2 1 century, earth science developed into a new stage of "earth system", emphasizing the interaction between the earth's lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere, and then studying the interaction process and mechanism of the earth's spheres from the perspective of the whole earth system. At present, more earth observation systems (satellites, ground stations, etc. ), finer temporal and spatial resolution and more powerful data processing (supercomputer) are gradually promoting human scientific understanding of the earth, enhancing human ability to adapt to global environmental changes and serving sustainable development!

Geological process of the earth

I. Definition and Characteristics of Earth System Science

Under the constant interaction of matter and energy, the earth is a very complex nonlinear system. It can be divided into several basic circles, which are intertwined and interact with each other, and interact with each other and within the circle over time, which constitutes the evolution of the earth.

The evolution of the earth over time

1, the composition of the earth system

The earth system refers to an organic whole consisting of atmosphere, hydrosphere (including cryosphere), geosphere (including crust, mantle and core), PEDOSPHERE and biosphere (including human beings). Earth system science mainly studies the material composition, structural distribution, a series of interaction processes and formation and evolution laws within and between spheres, as well as global changes related to human activities, providing scientific support for human understanding of the earth and green sustainable development to meet the challenges brought by global environmental changes.

The composition of the earth's sphere

2, the energy source of the earth system

The evolution of the earth system is mainly driven by internal and external dynamic geological processes, and there are mainly two energy input systems. One is the solar radiation energy released by the sun to the solar system in the process of nuclear fusion, which directly affects the earth's surface system processes such as climate change, biological photosynthesis and rock weathering and erosion, and is the most important energy supply for external dynamic geological processes; The other is the decay of radioactive materials inside the earth. The gravitational potential energy released by the migration of materials to the deep part of the earth and the heat released by mineral crystallization have an impact on continental drift, submarine expansion, plate movement, magmatic activity, earthquake, metamorphism and tectonic movement, and are the most important energy supply for internal dynamic geological processes.

Energy Supply and Cyclic Interaction of the Earth

3. Temporal and spatial characteristics of the Earth system.

As a complex giant system composed of multiple time and space scale processes, the earth is spatially represented as a multi-layer system. All the lithosphere (lithosphere-PEDOSPHERE-atmosphere-hydrosphere-biosphere), processes (biological process, physical process and chemical process) and elements (such as mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasses and seas) have interactions, interrelations and chain reactions. Earth system science regards the atmosphere, biosphere, PEDOSPHERE, lithosphere and mantle/core as a system, and constructs the evolution framework of the earth through a long-span interdisciplinary, so as to understand the current process and mechanism and predict the changes in the next few hundred years. The research object of earth system science can range from molecular structure to global scale in space scale, and from the evolution process of hundreds of millions of years to instantaneous rupture and deformation in time scale.

At different stages of the earth's evolution, the characteristics of geological processes are different. At the beginning of the earth's formation, due to the accretion of small stars, the gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy between stars were converted into heat energy due to collision, coupled with the high content of radioactive materials and the fast decay rate, which produced a lot of heat energy. The internal dynamic geological process is very developed, and the surface earth is covered by magma sea and gradually differentiated into crust, mantle and core. Comparatively speaking, the sun is dim and the external dynamic geological function is weak. Today, under the plate tectonic system, the internal dynamic geological process is still very active, and the solar luminosity is enhanced, and the external dynamic geological process is also very active.

Geological process in the early stage of the earth's formation

There are different geological processes in different periods.

At the same time, the physical, chemical and biological processes of the earth system can be divided into many sub-processes in space, and each process is intertwined and affects each other.

