Natural holistic and complex formation, consisting of interconnected and mutually penetrating outer earthly shells, is given the name "geographical shell" by geographical science. Its components are spherical layers of unconstrained thickness, consisting of the lower layers of the atmosphere, the upper layers of the lithosphere, the hydrosphere and the biosphere in all their diversity. Simply put, the geographic shell is the home of humanity, the shell of the Earth in which we all exist.
Unity and interaction of shell components
The components of the earth's shell exist together, constantly interacting with each other. Penetrating into the rocks of the lithosphere, water and air participate in the processes of 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 beings includes minerals and water, many s alts are dissolved in the hydrosphere. In the process of dying off living organisms, the geographical envelopereplenished with rock strata.
Capacity and shell boundaries
The shell around the Earth has no clearly defined boundaries. When compared with the size of the planet, the geographic shell appears as a thin film 55 km thick (the average shell size).
Earth shell properties
As a result of the interaction of its components, the geographic shell has a number of properties that are unique to it. Substances in it are presented in three different states: solid, liquid and gaseous. This is of great importance for all processes occurring on Earth, and first of all for the emergence of life. Only the geographical shell has 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 matter and energy in the geographic envelope
The components of the geographic envelope are connected into a single whole by the 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 in the earth's crust, changes are constantly taking place: igneous igneous rocks are weathered and form sedimentary rocks, which, in turn, are transformed into metamorphic rocks. Under the influence of the internal energy of the Earth, 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 organic substances of living organisms from mineral matter, water and air, passing after death and decomposition into mineral substances. 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 geographical envelope of the Earth is constantly developing in all its constituent spheres.
