biosphere noosphere technogenesis

The most general object of study of geographical science is the geographical shell. The term "geographical shell" was proposed by the famous geographer A.A. Grigoriev in 1932

The geographic envelope is the largest natural complex on Earth, in which the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere, intertwining intricately, interact with each other, penetrate each other, exchange matter and energy. Each component of the complex has its own chemical composition, differs in its inherent properties. Within the shell, as it were, lying on the border of the planet and space, both cosmic and internal forces act. One of the most important properties of the geographic envelope is the presence of substances (primarily water) simultaneously in liquid, solid and gaseous states. They may have their own organization of matter, patterns of development, may be organic or inorganic.

The processes occurring in the geographic envelope are diverse, closely interconnected and can be easily disturbed. They are still insufficiently studied and their importance is extremely important for the preservation of the Earth and the survival of man. The geographic envelope is unique, first of all, in that they act in it, intertwining with each other, mutually complementing each other or colliding as opposite, different forms of energy: part of it is earthly, part is cosmic. The abundance of energy gives rise to various processes - geological, biological, physical and chemical. We are talking about the fact that on the earth's surface there is a confrontation between external and internal forces. And some of them seek to establish a balance. For example: the force of gravity, which is associated with both the leveling of the relief and the runoff of water from its depression. Ebb and flow are connected with the forces of attraction of the Moon and the Sun. Among the internal sources of energy, the first place is occupied by the decay of radioactive substances, which is associated with the formation of mountains and the movement of lithospheric plates, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the activity of geysers, hot springs. All these processes are accompanied by dehydration and degassing of the subsoil, that is, the removal of water and gases to the earth's surface. An important role is also played by the fact that the Earth, as a common magnet, forms a magnetic field, which affects not only the processes of attraction, but also the behavior of electric charges in the atmosphere. Cosmic energy reaches the Earth's surface in the form of various radiations, of which solar dominates. She does a lot. Much of the solar energy is reflected back into space. In solar energy, two most important processes are connected, which create a unique shell on Earth. This is the water cycle and the development of life. The boundaries of the geographic shell are not clearly expressed and are held by different scientists in different ways, since the bases for its division are different. But more often than not, everyone draws the following boundaries.

Fig.1

The geographic envelope includes the layer of the atmosphere in which the presence of dust, mainly of volcanic origin, water vapor is noted, and organisms can exist. The height of this layer reaches 25-30 km; The geographic envelope includes the troposphere and the lower layers of the stratosphere. In the lithosphere, only a part of the earth's crust, which extends from the Earth's surface to a depth of several hundred meters, sometimes up to 4-5 km, belongs to the geographical shell. It is up to this depth that the influence of the atmosphere and hydrosphere on the lithosphere can be traced. The composition of the geographic envelope includes almost the entire hydrosphere, with the exception of its insignificant part, which is located at great depths. The largest part of the geographic shell - the biosphere - is one of the shells of the Earth, the composition, properties and processes of which are determined by the activity of living organisms. That is, the basis of the allocation of the boundaries of the biosphere is the activity of living organisms, and the basis of the geographical shell is the presence of the interaction of the main parts (spheres). Therefore, the main parameters of the biosphere and geosphere may not coincide. There is no consensus regarding the relationship between the biosphere and the geographic envelope of the Earth. If we take the presence or absence of bacteria as a basis, then the habitat of the latter goes beyond the boundaries of the geographic envelope, since bacterial spores are found much higher than the troposphere, and in the oil-bearing layers of the lithosphere, bacteria are found at depths of up to several kilometers. Within the boundaries of the land of the geographic envelope, individual scientists single out the landscape sphere. This is a thin layer (from 5–10 m in the tundra to 100–150 m in the tropics), which includes the upper part of the weathering crust, soil, vegetation, fauna, surface air, surface and ground waters.

The main object of study of modern physical geographers is the geographic envelope of the Earth - a complex natural system in which the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere border, collide, penetrate each other, mix and interact with each other under the simultaneous influence of endogenous and exogenous factors, primarily internal and external energy. This system is called geographic because it combines inanimate and living nature into a single whole. No other terrestrial sphere, like any known shell of the other planets of the solar system, has such a complex unification due to the absence of an organic world in them.

The most important features of the geographic shell are its exceptional richness in the forms of manifestation of free energy, the extraordinary variety of substances in terms of chemical composition and state of aggregation, their types and masses - from free elementary particles through atoms, molecules to chemical compounds and complex bodies, including flora and fauna, on at the pinnacle of evolution is man. Among other specific features, it is worth highlighting the presence within this natural system of water in a liquid state, sedimentary rocks, various forms of relief, soil cover, the concentration and accumulation of solar heat, and the high activity of most physical and geographical processes.

