Hydrosphere, its composition and structure. Ecological disasters. Hydrosphere. Lithosphere

This I know

2. Remember from the 5th grade geography course: 1) what does the word "geography" mean; 2) what does geography study; 3) why geography is necessary for a person.

Geography is the science of the earth. The object of study of geography is the earth's surface with all its natural and social content. Geographical knowledge for a person is of great practical importance. At the beginning of its development, science gave man a description of different territories and the simplest knowledge about the world around him. Now geographical knowledge is an integral part of many spheres of human life. Every day we all listen to the weather forecast, in agriculture crops are determined depending on the climate and soils, in transport they lay routes and determine coordinates, in the mining industry they conduct exploration of minerals. To perform all these and many other tasks, geographical knowledge is necessary.

3. Repeat the material of one of the topics (optional): "Plan and Map", "Hydrosphere". What sources of information will you use in preparing your answer?

Plan and map

Plan - a drawing depicting in conventional symbols on a plane (larger scale or 1: 10,000) a small part of the earth's surface. The elements of the plan include conventional signs, determination of directions, scale.

Conventional signs - symbols that designate objects of the area on the plan. For convenience of consideration and use, they are usually made similar to the objects themselves. The direction to the north according to the compass is indicated by the arrow N-S, but if it is not there, then the upper edge of the plan is considered to be the northern one.

Scale - the ratio of the length of a line in a drawing, plan or map to the length of the corresponding line on the ground. The scale is indicated as a fraction, the numerator of which is 1 (one), and the denominator is a number showing the degree of reduction in the length of the lines, for example, M 1: 80,000. Such a scale is called numerical and shows that the reduction is 80 thousand times. If we compare it with a scale of 1: 20,000, at which the reduction is made by a factor of 20,000, then we get that in the second scale the reduction is made by a smaller number of times, i.e. it is larger than the first one. On physical maps, a linear scale is used (segments 1 cm long are plotted on a horizontal ruler, above the division it is indicated that the size of the distance on the ground corresponds to a certain distance on the map).

Irregularities of the earth's surface, i.e. relief and water on maps are displayed in two ways: with the help of contour lines - they show lines with the same absolute height and isobaths - they show lines of the same depth. To determine absolute heights and depths, a scale of heights and depths is placed on physical maps. It should be noted that when the height increases from 0 m or more, the color of the surface on the physical map changes from light green (plains) to dark brown (high mountains). With increasing depth, the color of the surface also changes from bluish (0 m) to dark blue (deepest depressions and trenches). Therefore, the height or depth on a physical map is determined by the hue of the color that is in the spectrum.

A geographical map is an image of the earth's surface, which shows the location, state and relationship of nature and society, their change over time, development and movement.

According to the territorial coverage, maps of the world and hemispheres are distinguished; continents, oceans and their parts; states and their parts.

By content: general geographical, thematic (dedicated to individual natural phenomena), socio-economic. In general geographic maps, a mathematical basis (projection, scale, geodetic basis) and directly cartographic images (hydrography, relief, vegetation and soils, settlements, communications, infrastructure, political and administrative division, economy and cultural objects) are distinguished. In thematic maps, cartographic images (geographical basis, i.e. hydrography, borders, settlements, communication routes; thematic content) and explanatory symbols (symbols, text explanations, table) are distinguished.

By appointment: reference, educational, tourist, agricultural, etc.

By scale: small-scale (smaller than 1: 1 LLC LLC), medium-scale (from 1: 200 LLC to 1: 1 LLC LLC) and large-scale (scale from 1: 200,000 and larger). By object: continental, marine, astronomical, planetary.

4. What are the common features characteristic of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, are manifested in the nature of your area?

In the nature of our locality (city), one can observe common signs of all shells. In the city, one can observe anthropogenic landforms (roads, canals, quarries) characteristic of the modern lithosphere. We see the water cycle (river runoff, precipitation, evaporation). There are ravines - a manifestation of the work of flowing waters. Atmospheric changes - seasonal changes in temperature, pressure, precipitation, wind direction.

The structure of the Earth is a combination, interaction and dependence on each other of its main shells. If there were no people on the planet, then perhaps its surface would look different today. Over the course of millions of years, these shells were created, thanks to which life was able to appear and develop, and the general signs of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere inherent in them currently indicate the strongest anthropogenic impact on them by human activity.

Spheres of the Earth

If we consider the structure of the planet from the point of view of its landscape sphere, then we can see that it includes not only the well-known surface of the earth's crust, but also several "neighboring" shells. It is this close connection between the boundaries that determines the common features characteristic of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. They are manifested in the constant exchange of liquid, solid and gaseous components inherent in each of the shells. For example, the water cycle in nature is an exchange between the hydrosphere and the atmosphere.

If there is a volcanic eruption with the release of ash into the air - this is the relationship of the lithosphere with the lower layers of the atmosphere, although some cataclysms can be of such power that they almost reach its middle part. In the event that the volcano is located on an island or at the bottom of the ocean, then all the shells of the Earth will be involved, and the atmosphere, and the hydrosphere, and the lithosphere, and the biosphere. The latter is most often expressed by the death of vegetation and wildlife in the radius of a natural disaster.

Conventionally, the spheres of the Earth can be divided into 4 parts: atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, but some of them consist of several components.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere is called the entire outer gaseous sphere of the planet, surrounding it up to the vacuum in space. If the following shells of the Earth - lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere - interact with each other, then this cannot be said about some of their parts. The atmosphere is divided into 3 regions, each of which has its own altitude, for example:

Of greatest interest to scientists and conservationists is the lower region of the troposphere.

