gases dissolved in water and pores), which consists of a mixture of mineral particles (rock destruction products), organic matter(products of the vital activity of the biota, its microorganisms and fungi). Soils play a huge role in the circulation of water, substances and carbon dioxide.

WITH different breeds the earth's crust, as well as from its tectonic structures, related various minerals: fuel, metal, construction, as well as those that are raw materials for the chemical and food industries.

Within the boundaries of the lithosphere, formidable ecological processes (shifts, mudflows, landslides, erosion) periodically occurred and are occurring, which are of great importance for the formation environmental situations in a certain region of the planet, and sometimes lead to global environmental disasters.

The deep strata of the lithosphere, which are studied by geophysical methods, have a rather complex and still insufficiently studied structure, just like the mantle and core of the Earth. But it is already known that the density of rocks increases with depth, and if on the surface it averages 2.3-2.7 g/cm3, then at a depth of about 400 km it is 3.5 g/cm3, and at a depth of 2900 km ( boundary of the mantle and the outer core) - 5.6 g/cm3. In the center of the core, where the pressure reaches 3.5 thousand t/cm2, it increases to 13-17 g/cm3. The nature of the increase in the Earth's deep temperature has also been established. At a depth of 100 km it is approximately 1300 K, at a depth of approximately 3000 km -4800, and in the center of the earth's core - 6900 K.

The predominant part of the Earth's substance is in a solid state, but at the boundary of the earth's crust and the upper mantle (depths of 100-150 km) lies a layer of softened, pasty rocks. This thickness (100-150 km) is called the asthenosphere. Geophysicists believe that other parts of the Earth may also be in a rarefied state (due to decompression, active radio decay of rocks, etc.), in particular, the zone of the outer core. The inner core is in the metallic phase, but today there is no consensus regarding its material composition.

Where the velocities of seismic waves decrease, indicating a change in the plasticity of the rocks. In the structure of the lithosphere, mobile regions (folded belts) and relatively stable platforms are distinguished.

The lithosphere beneath oceans and continents varies considerably. The lithosphere beneath the continents consists of sedimentary, granite and basalt layers with a total thickness of up to 80 km. The lithosphere under the oceans has undergone many stages of partial melting as a result of the formation of the oceanic crust, it is greatly depleted in fusible rare elements, mainly consists of dunites and harzburgites, its thickness is 5-10 km, and the granite layer is completely absent.

The now obsolete term was used to designate the outer shell of the lithosphere sial, derived from the name of the main elements of rocks Si(lat. Silicium- silicon) and Al(lat. Aluminum- aluminum).

Notes

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Synonyms:

See what “Lithosphere” is in other dictionaries:

    Lithosphere... Spelling dictionary-reference book

    - (from litho... and Greek sphaira ball) the upper solid shell of the Earth, bounded above by the atmosphere and hydrosphere, and below by the asthenosphere. The thickness of the lithosphere varies between 50,200 km. Until the 60s. the lithosphere was understood as a synonym for the earth's crust. Lithosphere... Ecological dictionary

    - [σφαιρα (ρphere) ball] the upper solid shell of the Earth, which has great strength and passes without a specific sharp boundary into the underlying asthenosphere, the strength of the substance of which is relatively low. L. in... ... Geological encyclopedia

    LITHOSPHERE, the upper layer of the solid surface of the Earth, which includes the CRUST and the outermost layer, the MANTLE. The lithosphere can vary in thickness from 60 to 200 km in depth. Tough, hard and brittle, it consists of large number tectonic plates,… … Scientific and technical encyclopedic Dictionary

    - (from litho... and sphere), the outer shell of the solid Earth, including the earth’s crust and part of the upper mantle. The thickness of the lithosphere under the continents is 25,200 km, under the oceans 5,100 km. Formed mainly in the Precambrian... Modern encyclopedia

    - (from litho... and sphere) the outer sphere of the solid Earth, including the earth’s crust and top part the underlying upper mantle... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    Same as the earth's crust... Geological terms

    The hard shell of the globe. Samoilov K.I. Marine dictionary. M. L.: State Naval Publishing House of the NKVMF of the USSR, 1941 ... Marine Dictionary