The geographic envelope is genetically inextricably linked with the surface of the Earth, is the arena of its development. On the earth's surface, processes caused by solar energy (for example, the action of wind, water, ice) develop very dynamically. These processes, together with internal forces and the influence of gravity, redistribute huge masses of rocks, water, air, and even cause the descent and rise of certain sections of the lithosphere. Finally, life develops most intensively on the surface of the Earth or near it.

The main features and regularities of the geographical shell are integrity, rhythm, zoning and circulation of matter and energy.

The integrity of the geographic envelope lies in the fact that a change in the development of any component of nature necessarily causes a change in all others (for example, climate change at different epochs of the Earth's development affected the nature of the entire planet). The scale of these changes is different: they can evenly cover the entire geographic envelope or appear only in its individual sections.

Rhythm is the repetition of the same phenomena of nature at certain intervals. Such, for example, are daily and annual rhythms, especially the most noticeable in nature. Cyclic are long periods of warming and cooling, fluctuations in the level of lakes, seas, the World Ocean as a whole, the advance and retreat of glaciers, etc.

Zoning is a regular change in space in the structure of the components of the geographic shell. There are horizontal (latitudinal) and vertical (altitude) zonality. The first is due to the different amount of heat coming to different latitudes due to the spherical shape of the Earth. Another type of zonality - altitudinal zonality - is manifested only in the mountains and is due to climate change depending on the height.

The circulation of matter and energy leads to the continuous development of the geographic envelope. All substances in it are in constant motion. Often the cycles of matter are accompanied by cycles of energy. For example, as a result of the water cycle, heat is released during the condensation of water vapor and heat is absorbed during evaporation. The biological cycle most often begins with the transformation of inorganic substances into organic substances by plants. After dying, the organic matter turns into inorganic. Thanks to the circulation, there is a close interaction of all components of the geographical shell, their interconnected development.

Although the geographical envelope is organically the only, regularly constructed whole, it is not homogeneous. its constituent parts are rocks, relief, air masses, solar heat, water, soil, flora and fauna, but in different places on the surface of the Earth they combine and interact differently. Their different ratio causes significant spatial differences within the shell. So, the nature of any region of our planet also has original and unique features, resulting in the formation of numerous dissimilar natural-territorial complexes (NTC), or landscapes.

Since the geographic envelope consists of a large number of diverse and dissimilar PTCs, in the past it was also called landscape. But unlike PTK or landscapes, this term has not taken root in science. Some geographers use the name "landscape sphere" in the scientific literature in a sense close to the term "geographical shell". So, F.M. Milkov (1990) believes that the landscape sphere forms a thin layer on the Earth with a thickness of 5-150 m, which differs significantly from others in the high concentration and activity of various organisms in it. Here is the "focus of life". THEM. Zabelin (in 1959) instead of the term "geographical shell" proposed "biogeosphere", that is, he characterized it as the sphere of origin and development of life. But this title, like the previous one, narrows the spatial boundaries of the geographic envelope, focuses too much attention on the biological aspects of the study, and relegates general geographical problems to a secondary place. The name "geosystem", which was adopted by V.B. Sochava (1963 p.), since geotopology does not study a geographical area, but separate small places (sections) of a territory. This approach has been widely used in regional geographic research.

The term "geographical shell" has received wide recognition only in modern scientific literature, although some scientists came close to defining the essence and some general features of this complex sphere much earlier. So, in the Netherlands, B. Varenius (1622-1650 pp.) believed that the subject of study of geography is the "amphibious circle", that is, a shell on the surface of the Earth, formed by the interpenetration of one into another parts of the earth, water and atmosphere. The great German encyclopedist, traveler and naturalist A. Humboldt (1769-1859) in his famous work "Cosmos" developed the idea not only of the relationship, but also of the interaction of air, ocean, earth, the unity of inorganic and organic nature. Another German scientist F. Richthofen (1833-1905), developing questions regarding the subject of geography, defined it as the science of the components of the earth's surface and their interaction.