Hydrosphere

The water space located on the surface of the earth's crust and under it is called the hydrosphere. This is the totality of all waters, both fresh and salty, that are on the planet. The depth of some reservoirs can reach 3.5 km, which is inherent in the oceans, and in some areas, called depressions, even go deeper than 10 km. The deepest known underwater “trough” is the Mariana Trench, which, according to 2011 data, goes down to 10,994 m.

Since life on Earth depends on the quality of water, the hydrosphere is just as important as air, which is why an increasing number of environmental scientists are concerned about the consequences of human impact on these areas. From the water on the planet, not only everything that exists, but it also depends on it so that life remains on it.

Scientists were able to prove that on the site, for example, the Sahara were prairies that crossed full-flowing rivers. When the water left this area, it was gradually filled with sands. If we consider what common features the hydrosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere have, then we can see that they are directly dependent on each other, and all of them affect the existence of life on Earth.

If an ecological disaster occurs, due to which rivers dry up (hydrosphere), then vegetation and animals in this region suffer (biosphere), the state of the air changes (atmosphere), and the surface

Biosphere

This shell has appeared since the origin of life on the planet. The concept of "biosphere" was introduced as a term only at the end of the 19th century, and it included all forms and types of life that exist on Earth.

She has a particularly strong connection with the rest of the shells of the planet. So various microorganisms are found in the lower part of the atmosphere. People, animals, birds, insects and plants live on the surface and underground (the lithosphere). Rivers, seas, lakes and oceans (hydrosphere) are inhabited by freshwater and marine fish, microorganisms, plants and animals.

The boundary of the biosphere, as a rule, is determined by the conditions in which living organisms can be, and they are able to change. So, for example, in the oceans, life flows in all layers up to their bottom. Each layer has its own "set" of creatures and microorganisms, which is associated with the saturation of water with salt and the pressure level of the water column. The closer the bottom, the higher it is.

Signs of the biosphere (in other words, the sphere of life) were found at an altitude of 20 km above sea level and at a depth of 3 km from the Earth's surface.

Lithosphere

"Lithos" in Greek means "stone", so the entire earth's crust, which is a rock, was called the lithosphere. She has two parts:

1. The top cover is sedimentary rocks containing granite in their composition.
2. The lower level is basaltic rocks.

A smaller part of the lithosphere (only 30%) falls on land, the rest is covered by the waters of the oceans. The connection of the lithosphere with the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere lies in the upper soil layer. Vegetation and animal life (biosphere) develops there, aerobic bacteria live in it, which need air (atmosphere), it is fed by groundwater and in the form of precipitation (hydrosphere).

Human impact on the atmosphere

The main features of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere were listed above. Since they interact very closely, the influence on one of them immediately affects the others. This is due to the fact that a common feature of all these shells of the Earth is the presence of life in them.

Today one can observe the damage caused by the activity of people on the spheres of the planet. So emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere, cutting down the Amazonian jungle, launching rockets and taking off planes every day gradually destroy the ozone layer. If it becomes smaller (today its size is about 8 km), then all life on the planet can either mutate or die.

According to archaeologists, the Earth has already experienced similar shocks, but in those distant times it was not inhabited by people. Nowadays, everything is different. Not so long ago, there were cities where the level of exhaust gases from cars was so high that people were forced to walk the streets in masks. Scientists and environmental enthusiasts were able to "reach out" to the public in order to reverse the threatening situation.

More and more countries, realizing that the quality of life directly depends on the purity of the air that their population breathes, are switching to alternative energy sources, introducing electric vehicles into everyday life, closing or modernizing hazardous industries. This gives hope that future generations of earthlings will have clean air.

Man and the hydrosphere

Humans have done no less harm to the water resources of the planet. Considering that only 3% of water is fresh, that is, suitable for life, humanity is again under threat. The close connection of the hydrosphere with the rest of the Earth's shells is carried out through the water cycle in nature.

If a reservoir is polluted, then the water evaporated from its surface can spill contaminated rain in any part of the world, causing damage to the soil (lithosphere), wildlife (biosphere), and turning into a poisonous fog (atmosphere).

Although many states are participating in the cleanup and conservation of the planet's natural resources, this is still not enough. Everyone is well aware of the problems with clean drinking water in African and Asian countries, the population of which is sick precisely because of the pollution of local water bodies.

Violation of the shells of the Earth by man

Since all spheres of the planet are interconnected and have a common feature - the presence of life in them, the imbalance in one is immediately reflected in the others. The deepening of people into the bowels of the Earth for the sake of mining, emissions of harmful chemicals into the atmosphere, oil spills in the seas and oceans - all this leads to the fact that every day the animal and plant world (biosphere) disappears or is endangered.

If humanity does not stop its wrecking activity, then after several hundred years the disturbances in the shells of the planet will be so significant that all life on the planet will die out. An example would be the same Sahara desert, which was once a flourishing land in which primitive people lived.

Conclusion

Every moment the shells of the Earth exchange their components with each other. They have existed for billions of years, interacting with each other. The definitions of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere were given above, and until people understand that the planet is a living organism, and if one “organ” is removed from it, the whole body immediately suffers, then the mortality of the population will only increase.

Atmosphere: The presence of the atmosphere around the globe determines the general thermal regime of the surface of our planet, protects it from harmful cosmic and ultraviolet radiation. Atmospheric circulation has an impact on local climatic conditions, and through them - on the regime of rivers, soil and vegetation cover and on the processes of relief formation.