    Exist., number of synonyms: 1 bark (29) Dictionary of synonyms ASIS. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary

    The upper solid shell of the Earth (50,200 km), gradually becoming less durable and less dense with the depth of the sphere. The planet includes the Earth's crust (up to 75 km thick on continents and 10 km under the ocean floor) and the Earth's upper mantle... Dictionary of emergency situations

    Lithosphere- Lithosphere: the solid shell of the Earth, which includes a geosphere about 70 km thick in the form of layers of sedimentary rocks (granite and basalt) and a mantle up to 3000 km thick... Source: GOST R 01/14/2005. Environmental management. General provisions And… … Official terminology

Books

  • Earth is a restless planet. Atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere. A book for schoolchildren... and not only, L. V. Tarasov. This popular educational book opens to the inquisitive reader the world of the natural spheres of the Earth - the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere. The book describes in an interesting and intelligible form...

Since childhood, I have been drawn to new knowledge like a magnet. While everyone I knew ran into the yard at the first opportunity to ride a bike and kick a ball, I spent hours reading children's encyclopedias. In one of them I came across the answer to the question, what is the lithosphere? I will tell you about this now.

How the planet works and what is the lithosphere

Imagine rubber ball-jumper. It is made entirely of one substance - that is, it has a homogeneous structure.

Our planet is not at all homogeneous inside.

  • In the very center of the earth there is a dense hot core.
  • Followed by mantle.
  • On a surface the planet is covered like a blanket Earth's crust.

Part of the mantle layer, together with the earth's crust, forms the lithosphere - the shell of our planet. We live on it, we walk and drive cars on it, we build houses and plant plants.


What are lithospheric plates

Lithosphere– this is not a complete shell. Imagine now a rubber ball that has been cut and glued back together. Every large piece such a ball - it is a lithospheric plate.


Plate boundaries are very arbitrary, because they are constantly changing, shift, collide - in general, they live an active and eventful life. Of course, by our standards they are not moving too fast - by a couple of centimeters per year, well, maximum – six. But on a planetary scale, this still leads to big changes.

Past of the lithosphere

Geologists are extremely interested in how the planet developed. They discovered a funny pattern: with a certain frequency, everything continents come together merging into one, after which they separate again. It’s like a group of friends who met, sat down and then ran off again to do their business.


The planet is currently in a state of disintegration., which occurred after the single continent of Pangea was divided into pieces.

It is believed that they are all again will gather into a single whole - Pangea Ultima- in 200 million years. Those who are afraid of flying on airplanes will be very happy about this - there will be no need to cross oceans.


True, we will have to prepare for strong climate change. The British will have to stock up on warm clothes - they will be thrown away North Pole. Residents of Siberia can rejoice - they have a chance to live in the subtropics.

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For the first time about the structure of our planet I, like everyone else, learned in class geography, however, I did not feel any interest in this. Indeed, it’s boring in class, and you just want to go outside to play football and all that. Things were completely different when I started reading Jules Verne's novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth". I still remember my impressions of what I read.


Structure of the Earth

Infiltrate deep down Earth quite problematic for humans, so the study of depths is carried out using seismic equipment. Like a number of planets included in earth group, The earth has a layered structure. Under bark located mantle, and the central part is occupied by core, consisting of iron and nickel alloy. Each of the layers differs significantly in its structure and composition. During the existence of our planet, heavier rocks and substances went deep under the influence of gravity, and lighter remained on the surface. Radius- the distance from the surface to the center is more than 6 thousand kilometers.


What is the lithosphere

This term was first used in 1916 code, and until the middle of the last century was synonym concept "Earth's crust". It was later proven that lithosphere also covers the upper layers mantle to a depth of several tens of kilometers. The structure is distinguished as stable (immovable) areas and movable (folded belts). The thickness of this layer is from 5 to 250 kilometers. Below the surface of the oceans lithosphere has a minimum thickness, and the maximum is observed in mountainous areas. This layer is the only one accessible to humans. Depending on the location, under a continent or ocean, the structure of the crust may vary. Largest area makes up the oceanic crust, while the continental crust makes up 40%, but has a more complex structure. Science distinguishes three layers:

  • sedimentary;
  • granite;
  • basaltic.

