Earth’s Subsystem: Atmosphere

Atmosphere
• The primitive atmosphere of Earth is assumed
to be similar to the composition of the solar
nebula from which Earth came from .
• Then, from its exposure to various interactions
in space, Earth eventually lost its primitive
features were then replaced by compounds
released from the crust and from the impact
of comets and other planetary objects rich in
volatile materials.
Composition of the Atmosphere

The present
atmosphere is
composed of 78%
nitrogen, and 20%
oxygen; the rest are
other gases such as
carbon dioxide,
argon and water
vapor.
• This composition has significantly deviated
from the original profile of the primitive
atmosphere.
• In the early atmosphere, carbon dioxide was
predominant because it was of the gases
escaping from the interior Earth.
• As Earth’s atmosphere evolved, its
composition changed. Nitrogen gas was
thought to have come from ancient planetary
bodies that float around during the formation
of the early Earth.
• It is known that nitrogen is not very reactive
such that once formed, it stays in the
atmosphere unless triggered to be converted
to another form.
• Oxygen, on the other hand, did not have the
same levels in the early atmosphere as in
today’s atmosphere. Its level dramatically rose
to its present levels only after the earliest
oxygen-forming organisms were formed and
multiplied.
• It is said that organisms were mostly plants
and plant like-forms and thus would release
oxygen into atmosphere, which was then
captured and stored by oxygen –rich rocks.
The layers of the Atmosphere
• The atmosphere is composed of various
thickness, temperature, and density.
• These layers protect Earth from many external
threats in space, such as planetary debris,
impacts from celestial bodies, and radiation.
• Layers of the Earth’s Atmosphere were also
established based on their proximity on the
Earth surface. The boundaries of the different
layers of the Earth were also established
based on the temperature trends observed in
each layers.
Troposphere
• This layer is considered to be the densest
among the other layers. Because temperature
drops with altitude, warm air on the surface of
Earth rises readily. Air molecules travel up and
then back down causing the formation of the
clouds and eventually rain from the moisture in
the air. These variations give rise to weather.
Most jets and planes would fly slightly above
the troposphere to avoid turbulent weather.
• Prior to reaching the next layer above the
troposphere is a thin buffer zone called the
tropopause. It differs from the troposphere in
that it is characterized by a relatively constant
temperature.
Stratosphere
• The air in this layer ha strong, steady
horizontal winds which is advantageous to
long-distance flights. At its upper region is the
ozone layer which contain high concentration
of ozone . The ozone layer plays a very
important role in absorbing the ultraviolet
radiation from the sun. Without this layer,
most life-forms would have perished.
• In the past decades, the ozone layer has been
observed to be thinning. With further studies,
it was determined that certain sprays and
chemicals used in modern appliances used
ozone-depleting substances (ODS) that directly
destroy the ozone molecules in the ozone
layer.
• Most ODS contain chlorine. When these
substances reach the stratosphere, contact
with the ultraviolet radiation from the sun
causes the release of chlorine which react the
with ozone molecules.
• Unlike air pollutants, ODS are invisible and
odorless; hence, they were not immediately
recognized to be depleting the ozone layer.
• Now that these substances have been
identified, ODS are hair sprays, insulating
foams refrigerants, and solvents. Another
buffer zone exist before the next layer above
the stratosphere. This zone is called
stratopause.
Mesosphere
• This is the layer above the stratosphere. The
temperature here reaches a minimum of -90
degrees Celsius and considered to be the
coldest layer.
• The mesosphere may be the coldest because
the heat from the sun has been decreased by
the absorption of thermosphere and the
radiative emission of carbon dioxide in this
layer.
• The mesosphere is important in protecting
Earth from planetary debris.. This is where
most of the space rocks, such as meteor,
breakdown into smaller pieces such by the
time they reach Earth, they are already in very
small pieces.
• The thin buffer zone above mesosphere is
called mesopause. This zone is actually the
coldest region of the atmosphere.
Thermosphere
• This layer is the hottest layer because of its
absorption of highly energetic solar heat.
Depending on solar activity, the temperature
in this layer can rise higher even reaching
beyond the 1000°C.
• The lower part of the thermosphere is the
ionosphere where particles of oxygen and
nitrogen are electrically charged by solar wind.
• As the excited ions of the oxygen and nitrogen
go back to their neutral state, they release
photons (light energy) which cause the
spectacular display or colorful lights in the sky
known as aurora. The solar winds influences
the rate of the intensity of aurora. Hence,
during an intense solar storm, more visible
colorful lights can be seen in the sky.
• The aurora may be visible in high latitudes of
Earth. If witnessed In the northern such as
Arctic and Northern Canada it is called aurora
borealis or northern lights. If seen in the
southern region such as Antarctica and
Southern Australia, it is called aurora australis
or southern light. Oxygen atom produced
yellow and green lights while nitrogen atom
blue and red lights .
• There exists a thermopause above the
thermosphere that also serves as a buffer
zone which separates the thermosphere from
space.