The modern gas composition of the atmosphere is the result of a long historical development of the globe. It is mainly a gas mixture of two components - nitrogen (78.09%) and oxygen (20.95%). Normally, it also contains argon (0.93%), carbon dioxide (0.03%) and small amounts of inert gases (neon, helium, krypton, xenon), ammonia, methane, ozone, sulfur dioxide and other gases. Along with gases, the atmosphere contains solid particles coming from the Earth's surface (for example, products of combustion, volcanic activity, soil particles) and from space (cosmic dust), as well as various products of plant, animal or microbial origin. In addition, water vapor plays an important role in the atmosphere.

The three gases that make up the atmosphere are of greatest importance for various ecosystems: oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. These gases are involved in the main biogeochemical cycles.

The modern atmosphere contains hardly a twentieth of the oxygen available on our planet. The main reserves of oxygen are concentrated in carbonates, organic substances and iron oxides, part of the oxygen is dissolved in water.

Hydrosphere: the totality of all the water resources of the Earth. It forms its discontinuous water shell. The average depth of the ocean is 3800 m, the maximum (Pacific Mariana Trench) is 11,034 meters. About 97% of the mass of the hydrosphere is saline ocean water, 2.2% is glacier water, the rest is groundwater, lake and river fresh water. The area of ​​the biosphere in the hydrosphere is represented in its entire thickness, however, the highest density of living matter falls on the surface layers heated and illuminated by the rays of the sun, as well as coastal zones.

In general, the division of the hydrosphere into the World Ocean, continental waters and groundwaters is accepted. 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. Over 96% of the volume of the hydrosphere is seas and oceans, about 2% is groundwater, about 2% is ice and snow, and about 0.02% is land surface water. Part of the water is in a solid state in the form of glaciers, snow cover and permafrost, representing the cryosphere.

Surface waters, although occupying a relatively small share in the total mass of the hydrosphere, nevertheless play an important role in the life of the terrestrial biosphere, being the main source of water supply, irrigation, and watering. Moreover, this part of the hydrosphere is in constant interaction with the atmosphere and the earth's crust.

Lithosphere: solid shell of the earth. It consists of the earth's crust and the upper part of the mantle, up to the asthenosphere, where the seismic wave velocities decrease, indicating a change in the plasticity of the rocks. In the structure of the lithosphere, mobile areas (folded belts) and relatively stable platforms are distinguished.

Blocks of the lithosphere - lithospheric plates - move along the relatively plastic asthenosphere. The section of geology on plate tectonics is devoted to the study and description of these movements.

The lithosphere under oceans and continents varies considerably. The lithosphere under the continents consists of sedimentary, granite and basalt layers with a total thickness of up to 80 km. The lithosphere beneath the oceans has undergone many stages of partial melting as a result of the formation of oceanic crust.

33. Classification of the main anthropogenic pollutants (pollutants) of atmospheric air.

All sources of pollution are divided into point, linear and areal. In turn, point sources can be mobile and stationary (fixed). Point stationary sources of pollution include chimneys of thermal power plants, heating boilers, process plants, furnaces and dryers, exhaust shafts, deflectors, ventilation pipes, etc.

Mobile sources of pollution are the exhaust pipes of diesel locomotives, motor ships, aircraft, vehicles and other moving devices.

Linear sources of air pollution are roads and streets along which vehicles systematically move.

Area sources include ventilation lanterns, windows, doors, leaks in equipment, buildings, etc., through which impurities can enter the atmosphere.

Air pollutants are called pollutants. According to the state of aggregation, emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere can be gaseous, liquid and solid.

34. Main sources of air pollution:

The main contributors to air pollution are:

1) Thermal and nuclear power plants;

2) Ferrous metallurgy enterprises;

3) Chemical production;

4) Transport.

It is intensively polluted during the processing of raw materials, during the burning of garbage, in agricultural districts - livestock and poultry farms.

Environmental problems of the atmosphere and their brief description

The main environmental problems of the atmosphere associated with its pollution:

1) with could- poisonous mixture.

A) London smog (winter, wet)

High concentration of industrial impurities in atm air

No wind

Temperature inversion

Effects:

Damage to the mucosa of the lungs and gastrointestinal tract

Development of chronic lung disease

Cardiovascular disease, reduced immunity

B) Los Angeles smog (dry, photochemical)

High concentration of exhaust gases in the atmosphere

A high degree of solar radiation, due to which a photochemical reaction occurred (ophtooxidants occur)

Effects:

Damage to the mucous membrane of the lungs and gastrointestinal tract

Damage to the organs of vision

2) the greenhouse effect- an increase in the average annual temperature on the planet as a result of the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (carbon dioxide, methane, freons -6%), which prevent long-wave thermal radiation from the surface of the planet. (heat exchange is broken).

3) ozone "holes" - these are huge spaces (at an altitude of 20-25 km in the stratosphere) with a reduced ozone content of 50% or more.

natural factors

1) change in the cyclic activity of the sun

2) degassing - the release of deep gases through natural faults

3) the presence of layer-like ascending vortex air currents over Antarctica

Anthropogenic factors

1) the use of freons

2) shuttle launch

3) flights of supersonic aircraft at an altitude of more than 12 km

Effects:

Sunburn, cancer, eye disease, decreased immunity

Reduced ability to photosynthesize and plants

4) acid rain - are formed as a result of industrial emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, which combine with atmospheric moisture to form dilute sulfuric and nitric acids.

Effects:

Acid rain contributes to the leaching of nutrients from the soil, leads to the release of heavy metals from compounds, which reduces soil fertility and the accumulation of heavy metals in the food chain.

Features and causes of winter and summer smog

A foggy curtain over industrial enterprises and cities, formed from gaseous waste, primarily sulfur dioxide. There are winter Smog (London type) and summer Smog (Los Angeles type). Prerequisites for the formation of winter Smog are calm, calm weather, which contributes to the accumulation of vehicle exhaust gases and emissions from low chimneys. Summer smog (also called photochemical smog) is caused by nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons, from which photooxidants, mainly ozone, are formed under intense sunlight.