These layers contain the most ancient breeds, some of which are up to 2 billion years.


Lava lake in the Erta Ale crater

The thickness of the crust under the oceans ranges from 5 to 10 kilometers. The thinnest crust is observed in the central oceanic regions. The oceanic crust, like the continental crust, has 3 layers:

  • marine sediments;
  • average;
  • oceanic.

Nishinoshima Island. Formed in the Pacific Ocean after the eruption of an underwater volcano in 2013

Mentioning oceanic crust, it is worth noting the deepest place in the world's oceans - Mariana Trench, located in the western part Pacific Ocean. Trench depth above 11 kilometers. Highest point lithosphere can be considered the highest mountain - Everest, whose height is 8848 meters above sea level. The most deep well , drilled into the thickness of the earth's crust, goes deep into 12262 meters. It is located on Kola Peninsula 10 kilometers west of the city Polar, what in Murmansk region .


Chomolungma, Everest, Sagarmatha - the highest peak on Earth

As long as humanity has existed, there have been debates about what structure does the earth have. Sometimes they moved completely crazy theories. Among the most striking is the theory of hollow earth, theory about cellular cosmogony and the theory that icebergs appear from the depths of the Earth, which is completely impossible to imagine. Continuing the theory of hollow Earth, there is an assumption about populated center, supposedly there too people live :)

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I have always really loved studying geography. As a child, I was interested in learning more about the Earth we walk on every day. Of course, when I realized that inside our planet there was nuclear reactor, I was little pleased with this. However, the structure of the globe is already very fascinating. For example, the upper solid part of the earth's surface.


What is the lithosphere

The lithosphere (from Greek - “stone ball”) is the shell of the earth’s surface, or rather its solid part. That is, oceans, seas, and other bodies of water are not the lithosphere. However, the bottom of any water resource is also considered to be a hard shell. Because of this, the thickness of the hard crust fluctuates. In the seas and oceans it is thinner. On land, especially where mountains rise, it is thicker.


How thick is the solid part of the Earth?

But the lithosphere has a limit; if you dig deeper, the next ball after the lithosphere is the mantle. In addition to the earth's crust, the upper and solid cover of the mantle is also included in the lower part of the lithosphere. But deeper in the bowels of the globe, the second layer softens and becomes more plastic. These areas are the limit of the solid shell of the earth. The thickness ranges from 5 to 120 kilometers.


Time has divided the lithosphere into parts

There is such a thing as a lithospheric plate. The entire solid shell of the Earth split into several dozen plates. They tend to move slowly due to the pliability of the soft part of the mantle. Interestingly, volcanic and seismic activity usually occurs at the junctions of these plates. These are the sizes of the largest lithospheric plates.

  • Pacific plate - 103,000,000 km².
  • North American plate - 75,900,000 km².
  • Eurasian plate - 67,800,000 km².
  • African plate - 61,300,000 km².

Plates can be continental or oceanic. They differ in thickness, oceanic ones are much thinner.


This is the part of the globe where we walk, drive, sleep and exist. The more I learn about the structure of our planet, the more I am surprised and delighted by how globally everything is thought out and arranged.

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After graduating from school, I considered geodesy as one of the options for further education. To enter the engineering profession, in addition to mathematics, geography was required, so I prepared diligently for the entrance exams. One of the topics that I remember well back then was the structure of the Earth - this is a very interesting section that tells about the structure of our planet.

Earth's crust or lithosphere

Imagine the ordinary egg. It, like the Earth, has a hard shell (shell) on the outside, liquid protein inside and in the very center - the yolk. It reminds me a little of the simplified structure of the Earth. But let me return to the lithosphere.

The solid shell of the planet is similar to eggshells because it is very thin and light. The earth's crust is only 1% of the total mass of the Earth and, unlike the shell, the lithosphere does not have an integral structure: the earth's crust consists of plates drifting along a molten magmatic layer.

In one calendar year, the continents shift by 7 cm.

This explains the frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that affect areas located near the joints. lithospheric plates.