The original idea of ​​a kind of "outer shell of the Earth" as a subject of study of physical geography was first expressed at the beginning of the 20th century. Professor of Kyiv and St. Petersburg Universities P.I. Brownov (1853-1927). He considered the outer shell of the earth as a sphere, uniting together the concentric shells of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere: they all penetrate each other, causing their interaction with the appearance of our planet and all the phenomena occurring on it. A deep analytical study of the complex vertical "special physical-geographical shell", which was done in the thirties by A.A. Grigoriev (1883-1968), contributed to the final approval of this natural system as an object of study of geography. The doctrine of the geographic shell of the Earth was further substantiated in the works of S.V. Kolesnik (1901-1977) - the author of the fundamental textbook "Fundamentals of General Geography". Note that it was this book that contributed to the widespread recognition of geography as an independent scientific discipline of geography. A certain contribution to the development of the science of the geographical shell was made by Ukrainian scientists K.I. Gerenchuk, V.A. Bokov and I. Chervanev (1984 p.), who gave a modern interpretation of its structure, composition, structure, dynamics and development, and also highlighted the complex issues of managing global geographical processes.

The geographic shell, as a special sphere in its structure and properties, has vertical boundaries. But since the transition from it to other shells occurs gradually, the upper and lower boundaries are not clear enough and therefore, to some extent, they can be considered conditional.

Scientists differently represent and substantiate the height and depth of distribution from the Earth's surface of the geographic envelope.

According to A.A. Grigoriev (1963 p.), The upper boundary of the geographic shell passes in the stratosphere at an altitude of 20-25 km, slightly below the layer of maximum ozone concentration. The fact is that the ozone layer delays doses of ultraviolet radiation harmful to organisms, therefore, it is here that favorable conditions for the existence of living beings, primarily microorganisms, appear. The lower boundary is under the earth's crust. The entire earth's crust belongs to the geographic shell, since the processes of relief formation of various activity are constantly taking place in it.

According to S.V. Kolesnik (1955), the upper boundary of the geographic shell lies in the tropopause (that is, on average, at a distance of 10-12 km from the Earth's surface), since the entire troposphere interacts especially closely with the rest of the components of nature. The lower boundary is located in the earth's crust at a depth of 4-5 km and corresponds to the average thickness of sedimentary rocks formed as a result of the interaction of all geospheres.

Subsequently, S.V. Kolesnik recognized the opinion of N.N. Ermolaeva (1969) On the spread of the upper boundary of the geographic shell to the stratopause - the transition layer from the stratosphere to the mesosphere, because it is to this boundary that life is possible and the thermal effect of the earth's surface on atmospheric processes is manifested. It is more expedient to associate the lower boundary of the shell not with the entire thickness of the earth's crust, but only with that surface part that interacts most actively at present with exogenous and endogenous processes. The thickness of this layer on land does not exceed 600-800 m. In windows, the geographic shell permeates the entire water column, as well as the surface layers of bottom sediments.

Thus, the geographic envelope includes the entire hydrosphere and biosphere, as well as the lower part of the atmosphere (although about 80% of the air mass is concentrated in it) and the surface layers of the lithosphere. As for the horizontal boundaries of the geographic shell, they are determined by the size of the Earth, in their form it is a closed sphere.

The lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and organisms (biosphere) belong to the Earth and are its geospheres. Geospheres are continuous or discontinuous shells of the Earth, differing in their state of aggregation, physical properties and chemical composition.. Each of them develops according to its own laws, but all of them are in the same space and come into contact with each other, that is, they inevitably interact through the processes of matter and energy exchange. The interaction of geospheres leads to the formation of a larger integrity - a geographic shell. The geographic envelope is a single, integral and continuous system in which the upper part of the lithosphere, the lower part of the atmosphere, the entire hydrosphere and biotosphere are interconnected, interact and penetrate into each other. Its boundaries coincide with the boundaries of the biosphere: the upper boundary extends to the height of the "ozone screen" (20-25 km), and the lower boundary runs in the upper part of the earth's crust, at a depth of several kilometers. Therefore, its thickness is about 30 km.

The geographical envelope is in constant development, in which three stages can be distinguished:

1 Prebiogenic - on which the formation of the primary atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere took place.

2. Biogenic - the emergence of the biosphere and the further evolution of the geospheres under the influence of living organisms.

3. Anthropogenic - changes in the geospheres under the influence of human economic activity.

The geographic envelope has a number of specific properties:

1. Integrity - is manifested in the unity, interconnection and interaction of the components of the geographical envelope. A change in one component will inevitably cause a change in other components and the entire natural complex as a whole.

2. Cycles of matter and energy in nature, which ensure the integrity of the geographical shell and the interconnection of all geospheres and are open, not closed in nature: the cycle of water, gases (O 2, CO 2, N 2), chemical elements (Ca, Mg), energy and biological substances.

3. The rhythm of development - the repetition of natural processes and phenomena in time. Distinguish periodic rhythm and c cyclic rhythms.