Composition of the atmosphere

The Earth's atmosphere consists mainly of gases and various impurities (dust, water drops, ice crystals, sea salts, combustion products).

The concentration of gases that make up the atmosphere is almost constant, with the exception of water (H 2 O) and carbon dioxide (CO 2)

Nitrogen 75.5% Oxygen 23.10% argon 1.2% other gases (neon, helium, methane, hydrogen, etc.)

Ozone hole - a local drop in the concentration of ozone in the ozone layer of the Earth. According to the theory generally accepted in the scientific community, in the second half of the 20th century, the ever-increasing impact of the anthropogenic factor in the form of the release of chlorine- and bromine-containing freons led to a significant thinning of the ozone layer.

It is believed that natural sources of halogens, such as volcanoes or oceans, are more significant for the process of ozone depletion than man-made ones. Without questioning the contribution of natural sources to the overall balance of halogens, it should be noted that they generally do not reach the stratosphere due to the fact that they are water-soluble (mainly chloride ions and hydrogen chloride) and are washed out of the atmosphere, falling as rain on the ground.

Effects

The weakening of the ozone layer increases the flow of solar radiation to the earth and causes an increase in the number of skin cancers in people. Plants and animals also suffer from increased levels of radiation.

38.the greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect- an increase in the temperature of the lower layers of the planet's atmosphere compared to the effective temperature, that is, the temperature of the planet's thermal radiation observed from space.

Consequences of the greenhouse effect 1. If the temperature on Earth continues to rise, it will have a major impact on the global climate.2. More precipitation will fall in the tropics as the extra heat will increase the amount of water vapor in the air.3. In arid regions, the rains will become even more rare and they will turn into deserts, as a result of which people and animals will have to leave them.4. The temperature of the seas will also rise, which will lead to flooding of the low-lying areas of the coast and to an increase in the number of severe storms.5. Rising temperatures on Earth could cause sea levels to rise6. Residential land will be reduced.7. The water-salt balance of the oceans will be disturbed.8. The trajectories of cyclones and anticyclones will change.

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The lithosphere is the stone shell of the Earth. From the Greek "lithos" - a stone and "sphere" - a ball

The lithosphere is the outer solid shell of the Earth, which includes the entire earth's crust with part of the Earth's upper mantle and consists of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. The lower boundary of the lithosphere is fuzzy and is determined by a sharp decrease in rock viscosity, a change in the propagation velocity of seismic waves, and an increase in the electrical conductivity of rocks. The thickness of the lithosphere on the continents and under the oceans varies and averages 25 - 200 and 5 - 100 km, respectively.

Consider in general terms the geological structure of the Earth. The third planet farthest from the Sun - the Earth has a radius of 6370 km, an average density of 5.5 g / cm3 and consists of three shells - bark, robes and i. The mantle and core are divided into inner and outer parts.

The Earth's crust is a thin upper shell of the Earth, which has a thickness of 40-80 km on the continents, 5-10 km under the oceans and makes up only about 1% of the Earth's mass. Eight elements - oxygen, silicon, hydrogen, aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium - form 99.5% of the earth's crust.

According to scientific research, scientists were able to establish that the lithosphere consists of:

• Oxygen - 49%;
• Silicon - 26%;
• Aluminum - 7%;
• Iron - 5%;
• Calcium - 4%
• The composition of the lithosphere includes many minerals, the most common are feldspar and quartz.

On the continents, the crust is three-layered: sedimentary rocks cover granitic rocks, and granitic rocks lie on basalt ones. Under the oceans, the crust is "oceanic", two-layered; sedimentary rocks lie simply on basalts, there is no granite layer. There is also a transitional type of the earth's crust (island-arc zones on the outskirts of the oceans and some areas on the continents, such as the Black Sea).

The earth's crust is thickest in mountainous regions.(under the Himalayas - over 75 km), the middle one - in the areas of the platforms (under the West Siberian lowland - 35-40, within the boundaries of the Russian platform - 30-35), and the smallest - in the central regions of the oceans (5-7 km). The predominant part of the earth's surface is the plains of the continents and the ocean floor.

The continents are surrounded by a shelf - a shallow-water strip up to 200 g deep and an average width of about 80 km, which, after a sharp steep bend of the bottom, passes into the continental slope (the slope varies from 15-17 to 20-30 °). The slopes gradually level off and turn into abyssal plains (depths 3.7-6.0 km). The greatest depths (9-11 km) have oceanic trenches, the vast majority of which are located on the northern and western margins of the Pacific Ocean.

The main part of the lithosphere consists of igneous igneous rocks (95%), among which granites and granitoids predominate on the continents, and basalts in the oceans.

Blocks of the lithosphere - lithospheric plates - move along the relatively plastic asthenosphere. The section of geology on plate tectonics is devoted to the study and description of these movements.

To designate the outer shell of the lithosphere, the now obsolete term sial was used, which comes from the name of the main elements of rocks Si (lat. Silicium - silicon) and Al (lat. Aluminum - aluminum).

Lithospheric plates

It is worth noting that the largest tectonic plates are very clearly visible on the map and they are:

• Pacific- the largest plate of the planet, along the boundaries of which constant collisions of tectonic plates occur and faults form - this is the reason for its constant decrease;
• Eurasian- covers almost the entire territory of Eurasia (except Hindustan and the Arabian Peninsula) and contains the largest part of the continental crust;
• Indo-Australian- It includes the Australian continent and the Indian subcontinent. Due to constant collisions with the Eurasian plate, it is in the process of breaking;
• South American- consists of the South American mainland and part of the Atlantic Ocean;
• North American- consists of the North American continent, part of northeastern Siberia, the northwestern part of the Atlantic and half of the Arctic Oceans;
• African- consists of the African continent and the oceanic crust of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Interestingly, the plates adjacent to it move in the opposite direction from it, so here is the largest fault of our planet;
• Antarctic Plate- consists of the mainland Antarctica and the nearby oceanic crust. Due to the fact that the plate is surrounded by mid-ocean ridges, the rest of the continents are constantly moving away from it.