Classification of climate zones in Kppen

Second, the history of the development of earth system science? 1, budding stage

Wernatsky, the founder of biosphere and biogeochemistry and a famous geochemist in the former Soviet Union (1863- 1945), pointed out that biology is a part of geological forces, and the geosphere and biosphere co-evolved. He wrote: "Life is not a seemingly accidental external evolution. On the contrary, it is closely related to the crustal structure. Without life, the face of the earth will lose its expression and become as ruthless as the moon. "

Wernatsky and His Works

In 1970s, Lovelock, a British meteorologist, thought that living things and the earth formed a bio-like organism with a global self-regulation system, and it was a "super organism". He emphasized the regulation of the biosphere on the global environment, and thought that the climate and chemical composition of the earth's surface were maintained in the dynamic balance most suitable for the biosphere by the biosphere, and named this control system after Gaia Gaia, the goddess of the earth in Greek mythology.

A Brief History of Lovelock and the Evolution of the Earth

2. From Global Change to Earth System Science

1, keel curve

Charles David Keeling of Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the United States continuously sampled and detected the atmospheric CO2 concentration at the top of Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii in 1958, and found that the CO2 concentration has increased from 3 18ppm in 1958 to 41ppm at present. It is the highest CO2 concentration in the last 800,000 years, while the lowest CO2 concentration in the Ice Age was only 1.85 ppm, so this famous atmospheric CO2 concentration change curve is also called "Keeling curve". As the most important greenhouse gas, CO2 is the main cause of global warming.

David Keeling and Keeling Curve

Brief introduction of keeling curve

2. Antarctic ozone hole

1985, British scientist farman and others summarized their observation results at the Harry Bay Observatory in Antarctica since 1975, and found that since 1975, the total ozone concentration in Antarctica has dropped by more than 30% every year in early spring (Antarctic 10 year), which shocked the scientific community and caused the Antarctic ozone hole. Many countries in the world signed the Montreal Protocol on 1987, which came into effect on 1 June, 989+10/October, and1June, 996 officially banned the production of chlorofluorocarbons. Up to now, the ozone layer has stabilized and gradually began to recover.

Satellite map of Antarctic ozone layer 1979-20 17

Antarctic ozone layer recovery map and future trend forecast

3. The term "Earth system science" was first put forward.

The "earth system science", which regards the earth as a whole and pays attention to the interaction between spheres, originated from the study of global change. In 1980s, in order to deal with the threat of "ozone hole" and "greenhouse effect", atmospheric science first launched the activity of tracking the global carbon cycle. 1983 the national aeronautics and space administration (NASA) of the United States established the "earth system science Committee"; 1986, NASA first put forward the term earth system science. From 65438 to 0988, NASA published "Earth System Science: A Closer View", and put forward the famous "Bretton Diagram", which showed the interaction among atmosphere, ocean and biosphere, physical process and biogeochemical cycle, marking the beginning of "Earth System Science".

The first appearance of the term "earth system science"

3. Development of Earth System Science

1, International Global Change Research Program

Since 1980s, the international scientific community has initiated and organized a global change research program, which consists of four research programs: WCRP (World Climate Research Program) and international geosphere-biosphere program (IGBP). International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme), IHDP (International Human Dimension of Global Environmental Change Programme) and DIVERSITAS. In the new century, four global environmental change plans have jointly established the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP).

Historical chart of international global change research program

2. Future Earth.

20 14 in order to meet the challenges brought by global environmental changes to various regions, countries and society, strengthen exchanges and cooperation between natural science and social science, and provide necessary theoretical knowledge, research means and methods for global sustainable development. Sponsored by the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC), and co-led by UNESCO, UNEP, United Nations University, Belmont Forum and the International Funding Agency for Global Change Research (IGFA), "Future Earth" is a ten-year large-scale scientific plan.

Future Earth)-Global Sustainable Development

3. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

At the same time, in order to cope with global climate change and its potential impact on social economy and human coping strategies, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) jointly established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on 1988. The IPCC is responsible for reviewing and evaluating the latest scientific, technical and socio-economic literature on climate change around the world. At present, the IPCC has three working groups and a special group. The theme of the first working group is the Natural Science Fund for Climate Change, the second working group is the impact, adaptation and vulnerability of climate change, and the third working group is the mitigation of climate change. The main goal of the national greenhouse gas inventory team is to formulate and improve the calculation and reporting methods of national greenhouse gas emissions and removals.