In periodic rhythm, there are:

daily rhythm-changes in the phenomena in the landscape caused by the change of day and night. The reason for this is the rotation of the Earth around its axis. These rhythms, for example, are manifested in daily fluctuations in temperature, pressure, air humidity; in the processes of photosynthesis; heating and cooling of rocks; the formation of breezes; biological rhythm of living organisms.

seasonal rhythm(annual) - changes in phenomena in the landscape caused by the change of seasons. The reason for this is the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. This is manifested in annual changes in climatic elements; in hydrological processes (freeze, ice drift, flood on rivers); in changes in the intensity of soil formation and destruction of rocks under the influence of exogenous processes; in the seasonality of biorhythms of living organisms (migration of birds, hibernation of animals), etc. Thus, periodic rhythms have a clear duration in time.

Cyclic rhythms do not have a clear duration. They distinguish: intra-century rhythms Rhythms lasting 11 years can serve as an example. They appear: in the thickness of annual rings in trees; in the formation of silt deposits of lakes (sapropels); outbreaks of epidemic diseases. The climate also experiences cyclic fluctuations lasting 30-35 years. The reason for the cooling and then warming of the climate is a change in the intensity of the general circulation of the atmosphere, caused by rhythmic changes in solar activity.

Age-old rhythms - the duration of such rhythms is 110-120 or 300-400 years. Their causes may be related to solar activity. . Super Age Rhythms: a supersecular rhythm lasting 1800-1900 years is well expressed. This rhythm is divided into three phases: transgressive - a cool and humid climate, regressive - dry and warm climate, transitional - glaciation intensifies and the level of the world's oceans drops.

4. Symmetry. Example: conditional figure of the Earth (ellipsoid of revolution), distribution of geographical and climatic zones, natural zones from the equator to the poles, due to the sphericity of the Earth.

5. Asymmetry (symmetry violation). Examples of its manifestation are: the true figure of the Earth - the geoid, which is not symmetrical; distribution of land in the hemisphere; the thermal equator does not coincide with the geographic equator, but is shifted to the northern hemisphere; features of the distribution of organisms on Earth.

6.Zonality - a regular change of natural complexes and their components from the equator to the poles. The formation of zoning is a consequence of the uneven distribution of solar radiation due to the spherical shape of the Earth. Zoning is manifested in all components of the geographic envelope:

In the atmosphere - the distribution of temperatures, precipitation, the formation of belts of relatively constant high and low atmospheric pressure, constant winds, zonal types of air masses and atmospheric fronts, climatic zones of the Earth;

In the hydrosphere - the distribution of temperature and salinity in the surface layer of the waters of the World Ocean, the distribution of the hydrographic network (inland waters) on land;

In the lithosphere – activity of exogenous processes: flowing waters, permafrost, thermal weathering, zoning of chemical weathering processes.

In the biotosphere – distribution of biomass of living organisms, features of species biodiversity.

The zoning fades as one approaches the boundaries of the geographic envelope. The largest zonal divisions are the geographic zones of the Earth, and then the natural (landscape) zones.

7. Azonality is a violation of zoning, the causes of which can be endogenous processes, i.e. processes that occur under the influence of heat released by the Earth. All the diversity of the earth's surface, expressed in various geographical landscapes (natural complexes), is the result of a combination of zonal and azonal factors. The azonal influence on the geographic envelope is expressed by:

In the formation of altitudinal belts (altitudinal zonality in the mountains) - a natural change in natural complexes with an uplift in the mountains. The nature of altitudinal zonation is determined by: a) the geographical location of the foot; b) the height of the mountains (the higher the mountains, the greater the range of natural zones replacing each other), c) the direction of the slopes (exposure);

In the formation of longitude sectorality - climatic regions within the same climatic zone;

In phenomena that are associated with the alternation of land and sea;

In the formation of deep zonality in the ocean - underwater landscapes.

The geographic envelope is the largest natural complex of the Earth, but it is extremely heterogeneous. This allows us to break it (see below) into parts - natural complexes (natural landscapes) - relatively homogeneous parts of the Earth's surface. Each natural complex consists of interconnected components. These include rocks, air, water, plants, animals and soils. Developing according to their own laws, the components are in continuous interaction, which, ultimately, leads to the formation of a single complex.

