Ch. 2 - Earth as a System

Atmosphere

A mixture of gases that surrounds a planet or moon.

Hydrosphere

The portion of Earth that is water.

Geosphere

The mostly solid, rocky part of Earth.

Open System

A system in which both matter and energy are exchanged with the surroundings.

Closed System

A system in which energy, but not matter, is exchanged with the surroundings.

Biosphere

The part of Earth where life exists.

core

The central part of the Earth below the mantle

mesosphere

The strong, lower part of the mantle between the asthenosphere and the outer core.

lithosphere

The solid, outer layer of Earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle.

crust

The thin and solid outermost layer of the Earth above the mantle.

mantle

The layer of rock between the Earth's crust and core.

ecosystem

A community of organisms and their abiotic environment.

carrying capacity

The largest population that an environment can support at any given time.

decomposer

An organism that gets energy by breaking down dead organisms.

consumer

an organism that gets its energy by eating other organisms.

food web

A diagram that shows the feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem.

producer

an organism that makes its own food.

moho

The lower boundary of Earth's crust.

energy

a closed system is a system in which the only thing exchanged with the surroundings is?

photosynthesis

the transfer of energy throughout an ecosystem begins with?

transpiration

part of the water cycle described as plants sweat.

Isaac Newton

Who proposed the law of gravitation

oblate spheroid

the shape of earth.

matter

anything that has mass and takes up space.