Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The lithosphere.
  • noun The lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere, considered as a single system.
  • noun Any of the layers of the earth.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The atmosphere of the earth as distinguished from that of other planets.
  • noun One of the concentric, spheroidal shells of which the earth may be conceived to consist.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the solid body of the Earth

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the solid part of the earth consisting of the crust and outer mantle

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From geo- + -sphere.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word geosphere.

Examples

  • Noosphere (source: wiki): In the original theory of Vernadsky, the noosphere is the third in a succession of phases of development of the Earth, after the geosphere (inanimate matter) and the biosphere (biological life).

    Pavel Somov, Ph.D.: Noosphere of Naiveté Ph.D. Pavel Somov 2010

  • Noosphere (source: wiki): In the original theory of Vernadsky, the noosphere is the third in a succession of phases of development of the Earth, after the geosphere (inanimate matter) and the biosphere (biological life).

    Pavel Somov, Ph.D.: Noosphere of Naiveté Ph.D. Pavel Somov 2010

  • Suddenly images of Sphinxes and Gryphons pop up all over the 15th-century B.C. geosphere, as do toys and board games and educational institutions.

    When Civilization Went Global 2009

  • Inspired by scientist James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis-which posits that the earth is a self-regulating system-SimEarth lets players control the geosphere, atmosphere, biosphere and civilization of random planets.

    War Of The Electronic Ants 2008

  • This layer of living organisms — the biosphere — through the collective meta­bolic activities of its innumerable plants, animals, and microbes physically and chemically unites the atmosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere into one environmental system within which millions of species, including humans, have thrived.

    Ecosystems and Human Well-being~ Biodiversity Synthesis~ Key Questions on Biodiversity in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2008

  • The German biogeographer Troll coined the phrase "landscape ecology" in 1939 and defined landscape as “‘the total spatial and visual entity’ of human living space, integrating the geosphere with the biosphere and its noospheric [of knowledge] man-made artifacts.”

    Landscape ecology 2007

  • "Climate system" means the totality of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and geosphere and their interactions.

    United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (full text) 2007

  • Oh, and be sure to sign the guest map so I can dispatch nanobots to ensure your sector of the geosphere is spared devastation from gray goo!

    Archive 2006-03-01 Mac 2006

  • The poem takes place in a skyey geosphere featuring differences of light and dark, height and depth, heaven and earth, water and land.

    A Tour of the Sceptic 2001

  • "Let's not discuss the nuclear waste we are putting into the geosphere, and the racism overflowing in our country, but let's divert all of our attention on drunk drivers under 21, teenage-sex, and the increasingly vicious problem of marijuana abuse."

    Phrack Issue #20 (Taran King and Knight Lightning Return) 1988

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.