Movement of tectonic plates in the lithosphere

Lithospheric plates, connecting and separating, change their outlines all the time. This allows scientists to put forward the theory that about 200 million years ago the lithosphere had only Pangea - a single continent, which subsequently split into parts, which began to gradually move away from each other at a very low speed (an average of about seven centimeters per year ).

It is interesting! There is an assumption that due to the movement of the lithosphere, in 250 million years a new continent will form on our planet due to the union of moving continents.

When the oceanic and continental plates collide, the edge of the oceanic crust sinks under the continental one, while on the other side of the oceanic plate its boundary diverges from the plate adjacent to it. The boundary along which the movement of the lithospheres occurs is called the subduction zone, where the upper and plunging edges of the plate are distinguished. It is interesting that the plate, plunging into the mantle, begins to melt when the upper part of the earth's crust is squeezed, as a result of which mountains are formed, and if magma also breaks out, then volcanoes.

In places where tectonic plates come into contact with each other, there are zones of maximum volcanic and seismic activity: during the movement and collision of the lithosphere, the earth's crust collapses, and when they diverge, faults and depressions form (the lithosphere and the Earth's relief are connected to each other). This is the reason that the largest landforms of the Earth are located along the edges of the tectonic plates - mountain ranges with active volcanoes and deep-sea trenches.

Problems of the lithosphere

The intensive development of industry has led to the fact that man and the lithosphere have recently become extremely difficult to get along with each other: pollution of the lithosphere is acquiring catastrophic proportions. This happened due to the increase in industrial waste in combination with household waste and fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture, which negatively affects the chemical composition of the soil and living organisms. Scientists have calculated that about one ton of garbage falls per person per year, including 50 kg of hardly decomposable waste.

Today, pollution of the lithosphere has become an urgent problem, since nature is not able to cope with it on its own: the self-purification of the earth's crust is very slow, and therefore harmful substances gradually accumulate and eventually negatively affect the main culprit of the problem - man.

Topic 1. Ecology and the natural environment.

Astronomers suggest that the Earth, along with other planets, arose about 4.6 billion years ago from one contracting gas and dust cloud, from which the Sun was formed. In accordance with modern scientific views, the Earth is represented by three layers (spheres).

The first layer is atmosphere extending into space. The modern atmosphere of the planet in composition belongs to the nitrogen-oxygen type and this qualitatively differs from the gaseous shells of all currently known celestial bodies, including the planets of the solar system. The atmosphere is divided into several zones: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, ionosphere and exosphere.

1. Troposphere - the lower part of the atmosphere. It contains more than 80% of the total mass of air. Its height is determined by the intensity of vertical (ascending and descending) air flows caused by the heating of the earth's surface (at the equator up to a height of 16-18 km, in temperate latitudes 10-11 km, at the poles up to 8 km). The troposphere is characterized by a decrease in air temperature with height, on average by 0.6 K every 100 m.

2. The stratosphere is located above the troposphere, up to a height of 50-55 km, and is characterized by an increase in temperature at its upper boundary. This is due to the presence of an ozone belt here, which intensively absorbs light radiation from the ultraviolet spectrum. At the same time, the ozone layer protects the Earth's surface from the harmful effects of this part of the solar radiation.

3. The mesosphere extends to a height of 80 km. There is a sharp decrease in temperature (down to -75-90 ° C) and the formation of silvery clouds consisting of ice crystals.

4. The ionosphere (thermosphere) reaches a height of 800 km. It is characterized by a significant increase in temperature (up to 1000°C or more). Under the direct influence of ultraviolet radiation, the gas is present here in an ionized state, which contributes to the multiple reflection of radio waves that provide long-range radio communications on Earth.

5. The exosphere is located at an altitude of 800 to 2000-3000 km and has a temperature of over 2000°C. The speed of movement of gases in it approaches the critical one (11.2 km/s). They are represented mainly by hydrogen and helium, which form a corona around the Earth, extending to a height of 20 thousand km.

The second sphere - the lithosphere - is the upper solid shell of the Earth, includes the earth's crust and upper mantle. The thickness of the lithosphere is 50-100 km, including the earth's crust - up to 75 km on the continents and 10 km under the ocean. Only the upper part of the earth's crust (about 5% of its volume) has been studied. At 47-49% it consists of oxygen, 27-28% of silicon, 8% of aluminum. They form the basis of sandy-clay minerals, the share of which in the crust reaches 80-85%. These same elements, as well as iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium and titanium, form 99.6% of the mass of the earth's crust. The remaining 105 known chemical elements account for only 0.4%. Life in the lithosphere is concentrated only in the surface layer of the earth's crust, that is, in the soil. Soil is the upper outer levels of rocks, changed under the influence of water, air and the activity of living organisms, it is a mixture of the remains of living organisms and inert (inorganic) substances, which has such a property as fertility. The thickness of the soil is small: from 30 cm in the tundra to 160 cm in the western chernozems.

The next layer of the Earth, about 2880 km thick, is known as the mantle. It is believed that it is mainly composed of dense silicate rocks. The third layer, about 3500 km thick, is called the core. Apparently, it consists of an outer liquid layer with a thickness of about 2080 km and a solid central part of nickel and iron at a temperature of 6400 K.