Differences in natural complexes are associated with the uneven supply of heat to different parts of the Earth and with the heterogeneity of the earth's surface. Natural complexes are hierarchical. That is, any of them can be divided into a number of smaller complexes. Conversely, small complexes can be combined into larger units. The entire geographical envelope can be divided into large natural complexes of continents and oceans. Further, they can distinguish their large parts - physical and geographical countries or natural-territorial complexes (East European Plain, Great Plains, Ural Mountains, Appalachians, etc.), which, in turn, are divided into natural zones (tundra , taiga, deserts, savannas, etc.).

In the most general case, the geographic envelope is divided according to this feature into geographic zones. They are divided according to the temperature regime and the characteristics of the circulation of the atmosphere, the soil and vegetation cover and the characteristics of the animal world. There are equatorial, subequatorial, tropical, subtropical, temperate, subarctic, arctic, subantarctic and antarctic geographical zones. They stretch mainly in the latitudinal direction and practically coincide with the climatic zones.

According to the ratio of heat and moisture inside the belts, they emit natural areas. They are named according to the type of vegetation prevailing in them (tundra zones, steppes, forests, etc.). Zones do not always have a clear latitudinal strike. This is due to the heterogeneity of the earth's surface and moisture in different parts of the continents. At the same time, some zones are more characteristic of the inner parts of the continents, while others gravitate towards their oceanic periphery (margin). The zoning of the World Ocean is expressed in a change in such properties of surface waters as temperature, salinity, density, transparency, intensity of waves, in the composition of the animal and plant world.

Scientists call the light dividing line Terminator from the Latin word termino, which means to divide, delimit

Cosmogony is a science that studies the origin and development of cosmic bodies (there are other theories of the origin of the Earth).

Seismic waves are elastic vibrations that arise and propagate in the Earth as a result of earthquakes or explosions.

By the name of the Yugoslav seismologist A. Mohorovichich, who established in 1909 the existence of a surface separating the earth's crust and mantle.

Named after the Austrian geophysicist W. Konrad.

Sometimes 3 layers are distinguished: a sedimentary layer, below a layer consisting of basaltic lavas, under which lies a third layer consisting of gabbro rock. But gabbro is an intrusive analogue of the effusive rock basalt, and both rocks are formed from magma of the same composition, but under different conditions.

From Greek. "lithos" - a stone.

Until about 1970, the lithosphere was understood as a synonym for the earth's crust.

Sometimes minerals are understood to mean any naturally occurring chemical compounds or elements. In this case, they are divided into solid, liquid and gaseous.

Synonym - igneous rocks.

Sometimes they are called deep or plutonic (obsolete) rocks.

As a result of chemical weathering of rocks, clay minerals are formed, for example, kaolinite and montmorillonite.

Synonyms - evaporites, halogen (from Greek Hals - salt).

Diatoms are microscopic unicellular algae, most of whose species lead a planktonic lifestyle. They are the most common group of algae. Radiolarians are the simplest microscopic animals that lead a planktonic lifestyle.

Metamorphosis - transformation, transformation of something.

The term "volcano" comes from the name of a small island. Vulcano in the Mediterranean Sea, north of about. Sicily, which has a cone-shaped volcanic formation about 500 m high. The volcano is active and is called the same as the island.

Infrasound is the same elastic waves as sound, only their frequency is lower than the frequency of sound waves. The range of sound waves lies within 16-20000 Hz. Below 16 Hz is infrasound, and above 20,000 Hz is ultrasound. There is no lower limit for infrasound. Infrasound arises from a wide variety of sources: earthquakes, explosions, shots, landslides, electrical discharges, etc. Infrasound propagates over long distances due to the fact that it is weakly absorbed in media such as water, air, rocks.

Folding or folding is the process by which horizontally or sub-horizontally lying layers become undulating, i.e. are crumpled into folds under the influence of pressure resulting from vertical and horizontal tectonic movements.

Tectonics or geotectonics is a geological science that studies the structure of the lithosphere and its changes as a result of tectonic movements.

Convection is the vertical movement of a plastic, liquid or gaseous substance as a result of the transfer of heat from the more heated underlying layers to the overlying relatively cold layers.

1 Kryptozoy is translated into Russian as a hidden life, and Phanerozoy - a clear life. In the rocks of the Cryptozoic, they do not find the remains of organisms that existed then, but only traces of their vital activity are seen. This is due to their lack of skeletal formations (shells, shells). Since the beginning of the Phanerozoic, fossil remains of organisms in the form of shells or shells have been found in the rocks.

Stratigraphy (from stratum - layer) is a geological science that studies the sequence of formation of geological layers and their spatial relationships.

Paleontology is the science of extinct organisms that have been preserved as fossils (fossils) or have left traces of their life activity. Closely related to stratigraphy.