The reason for the thinness of the lithosphere

To understand why the lithosphere took the form in which we know it, we need to look at the history of the Earth.

4 billion years ago, the basis for our planet was an asteroid made of ice. It revolved around the Sun in a giant cloud of space debris that “stuck” to it.

Soon the Earth became massive and its entire weight began to press on the inner layers so hard that they melted.

Melting led to the following consequences:

  • water vapor rose to the surface;
  • gases came out of the depths;
  • an atmosphere was formed.

Due to gravity, steam and gases were unable to escape into space.

There was an incredible amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, which fell from the clouds onto the boiling magma. Under the influence of precipitation, the magma cooled and petrified.

Newly formed pieces of the earth's crust collided with each other and were crushed - continents appeared, and in places of depressions water accumulated, which formed the World Ocean.

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In my understanding, the lithosphere is our habitat, our home, thanks to which the existence of all living things is ensured. I believe that The lithosphere is the most important resource potential of the Earth. Just imagine how many reserves of various minerals it contains!


What is the lithosphere from a scientific point of view

The lithosphere is a hard, but at the same time very fragile shell of our planet. Its outer part borders on the hydrosphere and atmosphere. It consists of the earth's crust and the upper part of the mantle.

The crust is divided into two types - oceanic and continental. Oceanic is young, it is relatively thin. It makes constant oscillations in the horizontal direction. The continental or, as it is also called, continental layer is much thicker.


Structure of the earth's crust

Exists two main type plots bark: relatively fixed platforms and moving areas. Earthquakes and tsunamis occur due to plate movements and other dangerous natural phenomena. The branch of science that studies these processes is tectonics.. Thanks to the fact that I live in a relatively stationary central area European plain, I was lucky enough to never see the destructive power of earthquakes with my own eyes once in my life.

Let's now move directly to the structure.


The continental crust consists of three main layers arranged in layers:

  • Sedimentary. The surface layer on which you and I walk. Its thickness reaches up to 20 km.
  • Granite. It is formed by igneous rocks. Its thickness is 10-40 km.
  • Basaltic. A massive layer of igneous origin 15-35 km thick.

What is the earth's crust made of?

Surprisingly, the earth’s crust, which seems so thick and thick to us, consists of relatively light substances. It contains about 90 different elements.

The composition of the sedimentary layer includes:

  • clay;
  • clayey shales;
  • sandstones;
  • carbonates;
  • volcanic rocks;
  • coal.

Other elements:

  • oxygen (50% of the entire cortex);
  • silicon (25%);
  • iron;
  • potassium;
  • calcium, etc.

As we see, the lithosphere is a very complex structure. It's not surprising that it hasn't been fully explored yet.

I've always been interested in getting to the bottom of things. Therefore, as a child, I absolutely could not understand how the ancient “literates” claimed that the earth stands on elephants, turtles and other living creatures, without checking this fact. And after I saw pictures of seas flowing from the edge of the earth, I decided to thoroughly understand the issue of the structure of my home planet.


What is the lithosphere

This is the same “land” that was located like a pancake on the backs of three whales (in the minds of the ancient “scientists”), that is hard shell of the planet. On it we build houses and grow crops, on its surface oceans rage, mountains rise and it shakes when an earthquake occurs. And although the word “shell” makes one think of something whole and monolithic, nevertheless, The lithosphere consists of separate pieces - lithospheric plates, slowly drifting along the hot mantle.

Lithospheric plates

Like ice floes in a river, lithospheric plates float, constantly colliding with each other or, conversely, moving apart different sides . And it should be noted that the tiles are nothing special, they are big ( 90% of the Earth's surface is made up of just 13 such plates).


The largest of them:

  • Pacific plate - 103300000 square km;
  • North American - 75,900,000;
  • Eurasian - 67800000;
  • African - 61300000;
  • Antarctic - 60900000.

Naturally, when such colossuses collide, it can’t help but end in something grandiose. True, this will happen very, very slowly, since the speed of movement of lithospheric plates ranges from 1 to 6 cm/year.

If one slab rests on another and begins to slowly creep onto it or both do not want to give way,mountains are formed(sometimes very high). And in the place where one “crust” of the earth has gone down, a deep trough can appear.


