Outline of earth science

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to earth science:

Earth science – all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth.^[1] It is also known as geoscience, the geosciences or the Earth sciences, and is arguably a special case in planetary science, the Earth being the only known life-bearing planet.

Contents 1 Earth's spheres 2 Branches of earth science 2.1 Geology 2.2 Geography 2.3 Soil science 2.4 Atmospheric science 2.5 Oceanography 2.6 Glaciology 2.7 Geoinformatics 3 History of earth science 4 Earth science topics 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Earth's spheres

The Earth's spheres are the many "spheres" into which the planet Earth is divided. The four most often recognized are the atmosphere, the biosphere, the hydrosphere and the geosphere. As a whole, the system is sometimes referred to as an ecosphere. Listed roughly from outermost to innermost the named spheres of the Earth are:

• Magnetosphere
• Atmosphere, the gases that surround the Earth (its air)
  • By altitude
    • Exosphere
    • Exobase
    • Ionosphere
    • Thermopause
    • Thermosphere
    • Mesopause
    • Mesosphere
    • Stratopause
    • Stratosphere
    • Ozone layer
    • Tropopause
    • Troposphere
    • Planetary boundary layer
  • By air turbulence
    • Heterosphere
    • Turbopause
    • Homosphere
• Biosphere, all life on Earth
  • Anthroposphere
    • Noosphere (rare)
• Hydrosphere, all water found on, under, and over the surface of Earth
  • Cryosphere (sometimes)
• Pedosphere
• Geosphere
  • Lithosphere
    • Crust (geology)
  • Asthenosphere
  • Mesosphere
  • Earth's mantle
  • Earth's core
    • Inner core
    • Outer core

Branches of earth science

Geology

• Geology
  • Economic geology
  • Engineering geology
  • Environmental geology
  • Quaternary geology
  • Planetary geology
  • Petroleum geology
  • Historical geology
  • Hydrogeology
  • Structural geology
• Geochemistry
• Geochronology
• Geomagnetics
• Geomicrobiology
• Geomorphology
• Geophysics
• Mantle plumes
• Micropaleontology
• Mineralogy
  • Gemology
  • Mineral physics
  • Mining
• Paleontology
• Palynology
• Petrology
• Physical geodesy
• Plate tectonics
• Sedimentology
• Seismology
• Stratigraphy
• Tectonics
• Volcanology

Geography

• Geography
  • Human geography
  • Paleogeography
  • Physical Geography

Soil science

• Soil science
• Edaphology
• Pedology

Atmospheric science

• Atmospheric sciences
• Meteorology
• Climatology
• Paleoclimatology

Oceanography

• Oceanography
  • Physical oceanography
  • Chemical oceanography
  • Paleoceanography
• Hydrogeology
• Hydrology
• Limnology
• Marine Biology
• Marine Geology
• Marine Geophysics

Glaciology

• Glaciology

Geoinformatics

• Geographic information systems
• Spatial decision support systems
• Global positioning systems (GPS) or Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)
• Remote sensing and Photogrammetry
• Geodesy
• Geostatistics

History of earth science

Main article: History of earth science; see also History of geology

Earth science topics

Main article: List of earth science topics

See also

	Book: Earth science
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• List of geoscience organizations

References

External links

Natural science Physical science Space science Earth science Life science

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