Abyssal plains - deep-sea plains of oceanic depressions and depressions of marginal seas.

Creep (English creep) - to crawl.

The continental slope is part of the underwater margin of the mainland between the shelf, which is an underwater continuation of the surface of the mainland, and the underwater foot of the mainland. It is characterized by the continental type of the earth's crust, large slopes of the surface and the presence of underwater canyons on the slope.

If you go down in a boat along the river, then the right bank will be on the right, and the left bank on the left.

It is named after the Russian naturalist K.M. Baer, ​​who was the first to explain the presence of right-hand washed high banks near rivers in the Northern Hemisphere by the influence of the Earth's rotation.

According to the ancient name of the strongly winding river Big Menderes in Asia Minor.

The term is derived from the name of the ancient Greek god of the winds, Aeolus.

We draw readers' special attention to the absolutely wrong, but often used phrase "water and wind erosion".

Ozone is a triatomic oxygen molecule (O 3), which occurs, in particular, under the action of solar radiation as a result of the decomposition of the O 2 molecule into atoms and the formation of O 3 molecules.

Proton is the nucleus of a hydrogen atom.

Turbulence is a phenomenon that occurs in moving air and water masses (currents, streams) with the formation of vortices of various sizes in them during the random movement of particles.

In international terminology, air masses of temperate latitudes are usually called polar.

The atmospheric front separating tropical air masses and air masses of temperate latitudes is called polar in foreign publications, and often in domestic ones.

Synoptic maps are weather maps for a specific point in time. Comparison of such maps makes it possible to determine the direction of movement of air masses, atmospheric fronts, cyclones and anticyclones, and thereby predict the weather.

From semi (lat.) - half, semi-.

An atoll is a small low-lying island, most often in the form of a broken ring, with a shallow lagoon in the middle.

Salinity - the total amount of all salts in grams dissolved in 1 kg (liter) of water.

Ppm - 1/1000 of something, used, in particular, to measure the salinity of sea water, indicates the number of parts by weight of salts per 1000 parts by weight of water. (The word does not decline)

Concretions are rounded mineral formations (concretions) in sedimentary rocks, including modern sediments.

Permafrost (permafrost) - frozen rocks characterized by negative temperatures for tens, hundreds and thousands of years and cemented by water frozen in their cracks or pores. It is observed in areas with severe climatic conditions.

Peat is a loose organogenic rock formed as a result of the accumulation of dead and incompletely decomposed marsh plants under conditions of excessive moisture and lack of oxygen. The accumulation of peat is considered as the initial stage of coal formation.

Firn - coarse-grained compacted snow, consisting of ice grains interconnected.

From Greek. bios-life and sphaira - ball, sphere.

We should not say living organisms, because an organism is any living being.

At high pressure (above 300 atm.), Water does not boil.

Protein folding occurs at the temperature point where water turns into steam.

They penetrate each other and are in close interaction. Between them there is a continuous exchange of matter and energy.

The upper boundary of the geographic shell is drawn along the stratopause, since before this boundary the thermal effect of the earth's surface affects atmospheric processes; the boundary of the geographic shell in the lithosphere is often combined with the lower limit of the hypergenesis region (sometimes the foot of the stratisphere, the average depth of seismic or volcanic sources, the sole of the earth's crust, and the level of zero annual temperature amplitudes are taken as the lower boundary of the geographic shell). The geographic envelope completely covers the hydrosphere, descending in the ocean 10-11 km below sea level, the upper zone of the earth's crust and the lower part of the atmosphere (a layer 25-30 km thick). The greatest thickness of the geographical envelope is close to 40 km. The geographical shell is the object of study of geography and its branch sciences.

Terminology

Despite the criticism of the term "geographical envelope" and the difficulty in defining it, it is actively used in geography and is one of the main concepts in Russian geography.

The idea of ​​the geographic shell as the "outer sphere of the earth" was introduced by the Russian meteorologist and geographer P. I. Brounov (). The modern concept was developed and introduced into the system of geographical sciences by A. A. Grigoriev (). The history of the concept and controversial issues are most successfully considered in the works of I. M. Zabelin.

Concepts similar to the concept of a geographical shell exist in foreign geographical literature ( earthly shell A. Getner and R. Hartshorne, geosphere G. Karol and others). However, there the geographical envelope is usually considered not as a natural system, but as a combination of natural and social phenomena.

There are other terrestrial shells at the boundaries of the connection of various geospheres.

