Earth science studies the Earth’s environments, climates, and composition, grouped into the atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere. Geology, geophysics, and geography fall under the lithosphere. Paleontology studies extinct species, while oceanography, hydrology, and limnology study bodies of water. Meteorology and climatology study the atmosphere.
Earth science is a broad term for any branch of science concerned with the study of any part of the Earth, including its environments, climates, and composition. There is no recognized specific system for classifying the earth sciences, but there are several general types of earth sciences which are grouped roughly according to the broader fields they fall under and which correspond to four areas which divide the Earth and its immediate environment: the atmosphere, lithosphere or geosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere are the domains into which all types of earth sciences fall, although some scholars recognize two subsets of these spheres as distinct spheres in their own right: the cryosphere and the pedosphere .
Chief among the types of earth sciences are those that study the lithosphere: in particular, geology and associated sciences, which are concerned with the substance that makes up the Earth itself, especially its rocks and minerals, their structures and processes they create and transform them. Geophysics is another major earth science that falls under the field of study of the lithosphere. Geophysics and its sub-disciplines deal with the internal forces that shape the earth over millions of years and in much shorter times, such as volcanology, the study of volcanoes, seismology, the study of earthquakes and tectonics, and the study of how portions of the earth’s crust move and are created and destroyed over periods of millions of years.
Many other types of earth sciences are thought to fall within the realm of the lithosphere. Geography, the study of terrain and the characteristics of the earth’s surface is a well-known example. Some other more specialized earth sciences that study elements of the lithosphere include sedimentology, gemology, mineralogy, and speleology. The pedosphere, which is sometimes considered part of the lithosphere, consists of the surface soils of the Earth, their development and transformation. Pedology and edaphology are two branches of earth sciences that deal with the study of the pedosphere.
The biosphere is the area of the Earth that is home to life. Earth sciences that study the elements of the biosphere are not necessarily specifically interested in studying life forms in the same way as life sciences, such as biology and botany, but are more interested in how the history and structure of the Earth has influenced life and its development. Paleontology, the study of extinct species, is a well-known type of earth science that falls under the domain of the biosphere. Like many other earth sciences, paleontology and associated sciences such as micropaleontology and palynology have close ties to many life sciences as well as physical sciences, such as chemistry and physics.
Oceanography, hydrology, and limnology are some of the best-known types of earth sciences that fall under the domain of hydrospheric sciences. They involve the study of the Earth’s oceans and other bodies of water. As with other earth sciences, those studying these disciplines often employ elements of many other earth and life sciences in the pursuit of their chosen specialty. The cryosphere, or the Earth’s permanent and seasonal ice masses and their study through the science of glaciology, is sometimes considered part of the hydrosphere.
Atmospheric sciences are those that study the earth’s atmosphere. Meteorology and climatology are the primary disciplines within the atmospheric earth sciences. Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere itself, but is most frequently associated with the study of the weather and the complex factors that govern it. Climatology is the study of Earth’s climates and deals with long-term weather conditions in specific areas.
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