IPCC operational framework

4. Anthropocene

Since the industrial revolution, human activities have gradually become the main geological force. Agricultural cultivation, urbanization and road traffic have greatly changed the original surface morphology; The greenhouse gases emitted by the burning of fossil fuels have changed the chemical composition of the atmosphere and have a great impact on the climate system. Since 1970, the world population has increased from 3.7 billion to 7.6 billion. Global carbon dioxide emissions increased from 654.38+04.9 billion tons to 36.8 billion tons; The increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration leads to ocean acidification and coastal ecosystem degradation, especially reef-building corals. The global surface temperature has risen by about 0.97 degrees; The sea surface temperature has increased by about 0.6 degrees; Every ten years, Arctic sea ice melts about13.2%; The global sea level has risen by 14.4cm. Compared with 1970, we have produced about 15 times more plastic products, and accumulated about 654.38+500 million tons of plastic waste in the ocean. The earth has gradually entered a new geological era-"Anthropocene". 20 15 12, 197 Countries reached the Paris Agreement at the Paris Climate Change Conference and decided to reduce global carbon emissions and deal with global warming. At this time, the earth system science has been firmly rooted in the social needs to cope with global environmental changes and the combination of the earth and life sciences.

Introduction to Anthropocene

5. Earth system science spanning time and space.

In 200 1 year, the British and American geological societies jointly held an international conference on "Earth System Process" in Edinburgh, which pushed the concept of "global change" for billions of years, from the origin of Archean photosynthesis to the climate effect of modern warm pool evolution. Different from "global change", the "earth system science" mentioned here not only spans the sphere, but also spans time and space, and applies the concept of "global change" to geological evolution. While exploring the interaction of spheres, we study the change process at different time and space scales, and reveal the driving mechanism and relationship of the process at different scales. Introducing the concept of earth system into geological science is not only an extension of the interaction between global change research circles in time, but also marks a new era of comprehensive research in geological science.

200 1 international conference on earth system processes

Third, an example of interaction between the earth's spheres? 1, biosphere interacts with atmosphere and geosphere.

Great oxidation event and the formation of banded iron formation

About 2.4 billion years ago, the content of free oxygen in the atmosphere (PAL = current atmospheric level) suddenly increased from a very low level to 10% of the current concentration, and then remained at a stable level until 850 million years ago, which was called the "Great Oxidation Event". GOE), 850 million years ago, the oxygen content increased again, which was called Neoproterozoic oxidation event (NOE) until it reached the current level. At present, the traditional view is that cyanobacteria in the ocean gradually change the previously reduced surface environment into an oxidized environment through photosynthesis. GOE is a major geological event in Precambrian, which led to the extinction of a large number of anaerobic organisms, the gradual prosperity of eukaryotes and the gradual emergence and development of multicellular organisms, changed the marine chemical environment and formed a large number of banded iron formations (BIFs is the largest and most widely distributed iron ore type in the world), which is a comprehensive reform of the earth's surface system.

2. Geosphere interacts with atmosphere and hydrosphere.

1, evolution of land-sea distribution pattern

The global climate system is not only influenced by external factors such as latitude distribution of solar radiation, but also by underlying surface factors such as land and sea distribution and topography. 19 12 years, German astronomer Alfred Wegener put forward the continental drift hypothesis in a paper. Later, with the expansion of the seabed and the theory of plate tectonics, people found that the landscape of the earth's continents and oceans can also undergo earth-shaking changes. The continent is a complex combination of various blocks and components in the long-term and complex geological process. In geological history, there are different land and sea distribution patterns. For example, there may have been four supercontinents on the earth (almost all the land on the earth was gathered in one plot), namely, Knowland (2.6-2.4 billion years) and Colombia (Colombia) from the old to the new. 1 9-185 million years), rhodinia (1100 million years) and the United continent (Pangea, 250 million years).

