ESS205H1 Midterm: Aid sheet
Document Summary
Biosphere (the biosphere contains all living organisms, which use gases from the atmosphere, water from the hydrosphere and nutrients from the lithosphere) Atmosphere (a gaseous layer surrounding the planet, receives heat from the sun, prote(cid:272)ts earth fro(cid:373) su(cid:374)"s rays) Interaction: fish (biosphere) in a pond (hydrosphere) breathing air bubbles (atmosphere) putting its spawn at the bottom of a lake (lithosphere) A river system is an open flow system. Precipitation (rain, snow, hail, etc. ) provides the input, and water is output to the ocean. In a closed system, matter flows endlessly in a series of interconnected paths or loops, also called a cycle. If, however, we extend the system boundary to include the whole planet (lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere) then since water does not escape into space, nor does it arrive from space, the system becomes a closed system. Equilibrium in systems if input is equal to output, then we can say that this system is in equilibrium.
