A natural holistic and complex formation, consisting of interconnected and mutually penetrating outer earth shells, is called by the geographical science the name “geographical shell”. Its components are spherical layers of unstable thickness, consisting of the lower layers of the atmosphere, upper layers of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere in all their diversity. Simply put, the geographic envelope is the home of humanity, the envelope of the Earth in which we all exist.
The unity and interaction of shell components
The components of the earth's shell exist together, constantly interacting with each other. Penetrating the rocks of the lithosphere, water and air participate in the weathering of the earth's crust and change themselves. Rock particles rise into the atmosphere during strong winds and during volcanic eruptions. The composition of the tissues of living things includes minerals and water, many salts are dissolved in the hydrosphere. In the process of the death of living organisms, the geographic envelope is replenished with strata of rocks.
Power and boundaries of the shell
The shell around the Earth does not have clearly defined boundaries. When compared with the size of the planet, the geographical envelope appears to be a thin film 55 km thick (average envelope size).
Earth Shell Properties
As a result of the interaction of the components that make up its composition, the geographical envelope has a number of properties inherent only to it. The substances in it are presented in three different states: solid, liquid and gaseous. This is of great importance for all processes taking place on Earth, and first of all for the emergence of life. Only the geographical shell created all the conditions for the existence and development of human society. It has air and water, solar heat and light, rocks with minerals, soil, plant, animal and bacterial worlds.
Transformations of substances and energy in the geographic envelope
The components of the geographical envelope are connected into a single whole by cycles of matter and energy, due to which continuous interaction between them is carried out. In all its spheres there are such metabolic processes: in the atmosphere - air masses, in the hydrosphere - water, in the biosphere - biological and mineral material. Even changes in the earth's crust constantly occur: igneous igneous rocks erode and form sedimentary rocks, which, in turn, are transformed into metamorphic rocks. Under the influence of the Earth’s internal energy, the latter are melted into magma, which, erupting and crystallizing, gives rise to new strata of igneous rocks. The main among the cycles is the movement of air in the troposphere, which is carried out in horizontal and vertical directions. The movement of air masses draws the hydrosphere into the world exchange process. The biological cycle consists in the formation of minerals, water and air from organic substances of living organisms, passing after death and decomposition into mineral substances. The cycles do not form closed circles, each subsequent one is not similar to the previous one, and, thanks to these cyclically repeating and constantly changing processes of metabolism and energy, the geographic shell of the Earth is constantly evolving in all its spheres.
