Diagram of Inner Earth Sea Ice Geosphere (J-eoos-fere) are all of the regions of Earth and the atmosphere (other regions including lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and atmosphere). You could look into Wikipedia's definition as "The geosphere may be taken as the collective name for the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, and the atmosphere", or the standardized dictionary definition as a lithosphere (same thing at dictionary.com)... or maybe into earth.rice.edu's definition as "The geosphere is considered that portion of the Earth system that includes the Earth's interior, rocks and minerals, landforms and the processes that shape the Earth's surface" \- or a simplified version of the definition: "The geosphere includes the rocks and minerals on Earth – from the molten rock and heavy metals in the deep interior of the planet to the sand on beaches and peaks of mountains. The geosphere also includes the abiotic (non-living) parts of soils, and the skeletons of animals that may become fossilized over geologic time.". But.. hold up! We've got to define the words at the beginning first in italics! The lithosphere, according to a dictionary-definition, is "the crust and upper mantle of the earth"... while... when we go to a science-related website for a definition (NatGeo), we get "The lithosphere is the solid, outer part of the Earth. The lithosphere includes the brittle upper portion of the mantle and the crust, the outermost layers of Earth’s structure". Now, onwards to hydrosphere, we simply get "The hydrosphere is the world of water that surrounds all of us.", but remember! The frozen waters of the planet are the Cryospheres. And, obviously, the atmosphere is the surrounding gases around the Earth (textbook definition). As you can see with the heaps of definitions and tidbits, the Geosphere is one confusing term. But, in modern text books, the Geosphere are the solid parts of the Earth. Though, it is used as the term, lithosphere, sometimes (as you can see with the dictionary-term definitions). Make sure to review this article, as there is a lot of information to be memorized! And I hope for you an exciting journey through Earth science! * v * t * e Sciences resources Activities| * Analytical astronomy * Astrognosy * Astronomy laboratories * Becoming an observer * Binary stars and extrasolar planets * Cassiopeia and Ursa Major * Cosmogony laboratory * Cratering laboratory * Distance to the Moon * Electric orbits * Electron beam heating * Empirical radiation astronomy * Galaxies * Intergalactic medium * International Year of Astronomy * Liquid water on Europa * Locating the Sun * Lunar Boom Town * Lunarpedia * Magnetic field reversal * Meteorites * Neutrinos from the Sun * Polar reversals * Sciences/Activities * Spectrum of Vega * Standard candles * Stellarium * Vertical precession * X-ray classification of a star * X-ray trigonometric parallax Articles| * Astrosociobiology * Comets * Earth * Earth-impact events * Jupiter * Mars * Mercury * Moon * Saturn * Venus Categories| * Anthropology * Archaeology * Astronomy * Astrophysics * Atmospheric science * Biochemistry * Biology * Botany * Chemistry * Climatology * Computer science * Cosmology * Ecology * Economics * Epistemology * Etymology * Genetics * Geography * Geology * History of science * Immunology * Linguistics * Materials science * Mathematics * Metallurgy * Paleontology * Physics * Planetary Science * Plant sciences * Political science * Psychology * Sciences * Semantics * Sciences * Social psychology * Sociology * Statistics * Technology * Zoology Courses| * Anthropology * Astrophysics/Courses‎ * Biophysics/Introduction * Chemicals/Courses‎‎ * Genetics/Course * Geology/Courses‎‎‎ * Materials sciences/Courses‎ * Mathematical Methods in Physics‎ * Quantum physics * Radiation astronomy courses‎ * Radiation courses‎‎ * Sciences/Courses Glossaries| * Astronomy glossary * Cosmic View: Glossary of Terms Lectures| * Biology lectures * Chemistry lectures * Ecology lectures * Geography lectures * Geology lectures * Physics lectures * Radiation astronomy lectures‎ * Sciences lectures Lessons| * First blue source in Boötes * First cyan source in Caelum * First gamma-ray source in Triangulum Australe * First green source in Tucana * First infrared source in Crux * First neutron source in Volans * First orange source in Cancer * First positron source in Phoenix * First radio source in Pisces * First red source in Canis Major * First submillimeter source in Carina * First superluminal source in Indus * First ultraviolet source in Sagittarius * First violet source in Leo * First X-ray source in Andromeda * First X-ray source in Antlia * First X-ray source in Apus * First yellow source in Aquila * Sciences/Lessons Lists| * Asteroid Surveys * Radiation astronomy outlines Portals| * Archeology * Astronomy * Astrophysics * Cosmology * Genetics * Materials sciences * Oceanography * Paleontology * Physics * Planetary sciences * Radiation astronomy * Sciences/Portals Problem sets| * Angular momentum and energy * Astronomy/Problems * Column densities * Cosmic circuits * Energy phantoms * Furlongs per fortnight * Lenses and focal length * Neutrino emissions * Planck's equation * Radiation astronomy/Problem set * Radiation dosage * Radiation mathematics problem set * Spectrographs * Star jumping * Synchrotron radiation * Telescopes and cameras * Unknown coordinate systems * Unusual units * Vectors and coordinates Projects| * Neutrinos from the Sun * X-ray classification of stars Quizzes| * Astrophysics/Quiz * Biology/Quiz * Botany/Quiz * Chemistry/Quiz * Cosmogony/Quiz * Ecology/Quiz * Economics/Quiz * Geography/Quiz * Geology/Quiz * Heliophysics/Quiz * Lofting technology/Quiz * Magnetohydrodynamics/Quiz * Mineralogy/Quiz * Nucleosynthesis/Quiz * Physics/Quiz * Planetary science/Quiz * Psychology/Quiz * Radiation/Quiz * Rocks/Quiz * Sciences/Quiz * Sciences/Quizzes * Sociology/Quiz * Zoology/Quiz Schools| * Architecture * Biology * Chemistry * Earth sciences * Environmental sciences * Geography * Geophysics * Library and information sciences * Marine sciences * Meteorology * Mortuary Sciences and Thanatology * Physics and astronomy * Plant sciences * Political sciences * Psychology * Sociology * Zoology *[v]: View this template *[t]: Discuss this template *[e]: Edit this template