Geosphere

The geosphere (from Greek γῆ 'earth' and σφαίρα, ball ') usually refers to a earthly sphere. This is a characteristic of the planet Earth, usually as a shell around the entire celestial bodies considering. The Geosphere - term has received at least ten different meanings of terms within one hundred fifty years. Of them, five different meanings are now used in German-speaking countries. Consequently, there is currently no consensus on the content, extent and scope of the geosphere.

Term

The term geosphere comes from the English -speaking world. It was coined in 1871 by the American philosopher Stephen Pearl Andrews ( 1812-1886 ). Andrews designated geosphere all of the solid earth - from the lithosphere to the Earth's center. However, it did not stop at this one term importance and many subsequent scientists minted their own Geosphere - terms:

Modern Geosphere - terms

In the modern scientific literature presented by the ten Geosphere - terms are at present still five again. It is all about the geosphere - terms by Stephen Pearl Andrews (1871 ) and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1956 ), and far behind the concepts according to John Murray (1910 ), Hans Carol (1956) and Ernst Neef (1963).

Fixed geosphere (Stephen Pearl Andrews, 1871)

The fixed geosphere by Stephen Pearl Andrews includes those parts of the planet Earth, which consist of solid rock or even lower. Thus, the fixed geosphere comprises the lithosphere and the deeper lying Erdsphären:

Lithosphere

Asthenosphere

Mesosphere

Erdaußenkern

Erdinnenkern

The mentioned in the outline mesosphere of course does not mean that layer of the atmosphere the same name. Instead, reference is made here to the geosphärische mesosphere, which is a synonym for the lower portions of the mantle. In addition, a modern term importance of Barysphäre is considered as a synonym for the Earth's core. However, the geosphere could also be divided differently:

Lithosphere

Asthenosphere

Mesosphere

Erdaußenkern

Erdinnenkern

In this alternative structure, the firm was ranked geosphere fully and clearly dichotomous. Against this outline can be argued that, besides the geosphärischen mesosphere also mentions a geosphärische endosphere, although this term is also used for a particular layer of the Earth's atmosphere. In addition, a very old and currently rather unusual term is taken up again with Zentrosphäre.

So the pedosphere - or - the floors together with just settling deposits - In addition to the Erdsphären already mentioned, the floors are also sometimes associated with the fixed Geosphere - ie the pedosphere together with the Sedimentosphäre. The other hand, the Barysphäre is not counted in the geosphere sometimes.

The fixed geosphere geosphere is the dominant term of the system -to-earth research.

Abiotic geosphere (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, 1956)

The abiotic geosphere by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin includes all non-living parts of the global ecosystem, the ecosphere. Thus it includes portions of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, which are within the global ecosystem:

Global biocenosis

ökosphärischer section of the lithosphere

ökosphärischer section of the hydrosphere

ökosphärischer section of the atmosphere

The abiotic geosphere geosphere is the term of the International Geosphere - Biosphere Programme. A synonym for abiotic geosphere is Physio sphere.

Geographical geosphere (Hans Carol, 1956)

The geographical geosphere by Hans Carol is an attempt to situate the general object of geographical research in the real earth-space. Although his attempt did not stay long unchallenged and could not internationally despite several attempts to establish. Nevertheless Carols geographical geosphere is still used in rare cases in German-language publications:

Sociosphere

Technosphere

Phytosphere

Zoosphäre

ökosphärische atmosphere

ökosphärische hydrosphere

Relief sphere or ökosphärische lithosphere or pedosphere or Dekompositionssphäre i.e.S.

Chorosphäre and landscape sphere

A synonym for the geographical geosphere is Chorosphäre. This alternative concept was introduced at the beginning of the 1960s by the Swiss geographer Ernst Winkler to explicitly avoid even then ambiguous word from the geosphere. However, the Chorosphäre won no great following.

Moreover, there exists the landscape sphere, another term that has an at least very important par with the geographical Geosphere - term. The word was also introduced in the early 1960s by Ernst Winkler in the German language after he had borrowed from the Soviet geography. However, the comparison between the landscape and the geographical sphere geosphere brings to light three differences:

Mehrzahlige Geosphere ( John Murray, 1910)

The pluralities Geosphere by John Murray is a category term that can be applied to all Erdsphären. For example, the atmosphere would be a geosphere, but also the anthroposphere Dekompositionssphäre, Gravisphäre, plasmasphere, and many others would Geosphere. The synonym for Murray's Geosphere means Erdsphären (→ List of Erdsphären ).

Raumdimensionale geosphere (Ernst Neef, 1963)

The raumdimensionale geosphere by Ernst Neef referred to no specific property that the shell-like wraps around the earth. They called therefore no earthly sphere. Instead, says Neefs term global space itself in its entirety as the perspective of scientific consideration. This global perspective can also (less ambiguous ) ( understandable ) just called spherical viewing dimension or global dimension viewing today.