About The Geosphere

Satellite image showing volcanic ash over an island

Geosphere icon  This image represents the geosphere throughout the My NASA data website.


What is the Geosphere?

The Geosphere is associated with solid portions of the Earth. It includes the continental and oceanic crust and all other layers of the Earth's interior.  This includes all rocks, sediments and soils, surface landforms and the processes that shape the Earth's surface. 94% of the solid Earth is made up of the following elements: oxygen, iron, silicon, and magnesium.  Despite its solid nature, the geosphere is a dynamic sphere where the surface is in constant motion.  This movement creates continents, oceans, and their landforms through a process called Plate Tectonics.

Features associated with this system can be broken down into a variety of different processes which will be featured in My NASA Data and include:

  • Fluvial and Alluvial Processes: Deltas, river channels/canyons, alluvial fans
  • Aeolian Processes: Sand dunes and other wind-related landforms
  • Tectonic Processes: Folds, faults, mountains
  • Volcanic Processes: Volcanoes, lava flows, calderas, volcanic deposits
  • Other Processes: Pedosphere (Soil-related), landslides, erosion

The Earth System interacts with the Geosphere in the following ways: 

Geosphere Connections

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