It is very common to see in publications, news, television programs and other talk about the earth’s surface. By intuition, we get a small idea of what this means and its relationship with the fauna and flora on the planet. But do we really have any idea what this means? There are many aspects that are related to this term and that it is interesting to know.
Soon you will have all the information you need to understand everything about the earth’s surface. you will know details of the earth’s crustas well as its relationship with tectonic plates, its relief and many other aspects.
meaning of land surface
This term is used in natural sciences and other scientific fields to refer to one of the many layers that the planet earth has. This makes it easier for us to know what part or level is being talked about in relation to our planet. It’s known that We have an atmosphere, stratosphere, a nucleus, and so on.. All these are just layers that make up our planet Earth.
According to the definition of the Earth’s surface, it is the most superficial layer that we can touch and feel. This varies in terms of its thickness, since it is not the same in all places on the planet. For example, if we are located in a mountainous area, the thickness of the earth’s crust can be around 60 km. Now, if we position ourselves on the ocean floor, the thickness decreases considerably to around 12 km. One point to keep in mind is that this does not apply to any river. This is only a small part of what the earth’s surface means, so before moving on to the next subheading, consider the following relevant aspects.
- The shape of the earth’s surface is not spherical, but has the shape of a geoid.
- There are about 6 parts, levels or types of surfaces after the earth’s crust.
- The mantle extends from the Earth’s surface to the mesosphere.
- The core of the planet is made up of two parts: the outer and inner core.
- In the most superficial layer, materials and items chemicals such as magnesium, silicon, aluminum and other metals are abundant.
- The terrestrial surface of the planet Earth, was formed by a process known as igneous.
- Each continent has a different land surface, which gives rise to variety in biomes and varied forms of life.
Features of the earth’s surface
The Earth is considered as one of the planets made up of rock in a large part of its total constitution. At its core it has molten iron that is in constant motion and is what generates the magnetic field that protects us from cosmic radiation. As for the composition of the terrestrial surface, it is very varied. For example, in desert areas and tundra-type biomes, they are very different from each other, both in extension, consistency and texture.
In addition, depending on the area in which you are, the surface will be larger or smaller. As we mentioned, if you are at the highest point of the planet (Mount Everest) the surface and/or earth’s crust at that point will be denser. On the other hand, if we go to the lowest part of the planet (ocean floor), we will have a smaller thickness.
Being a solid surface made of matter, it has the ability to absorb and/or reflect the electromagnetic radiation generated by the sun. This was and still is fundamental for the planet, since It’s a way to regulate the temperature.. Initially, when the Earth was only a few thousand years old, it was in a period of freezing. It was thanks to the absorption of heat that little by little the earth’s surface warmed up until much of the ice melted. This caused the ice age to end and the ice will only be limited to the poles of the planet.
It is worth mentioning that the earth’s surface is also made up of the lithosphere and together, they have a maximum thickness of 60 km. This, compared to the rest of the layers, is the thinnest. To give you an idea of such magnitude, after the lithosphere comes the layer known as the asthenosphere, which is approximately 700 kilometers thick. Followed by this, comes the mesosphere and the part of the core, which are the largest part that constitutes our planet Earth. In fact, this mentioned aspect is proportional to the size of the planet as such. In total, from the outermost layer to the center of the earth, there are about 6400 km.
How is the earth’s surface formed?
The science that studies the earth is quite interesting and provides us with very useful data and information. From the shape of our continents, to the relief of each of the areas of our planet. A very important fact to consider is that the earth’s surface is not only limited to something on which we can stand, such as solid ground. The hydrosphere is also part of this surface, with the only difference that we cannot stay on top of it by conventional methods.
So we can say that the terrestrial surface, taking into account the definition of the word as something on which you can perch, includes both solid ground and bodies of water, such as rivers and seas. Although for practical purposes, the latter is usually discarded so as not to create confusion. So the most ideal thing would be to say that the earth’s surface is that layer of solid earth in which we can stand without sinking towards the center of the planet. So the constitution of this layer is made of solid matter, whose consistency, texture and hardness varies according to the biome or environment in which it is.
What sciences study the earth’s surface?
As such, there is no science that particularly studies the surface of the earth. Therefore, geology is the one that is in charge of studying it, as well as the composition, history, structure, quality of the soil, resources found on earth. As such, it is one of the fields where you can understand how the land changes and/or will change according to factors that are taken into account.
In addition, the impact of human activity, soil degradation and other negative aspects falls on the study of geology. Some try to find a way to improve industrial and agricultural processes, while others are more inclined to learn about degradation and the negative impact on soils.
What is the relief of the earth’s surface?
Let’s imagine that a person’s face is like the earth’s surface, the relief of the face would be the acne and pimples that someone gets for X reasons. For this reason, the relief of a surface are all alterations that occur in the earth’s crust. It could be something similar to mountains, of course, this only applies to alterations in landscapes. For example, that in the middle of a meadow there are cliffs, small mountains and similar things that should not be there and that are not a natural part of the environment. It is precisely this factor that is considered as relief of a terrestrial surface.
What is the radiation that reaches the earth’s surface?
The earth and its surface alone is not capable of emitting radiation, what it does as such is absorb and reflect part of the light that comes from the sun. The type of representation that we can give to the radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface is through light and heat. On the one hand, it is what gives the planet its brightness if we see it from space. While the second is a disturbance of nature that we feel and measure.
