Domains of the Earth: Did you know that in the Greek language, Bios means Life, Lithos means Stone, Atmos means Vapour and Hudor means Water? Can you think of words from these? Yes they are the domains of the Earth- the biosphere, the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the lithosphere.
What is the Biosphere?
As NCERT has explained, the biosphere includes all the living components of the earth. It consists of all plants and animals, including all the microorganisms that live on the planet earth and their interactions with the surrounding environment. Biosphere is defined as, ‘’The narrow zone of contact between the land, water and air. It is in this zone that life, that is unique to this planet, exists.’’
What is the importance of the Biosphere?
Underlining the importance of the biosphere in the ecosystem, NCERT has said, ‘’All the living organisms including humans are linked to each other and to the biosphere for survival. The biosphere and its components are very significant elements of the environment. These elements interact with other components of the natural landscape such as land, water and soil. They are also influenced by the atmospheric elements such as the temperature, rainfall, moisture and sunlight. The interactions of the biosphere with land, air and water are important to the growth, development and evolution of the organism.’’
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What is the Lithosphere?
It is defined as, ’’The solid portion of the earth is the Lithosphere. It comprises the rocks of the earth’s crust and the thin layers of soil that contain nutrient elements which sustain organisms.’’ There are two main divisions of the earth’s surface-large landmasses (continents) and water bodies (ocean basins).
What is the Hydrosphere?
It is defined as, ‘’Hydrosphere consists of water in all its forms such as running water in oceans and rivers, ice in glaciers and water vapour in the atmosphere. A large proportion of the rest of the water is in the form of icesheets and glaciers or under the ground and a very small percentage is available as fresh water.’’
What is the Atmosphere?
Atmosphere is the layer of gas around the Earth. It provides the air we breathe and acts as protection from the harmful effects of sun’s rays. It is divided into five layers called the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, the thermosphere and the exosphere. The atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen and oxygen (99%), nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%) and other gases comprise (1%) by volume.
Note: All images have been taken from NCERT Class 6 Geography textbook.
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