Most of the surface of our planet is occupied by the third sphere or hydrosphere including all types of reservoirs. In the most general form, the hydrosphere is divided into the World Ocean, continental and groundwater.

The bulk of the water is concentrated in the oceans. Its average depth is more than 4000 m, it covers an area equal to 71% of the earth's surface, and is characterized by high salinity. Continental water bodies cover about 5% of the Earth's area. Of these, the share of surface waters (lakes, rivers, swamps) accounts for a very small part (0.2%), glaciers - 1.7%.

In the upper part of the earth's crust there are extensive reserves of groundwater, which make up about 4% of the total volume of the hydrosphere. Fresh waters lie to a depth of 150-200 m, below they turn into brackish. Groundwater also includes ice in the permafrost.

The free waters of the hydrosphere are vertically divided into two zones. The upper zone is euphotic, determined by the depth of penetration of sunlight (average 200 m). In this zone, the activity of photosynthetic organisms (plants, some bacteria) takes place. In the lower layers, where sunlight does not penetrate - the aphotic zone - live organisms that use ready-made organic substances synthesized by organisms of the euphotic zone. The entire planetary water supply reaches 1450 million km3.

The hydrosphere is closely connected with the lithosphere (groundwater), the atmosphere (water vapor) and living matter, which includes water as an essential component. It acts as a universal solvent for almost all substances, interacts with many of them. This interaction ensures the exchange of substances, for example, between land and ocean, organisms and the environment.

In addition to those named, another very peculiar shell of the Earth is distinguished, which is called biosphere, this is the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe distribution of life on Earth, covering several geospheres inhabited by organisms: the troposphere, hydrosphere and part of the lithosphere (up to 3 km). The biosphere is a set of parts of the earth's shells, which is inhabited by living organisms, is under their influence and is occupied by the products of their vital activity.

The biosphere consists of several types of substances:

1. living matter - the totality of all living organisms on the planet (plants, animals, microorganisms);
2. biogenic substance - a substance created and processed by living organisms throughout geological history (coal, bitumen, limestone, oil);
3. inert substance (solid, liquid, gaseous) - a substance of inorganic origin, i.e. formed in processes in which living matter does not participate;
4. bioinert substance - a substance that is created simultaneously in the processes of vital activity of living organisms and in the processes of inorganic nature, and organisms play a leading role (this includes almost all the water of the biosphere, soil, silt);
5. a substance that is in the process of radioactive decay (radioactive elements);
6. scattered atoms, continuously formed from various types of terrestrial matter under the influence of cosmic radiation;
7. matter of cosmic origin (cosmic dust, fragments of meteorites, etc.).

The main features of life are:

1.Unity of chemical composition. In living organisms, 98% of the chemical composition falls on 6 elements (macrobiogens): about 60% oxygen, about 20% carbon, about 10% hydrogen, 3% nitrogen, 3.5% calcium and 1% phosphorus.

2. Living systems contain set of complex biopolymers(proteins, nucleic acids, enzymes, vitamins, etc.).

3.It open systems, that is, systems that cannot exist without a constant supply of energy in the form of food, light, etc. (use external energy sources). All living systems are capable of exchanging substances with the environment, absorbing substances necessary for nutrition from it, and releasing waste products into the external environment.

Flows of energy and substances pass through living organisms, as a result of which metabolism is carried out in systems - metabolism(from Greek - transformation.).

Metabolism includes processes anabolism(synthesis of substances) and catabolism(decomposition of complex substances). In the processes of anabolism, under the action of enzymes, complex substances are synthesized from simpler ones with the accumulation of energy (photosynthesis).

During catabolism, the energy contained in the chemical bonds of large organic molecules is released and accumulated in the form of energy-rich phosphate bonds of adenosine triphosphoric acid (respiration, fermentation). The end products of catabolism are carbon dioxide, water, ammonia, etc. Metabolism ensures the constancy of the chemical composition of the internal environment of the body (homeostasis) and, as a result, the constancy of its functioning in continuously changing environmental conditions.

4. Living systems - highly organized and ordered systems, they are stable during life and quickly decompose after death.

5. Life on Earth manifests itself in the form discrete forms. discreteness living means that a separate organism or a community of organisms consists of separate isolated, but closely related and interacting parts, forming a structural and functional unity.

6. Living systems - self-replicating systems. The basis of self-reproduction is the formation of new molecules and structures according to the genetic program, which is embedded in the DNA of cells.

Heredity- the ability of organisms to transmit their characteristics, properties and developmental abilities from generation to generation.

7. Living systems - self-governing, self-regulating and self-organizing systems.

Self-regulation- the property of living systems to automatically set and maintain certain indicators of the system (pH, temperature, water content, carbon dioxide, etc.) at a certain level, i.e. provide homeostasis.

self-organization- the property of a living system to adapt to changing environmental conditions by changing the structure of its control system. This change occurs in the process of processing information coming from the external environment, i.e. living systems with self-governing.

8. Living systems are capable of growth and development. Growth– an increase in size and mass while maintaining the general features and qualities of the system. The growth of a living system is accompanied development, that is, the emergence of new qualities and traits.

9.Historical development, that is, the irreversible and directed development of living nature, is accompanied by the formation of new species and the progressive complication of the form of life from fertilization to death. The historical development of living systems is associated with their variability.

Variability- a property opposite to heredity and associated with the acquisition of new properties and characteristics by the body under the influence of external factors as a result of self-government.

10. Living organisms are characterized rhythm, that is, periodic changes in the intensity of physiological functions with different periods of fluctuations (daily rhythms of sleep and wakefulness, seasonal rhythms of activity and hibernation of some mammals).

