There are several conflicting usages ofgeosphere, variously defined.
InAristotelian physics, the term was applied to four sphericalnatural places, concentrically nested around the center of the Earth, as described in the lecturesPhysica andMeteorologica. They were believed to explain the motions of the fourterrestrial elements:Earth,Water,Air, andFire.
In modern texts and inEarth system science, geosphere refers to thesolid parts of the Earth; it is used along withatmosphere,hydrosphere, andbiosphere to describe the systems of the Earth (the interaction of these systems with themagnetosphere is sometimes listed). In that context, sometimes the termlithosphere is used instead of geosphere or solid Earth. The lithosphere, however, only refers to the uppermost layers of the solid Earth (oceanic and continental crustal rocks and uppermost mantle).[1]
"Geosphere" may also be taken as the collective name for thelithosphere, thehydrosphere, thecryosphere, and theatmosphere.[2] The different collectives of the geosphere are able to exchange different mass and/or energyfluxes (the measurable amount of change). The exchange of these fluxes affects the balance of the different spheres of the geosphere. An example is how the soil acts as a part of the biosphere,[3] while also acting as a source of flux exchange.
Sincespace exploration began, it has been observed that the extent of theionosphere orplasmasphere is highly variable, and often much larger than previously appreciated, at times extending to the boundaries of theEarth's magnetosphere.[4] This highly variable outer boundary ofgeogenic matter has been referred to as the "geopause" (ormagnetopause),[5] to suggest the relative scarcity of such matter beyond it, where thesolar wind dominates.
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