Geographic Shell Components

Earth's crust

The earth's crust is the upper part of the solid earth. It is separated from the mantle by a boundary with a sharp increase in seismic wave velocities - the Mohorovichich boundary. The thickness of the crust ranges from 6 km under the ocean to 30-50 km on the continents. There are two types of crust - continental and oceanic. Three geological layers are distinguished in the structure of the continental crust: sedimentary cover, granite and basalt. The oceanic crust is composed mainly of mafic rocks, plus a sedimentary cover. The earth's crust is divided into lithospheric plates of different sizes, moving relative to each other. The kinematics of these movements is described by plate tectonics.

Troposphere

Its upper limit is at an altitude of 8-10 km in polar, 10-12 km in temperate and 16-18 km in tropical latitudes; lower in winter than in summer. The lower, main layer of the atmosphere. It contains more than 80% of the total mass of atmospheric air and about 90% of all water vapor present in the atmosphere. Turbulence and convection are strongly developed in the troposphere, clouds appear, cyclones and anticyclones develop. Temperature decreases with altitude with an average vertical gradient of 0.65°/100 m

For "normal conditions" at the Earth's surface are taken: density 1.2 kg/m3, barometric pressure 101.34 kPa, temperature plus 20 °C and relative humidity 50%. These conditional indicators have a purely engineering value.

Stratosphere

The upper limit is at an altitude of 50-55 km. The temperature rises with altitude up to a level of about 0 °C. Low turbulence, negligible water vapor content, increased ozone content compared to the lower and upper layers (maximum ozone concentration at altitudes of 20-25 km).

Hydrosphere

Hydrosphere - the totality of all water reserves of the Earth. Most of the water is concentrated in the ocean, much less - in the continental river network and groundwater. There are also large reserves of water in the atmosphere, in the form of clouds and water vapor.

Part of the water is in a solid state in the form of glaciers, snow cover, and in permafrost, making up the cryosphere.

Biosphere

The biosphere is a set of parts of the earth's shells (litho-, hydro- and atmosphere), which is inhabited by living organisms, is under their influence and is occupied by the products of their vital activity.

Anthroposphere (Noosphere)

Anthroposphere or noosphere - is the sphere of interaction between man and nature. Not recognized by all scientists.

Notes

Literature

• Brounov P. I. Course of physical geography, St. Petersburg, 1917.
• Grigoriev A. A. Experience of the analytical characteristics of the composition and structure of the physical-geographical shell of the globe, L.-M., 1937.
• Grigoriev A. A. Patterns of the structure and development of the geographical environment, M., 1966.

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See what the "Geographical shell" is in other dictionaries:

GEOGRAPHICAL SHELL Modern Encyclopedia

Geographic envelope- Earth (landscape shell), the sphere of interpenetration and interaction of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. It has a complex spatial structure. The vertical thickness of the geographic envelope is tens of kilometers. Natural processes in ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

geographical envelope- A complex natural complex in which the upper part of the lithosphere, the entire hydrosphere, the lower layers of the atmosphere and all living matter on Earth (the biosphere) come into contact, mutually penetrate and interact, serves as the main object of study of the physical ... ... Geography Dictionary

geographical envelope- Earth (landscape shell), the sphere of interpenetration and interaction of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. It has complex spatial differentiation. The vertical thickness of the geographic envelope is tens of kilometers. Integrity… encyclopedic Dictionary

geographical envelope- the shell of the Earth, including the earth's crust, hydrosphere, lower part of the atmosphere, soil cover and the entire biosphere. The term was introduced by Academician A. A. Grigoriev. The upper boundary of the geographic shell is located in the atmosphere at high. 20-25 km below ... ... Geographic Encyclopedia

Geographic envelope- landscape shell, epigeosphere, shell of the Earth, in which the lithosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere and Biosphere come into contact and interact. It is characterized by a complex composition and structure. The upper border of G. o. it is advisable to carry out according to ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL SHELL- (landscape shell), the shell of the Earth, covering the lower. layers of the atmosphere, near-surface layers of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. Naib. thickness approx. 40 km. G.'s integrity about. determined by the continuous energy and mass transfer between the land and the atmosphere ... Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary

GEOGRAPHICAL SHELL of the Earth- (landscape shell) the sphere of interpenetration and interaction of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. It has complex spatial differentiation. The vertical thickness of the geographic envelope is tens of kilometers. Integrity… … Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

geographic envelope of the earth- The landscape envelope of the Earth, within which the lower layers of the atmosphere, the near-surface strata of the lithosphere, the hydrosphere and the biosphere come into contact, penetrate into each other and interact. Includes the entire biosphere and hydrosphere; in the lithosphere covers ... ... Technical Translator's Handbook