11. Living system - dynamic system, which actively perceives and transforms molecular information for the purpose of self-preservation.

The interaction of living organisms with the components of the biosphere (lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere) occurs through exchange, nutrition, respiration and excretion of metabolic products. All organisms are not the same in terms of their accumulation of matter and energy. Plants use solar energy, carrying out the process of photosynthesis, and animals consume organic substances created by plants - photosynthetics. Therefore, all living organisms according to the method of nutrition can be divided into two classes: autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms.

autotrophic, i.e. self-feeding - they absorb the energy of the Sun and substances from the environment, create organic substances from inorganic ones. These include green plants, algae and some bacteria. According to the source of energy, autotrophs are divided into:

1.Photoautotrophs carry out the process of converting water and carbon dioxide into sugars with the release of oxygen as a by-product (photosynthesis).

2.Chemoautotrophs for the synthesis of organic substances they use chemical energy (sulfur and iron bacteria - in the oxidation of sulfur and iron compounds), they play a significant role only in groundwater ecosystems.

Heterotrophic organisms, i.e. fed by others - use ready-made organic substances as food, i.e. they feed on other animal organisms, plants or their fruits. These include herbivores, carnivores and humans.

Isolate sometimes mixotrophic organisms that, depending on environmental conditions, can combine autotrophic and heterotrophic diets. For example, aquatic unicellular organisms feed autotrophically in good light, and in the dark they switch to a heterotrophic method.

Living matter is also subdivided into:

1.Homogeneous is the biomass of organisms of the same species or genus.

2.Heterogeneous is the biomass of individuals of different species inhabiting the given ecosystem.

3.reproductive substance- living organisms, thanks to which life in the biosphere is constantly reproduced.

4.somatic substance organisms that are no longer capable of reproducing their own kind.

Living systems have a combination of the following functions:

1.Nutrition. All living systems need food as a source of energy and substances necessary for the construction of organs (the process of anabolism).

2.Breath is the process of catabolism.

3.Selection- excretion of end products of metabolism from the body.

4.Irritability- response to changes in the external and internal environment (hunger, thirst, cold). The reaction of multicellular animals to irritation is carried out with the participation of the nervous system and is called reflex.

5.reproduction.

6.Growth- unlike crystals growing from the outside, living systems grow as if from the inside, incorporating nutrients into the structure of their body.

7.Mobility- movement in the space of the entire system and movement within the system (blood in animals).

The properties of living matter include:

1. The ability to quickly master all the free space ( ubiquity of life).

2. The ability to move not only passively (under the influence of gravity), but also actively (against the flow of water, gravity, etc.).

3. Stability during life and rapid decomposition after death.

4. High adaptability (adaptation) to different conditions and, in connection with this, the development of not only all environments of life (water, air, soil), but also conditions that are difficult in terms of physicochemical parameters (temperature, radiation, etc.).

5. A very high rate of reactions, it is several orders of magnitude higher than in inanimate matter.

6. High rate of renewal of living matter (average for the biosphere is 8 years, while for land - 14 years, and for the ocean - 33 days).

In accordance with the teachings of V.I. Vernadsky, the biosphere can be divided into three sub-spheres:

1.Aerobiosphere inhabited by aerobionts, the basis of life of which is the moisture of the air. There is a layer in the aerobiosphere tropobiosphere– from the tops of the trees to the height of the most frequent location of cumulus clouds. Above the troposphere lies a layer altobiosphere where the concentration of microorganisms is very low. Above the layer of the altobiosphere there is a space where microorganisms penetrate by chance, and in this layer they do not multiply - parabiosphere.

2. In hydrobiosphere three layers are distinguished depending on the intensity of penetrating sunlight:

-photosphere– relatively brightly illuminated layer;

-dysphotosphere- Penetrates up to 1% of sunlight;

-aphtosphere- a layer of absolute darkness, where photosynthesis is impossible.

3.Geobiosphere includes:

-terrabiosphere- the area of ​​\u200b\u200blife on the surface of the earth, which is divided into phytosphere(from the surface of the Earth to the tops of the trees) and pedosphere(soils and underlying subsoils);

-lithobiosphere- life in the depths of the Earth in the pores of rocks. Life in the thickness of the lithosphere exists mainly in groundwater.

The main properties of the biosphere include:

1. The biosphere is capable accumulate solar energy and convert it into the energy of chemical bonds of organic compounds.

2. Biosphere - complete system, it is due to the continuous exchange of matter and energy between its constituent parts.

3. Biosphere - centralized system, its center is living organisms.

4. Biosphere - open system. Its existence is impossible without a constant influx of solar energy.

5. Biosphere - self-regulating system, which is characterized by organization, the ability to maintain the initial state, i.e. after various violations, return to its original state (this property is called homeostasis).

6. The biosphere manifests rhythm- repeatability in time of certain phenomena. In nature, there are rhythms of different duration. The main ones are daily, annual, intra-secular and super-secular.

7. The biosphere has horizontal zonation and high zonation.

Horizontal zonality is a regular change in the natural environment in the direction from the equator to the poles. The zonality is due to the unequal amount of heat arriving at different latitudes due to the spherical shape of the Earth. The largest zonal divisions - geographic zones.

8. Biosphere - global multi-element system characterized by great diversity. This diversity is due to the combination of a large number of ecosystems with their characteristic species diversity.

9. The most important property of the biosphere - ensuring the circulation of substances and inexhaustibility of individual chemical elements and their compounds. Violation or, moreover, destruction of the natural cycles of chemical elements can lead to the collapse of the biosphere.

10. Biosphere - living open system. It exchanges energy and matter with the outside world. In relation to the biosphere, the external world is outer space.