If the plates, on the contrary, quarreled and move away from each other - magma begins to flow into the resulting gap, forming small ridges.


And it also happens that the plates neither collide nor scatter, but simply rub their sides against each other, like a cat on a leg.


Then a very deep, long crack appears in the ground, and unfortunately, strong earthquakes, which is clearly demonstrated by the San Andreas fault in seismically unstable California.

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About 40,000 kilometers. The geographic shells of the Earth are systems of the planet where all the components inside are interconnected and defined relative to each other. There are four types of shells - atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. The aggregate states of substances in them are of all types - liquid, solid and gaseous.

Shells of the Earth: atmosphere

The atmosphere is the outer shell. It contains various gases:

  • nitrogen - 78.08%;
  • oxygen - 20.95%;
  • argon - 0.93%;
  • carbon dioxide - 0.03%.

In addition to them, ozone, helium, hydrogen, and inert gases are found, but their share in the total volume is no more than 0.01%. This shell of the Earth also includes dust and water vapor.

The atmosphere, in turn, is divided into 5 layers:

  • troposphere - height from 8 to 12 km, characterized by the presence of water vapor, the formation of precipitation, and the movement of air masses;
  • stratosphere - 8-55 km, contains the ozone layer, which absorbs UV radiation;
  • mesosphere - 55-80 km, low air density compared to the lower troposphere;
  • ionosphere - 80-1000 km, contains ionized oxygen atoms, free electrons and other charged gas molecules;
  • the upper atmosphere (scattering sphere) is more than 1000 km, molecules move at enormous speeds and can penetrate into space.

The atmosphere supports life on the planet because it helps keep the Earth warm. It also prevents direct penetration sun rays. And its precipitation influenced the soil-forming process and climate formation.

Shells of the Earth: lithosphere

This is the hard shell that makes up the earth's crust. The composition of the globe consists of several concentric layers with different thicknesses and density. They also have a heterogeneous composition. The average density of the Earth is 5.52 g/cm 3, and in upper layers- 2.7. This indicates that there are heavier substances inside the planet than on the surface.

The upper lithospheric layers have a thickness of 60-120 km. They are dominated by igneous rocks - granite, gneiss, basalt. Most of them were subjected to destruction processes over millions of years, pressure, temperatures and turned into loose rocks - sand, clay, loess, etc.

Up to 1200 km there is the so-called sigmatic shell. Its main constituents are magnesium and silicon.

At depths of 1200-2900 km there is a shell called medium semi-metallic or ore. It mainly contains metals, in particular iron.

Below 2900 km is located central part Earth.

Hydrosphere

The composition of this shell of the Earth is represented by all the waters of the planet, be it oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, swamps, groundwater. The hydrosphere is located on the surface of the Earth and occupies 70% of the total area - 361 million km 2.

1375 million km 3 of water is concentrated in the ocean, 25 on the land surface and in glaciers, and 0.25 in lakes. According to Academician Vernadsky, large reserves of water are located deep in the earth’s crust.

On the land surface, water is involved in continuous water exchange. Evaporation occurs mainly from the surface of the ocean, where the water is salty. Due to the process of condensation in the atmosphere, the land is provided with fresh water.

Biosphere

The structure, composition and energy of this shell of the Earth are determined by the processes of activity of living organisms. Biosphere boundaries - the land surface, the soil layer, the lower atmosphere and the entire hydrosphere.

Plants distribute and accumulate solar energy in the form of various organic substances. Living organisms carry out the migration process of chemicals in the soil, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and sedimentary rocks. Thanks to animals, gas exchange and redox reactions occur in these shells. The atmosphere is also the result of the activity of living organisms.

The shell is represented by biogeocenoses, which are genetically homogeneous areas of the Earth with one type of vegetation cover and inhabiting animals. Biogeocenoses have their own soils, topography and microclimate.

All shells of the Earth are in close continuous interaction, which is expressed as the exchange of substances and energy. Research in the field of this interaction and the identification of common principles is important for understanding the soil-forming process. The geographic envelopes of the Earth are unique systems characteristic only of our planet.