A set of interconnected components that interact to form a unified whole

A system in which there is only an exchange of energy but no exchange of matter.

Embodies all ecosystems—from the soil to the rainforest, from mangroves to coral reefs, and from the plankton-rich ocean surface to the deep sea

Biosphere's earliest life forms. A microscopic single-celled organism that has neither a distinct nucleus with a membrane nor other specialized organelles.

Prokaryotes developed a new chemical process. They were able to use sunlight to make sugar and oxygen out of water and carbon dioxide. This process is called...

A process certain organisms use to obtain energy for the production of food, akin to photosynthesis, but without the use of sunlight.

The total amount of water on a planet. This system includes water that is on the surface of the planet, underground, and in the air.

Some scientists believe a hydrosphere exists on _______, a moon of Jupiter, that consists of a frozen outer layer and a giant, liquid ocean underneath it.

A system that contains a mixture of gases that surrounds the Earth.

This is the lowest part of the atmosphere - the part we live in. 

It contains much of the ozone in the atmosphere. The increase in temperature with height occurs because of absorption of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun by this ozone.

A gas that can deplete the ozone layer when they slowly rise into the stratosphere, are broken down by strong ultraviolet radiation, release chlorine atoms, and then react with ozone molecules.

The layer where it serves as a shield for meteorites.

It is the fourth layer of the Earth's atmosphere that absorbs the sun's radiation, making it very hot

A layer in the atmosphere located in regions and parts of the mesosphere and thermosphere where high-energy radiation from the Sun has knocked electrons loose from their parent atoms and molecules.

It includes the uppermost region of Earth's atmosphere as it gradually fades into the vacuum of space.

The portion of the earth that includes rocks and minerals.

Part of the geosphere that describes the outermost shell of a terrestrial planet

It is the mostly solid bulk of Earth's interior. It lies between Earth's dense, superheated core and its thin outer layer, the crust.

The very hot, very dense center of our planet.

Which of the following is not a process of the water cycle?