The biosphere includes, first of all, those areas where there are conditions for the survival and reproduction of living beings - this is field of life. They are adjacent territories in which living organisms only survive, they cannot reproduce. These areas are called life sustainability field.

The field of existence of life is determined by:

1) a sufficient amount of oxygen, carbon dioxide and water;

2) favorable temperature;

3) the subsistence minimum of minerals.

The greatest concentration of life in the biosphere is observed at the boundaries of contact between the earth's shells: atmosphere and lithosphere (land surface), atmosphere and hydrosphere (ocean surface), hydrosphere and lithosphere (ocean floor), and especially at the boundary of three shells - atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere (coastal zones). These are the places where V.I. Vernadsky named films of life. Up and down from these surfaces, the concentration of living matter decreases.

There are five integral biochemical functions of the biosphere, including living matter:

1.energy function carried out mainly by plants. This function is based on the process of photosynthesis, i.e. accumulation of solar energy by green plants and its further redistribution among other components of the biosphere.

2.Environment-forming function consists in the transformation of the chemical parameters of the environment into conditions favorable for the existence of organisms. It provides the gas composition of the atmosphere, the composition of sedimentary rocks of the lithosphere and the chemical composition of the hydrosphere, the balance of substances and energy in the biosphere, and the restoration of habitats disturbed by man. The environment-forming function includes:

-Gas function provides the gas composition of the biosphere in the processes of migration and transformation of gases, most of which are of biogenic origin. Several gas functions are distinguished: oxygen-carbon dioxide (photosynthesis process), carbon dioxide (respiration process), nitrogen (nitrogen release by nitrogen-denitrophic bacteria).

-Destructive function causes the processes associated with the decomposition of dead organic matter, with the chemical destruction of rocks and the involvement of the resulting substances in the biotic cycle. As a result, bioinert and biogenic substances are formed, mineralization of organic matter occurs, i.e. its transformation into inert substance.

- Concentration function consists in the selective extraction and accumulation of biogenic elements of the environment by living organisms, causing a large difference in the composition of the living and inert matter of the planet. Thanks to this function, living organisms can serve as a source for humans of both useful substances (vitamins, amino acids) and hazardous substances (heavy metals, radioactive elements and pesticides).

-redox function living organisms is manifested in the oxidation with the participation of bacteria, fungi of all oxygen-poor compounds in the soil, weathering crust and hydrosphere. As a result of the reducing activity of anaerobic microorganisms in waterlogged soils, practically devoid of oxygen, oxidized forms of iron are formed.

3.transport function- the transfer of matter and energy as a result of the movement of living organisms. Often such a transfer is carried out over a huge distance, for example, during the flight of birds.

4.Information function. Living organisms are able to perceive, store and process molecular information and pass it on to subsequent generations.

5.Scattering function– dispersion of substances in the environment. It manifests itself through the trophic and transport activities of organisms, for example, the dispersion of toxic substances, the dispersion of substances during the excretion of excrement by organisms.

The condition for the existence and development of the biosphere is the circulation of biologically important substances. Solar energy provides two cycles of matter on Earth: geological, or large, and small, biological.

The geological cycle is clearly manifested in the example of the water cycle and atmospheric circulation. It is estimated that up to half of the energy coming from the Sun is used to evaporate water. Its evaporation from the Earth's surface is compensated by precipitation. At the same time, more water evaporates from the Ocean than returns with precipitation, and the opposite happens on land - more precipitation falls than water evaporates. Its excess flows into rivers and lakes, and from there - again into the Ocean. Along with water in the geological cycle, minerals are also transferred from one place to another.

With the advent of a living principle on the basis of a geological, or abiotic, cycle, a biological cycle arises. The biological cycle is understood as the flow of chemical elements from the soil and atmosphere into living organisms, the transformation of incoming elements into new complex compounds, followed by their return to the soil and atmosphere, as well as water.

Since the appearance of man on Earth, the formation of a new geological shell begins - noosphere(from Greek - mind), that is, the spheres of the mind. This concept was introduced by the French mathematician and philosopher E. Leroy in 1927. The noosphere is regarded as the highest stage in the development of the biosphere, associated with the emergence of a civilized society in it.

2. The concept of the scientific discipline "Ecology".

The term "ecology" (from Gr. oikos - home, homeland and logos - science) was proposed by the German biologist E. Haeckel (1866), this is the science of the relationship of the plant world, animal organisms, humans and the communities they form between themselves and the environment .

Based on the definition that ecology is a set of scientific and practical problems of the relationship between man and nature, it can be divided into general and applied ecology.

General ecology should include sections that study the anthropos impact on living matter (bioecology) and bioinert matter (geoecology) and their responses to this impact.

In bioecology, when dividing according to the level of organization of living things, one can distinguish molecular ecology, morphological ecology (cells and tissues) and autoecology, which studies living matter at the level of an individual. When divided according to the type of structuring of living things in a biological system, bioecology can be divided into the ecology of multicellular organisms (fungi, plants and animals) and unicellular organisms (microorganisms).

The subject of geoecology includes the problems of interaction in the anthropos - bioinert substance system. Taking the aggregate state of this substance as a sign of division, we obtain, for example, the division of geoecology into the ecology of land, hydrosphere and atmosphere.

The following issues should be referred to the field of applied ecology: development of common solutions, forecasts and recommendations regarding ways out of global environmental crises; development of specific managerial, legal, technological and economic solutions that improve the environmental parameters of the development of society. Based on the foregoing, applied ecology can be divided into the ecology of global crisis problems and the ecology of nature management.

The global crisis includes, for example, the problems of the greenhouse effect and the ozone layer of the Earth. The ecology of nature management is made up of industrial, agricultural, commercial, household, etc. ecology.