SHELL- SHELL, and, wives. Superficial layer, tight, covering something. O. grain. Horny about. (cornea). O. balloon (balloon in 3 values). Geographical envelope of the Earth (special) landscape layer as a sphere of interaction between the earth's crust and the upper part ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

Books

• Geography, Bobkov Andrey Anatolyevich, Seliverstov Yuri Petrovich, The textbook is compiled in accordance with the requirements of state standards for higher education in the field of geography, geology, biology and ecology, where the real discipline is taught. ... Category: Geography and Earth Sciences Series: Gaudeamus Publisher:

The geographic envelope of the Earth includes the earth's crust up to the Mohorovichich section, the hydrosphere, the lower part of the atmosphere up to altitudes of about 9 km in subpolar latitudes and up to altitudes of approximately 16 km in tropical latitudes (this layer of the atmosphere is called the "troposphere", it contains about 90% of the entire masses of the atmosphere, the composition of the air here is as follows: nitrogen - 78.08%, oxygen - 20.4%, argon - 0.93%, carbon dioxide - 0.03%), the biosphere.

The geographic envelope is characterized by a close connection between all its parts. Therefore, there may be cases when small changes in one of the components lead to changes in others and even the entire natural complex as a whole. Consequently, the geographic envelope is highly sensitive to external disturbances, which can cause quite serious consequences. A characteristic feature of the geographic shell is its rhythm, i.e. recurrence of similar events over time. Rhythms can be very short and long (millions of years).

In the rhythm of natural phenomena, two forms are distinguished: periodic and cyclic. Periods are rhythms of the same duration. Examples of such rhythms are: the time of the Earth's revolution around its axis, the time of the Earth's revolution around the Sun. Cycles are rhythms whose duration varies. As a rule, the duration of cycles is characterized by their average duration. For example, the largest number of sunspots on the surface of the Sun repeats on average every 11 years, but in fact the intervals between two maxima can be from 9 to 14 years.

Rhythms with variable duration include the sinking and rising of land, the alternation of ice ages, the advance and retreat of the oceans. An important regularity of the structure of the geographic envelope is geographic zoning. It manifests itself in a certain sequence, the change of different types of landscapes and the formation of geographical belts and zones.

Recall that landscape is one of the basic concepts of complex physical geography. The term "landscape" would be taken from colloquial German (die Landschaft)(from land- Earth, schaft- relationship). Landscape as a special term was introduced into geographical literature by German geographers at the beginning of the 19th century. Recognition found the proposal of N.A. Solntsev called the landscape a natural-territorial complex (NTC).

Currently, there are three interpretations of the landscape in the literature:

• 1) a territorially limited area of ​​the earth's surface, characterized by the unity and interconnection of its constituent components;
• 2) a generalized typological concept of physical-geographical complexes;
• 3) a general concept, a synonym for regional and typological complexes of any taxonomic rank (a taxonomic unit is a system of subordinate regional and typological landscape complexes).

Geographical belt- the largest unit of the zonal division of the geographic envelope, which has common features of the landscape, due to the magnitude of the radiation balance and the characteristics of global atmospheric processes.

Geographic zones- these are large parts of the geographical zone, which are characterized by dominance in upland conditions (upland - elevated-plain expositions, soils, the vegetation of which most accurately expresses the zonal features of the landscape of a given zone) of one type of landscape - a steppe type of landscape in the steppe zone, taiga - in the taiga zone, etc.

The leading role in the formation of geographic zones is played by the differentiation of hydrothermal conditions, i.e. the ratio of heat and moisture within the geographic zone. Hydrothermal conditions often do not depend on the latitude of the place, but on the circulation of the atmosphere, so the length of the zones is not always latitudinal. With large territorial dimensions, each geographical zone has a relative unity of natural conditions, in particular climate, depth of groundwater, vegetation, soils.

Geographic zonality is subject to hydrological, climatic, soil, geomorphological and other processes. The change of zones is mainly due to the distribution of solar energy, i.e. tilt of the ecliptic (ecliptic- the apparent annual path of the Sun's movement along the celestial sphere) to the equator.

The main regularities of the structure of the geographic shell of the Earth include azonal. Along with zonality, it determines the distribution of some phenomenon without regard to the zonal features of the territory. Note that the entire history of the development of geography is associated with a gradual transition from descriptive methods to dynamic ones, i.e. At present, geographers not only state the presence of some phenomena, but also seek to identify the dynamics of these phenomena, as well as their cause-and-effect relationships. We also note that at present geography widely uses mathematical methods in its research.