2. Super monsoon in the United continent.

From Permian to early Jurassic (about 2.5-/kloc-0.80 billion years ago), the Lauya continent in the northern hemisphere was connected with Gondwana continent near the equator in the southern hemisphere, forming a pan-continent, especially in the early Triassic. The simulation results show that there is a global (continental) scale "giant monsoon": monsoons in opposite directions appear in winter and summer, and ITCZ moves greatly on the United continent. Rainfall is concentrated near the Tethys Ocean, and the inland rainfall is almost zero. The continental climate of the United continent is extremely strong, and the temperature difference between inland winter and summer can be as high as 50℃.

3. A series of climate changes caused by the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

About 50 million years ago, the collision between India and the Asian continent caused by plate movement led to an important orogenic event in the history of the earth, forming the world's largest Himalayan-Qinghai-Tibet orogenic belt and the roof of the world-Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Uplift process of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau changed and formed the topographic pattern of high in the west and low in the east of China (Chinese mainland was still high in the east and low in the west at least until the Cretaceous); It has changed the distribution and trend of major rivers in Asia, and changed the transportation of fresh water and sediments from land to sea. Make a large area of tropical, subtropical and temperate land on the earth rise to more than 4500 meters to become a mountain area, forming a "roof of the world" with concentrated distribution of ice, snow and frozen soil; The westerly circulation is branched, and the south branch airflow in summer and the north branch airflow in winter can strengthen the monsoon; The uplift plateau becomes the heat source of the atmosphere in summer and the cold source in winter, which makes southerly winds prevail in large areas of Asia in summer and brings a lot of water vapor from the low-latitude ocean, making southern China a humid land of fish and rice, and dry and cold northerly winds prevail in winter, forming a strong Asian monsoon; Form a topographic barrier to water vapor from the ocean, forming the largest inland arid area in Asia and the world; Physical and chemical weathering in plateau area is strengthened, and atmospheric CO2 is absorbed, which leads to global cooling gradually.

Environmental effects caused by plateau uplift

Weathering intensification caused by plateau uplift and crustal balance

3. Interaction between geosphere and hydrosphere

Circum-Antarctic Ocean Current and the Formation of Antarctic Ice Sheet

Since the Cenozoic era, the global temperature has shown a downward trend in stages. At the turn of Eocene/Oligocene (~34 Ma), the temperature dropped sharply, which led to the formation of Antarctic ice sheet. The opening of Drake and Tasmania Strait led to the formation of Antarctic circumpolar current (ACC), which hindered the heat transfer from low latitude to high latitude in the southern hemisphere, and then led to the growth of Antarctic ice sheet. When the Antarctic ice sheet continues to grow and the expanded ice sheet is enough to seal the entire Drake Strait, the current around the Antarctic will be blocked and the west wind drift Belt around the Antarctic will disappear, which will enhance the transmission of equatorial heat to the Antarctic and make the expanded ice sheet tend to disappear. This is an important reason why the Antarctic ice sheet cannot expand into a large glacier in the southern hemisphere.

CircumAntarctic current

4. Interaction between cryosphere and geosphere

Adjustment of crustal balance caused by glacier melting

Response of lithosphere to changes of surface ice and seawater load during the glacial period of GIA. On the one hand, since the last deglaciation period, the Lao Lun platform ice sheet, Cordillera ice sheet and Inuit ice sheet in North America, Britain, Scandinavia and Barents-Kara Sea in Eurasia have melted on a large scale, and a large amount of molten water has entered the ocean, resulting in a global average sea level rise of about120m; ; On the other hand, the unloading of glaciers and the loading of ocean basins lead to the redistribution of materials in the earth, which leads to the changes of crustal movement, gravity field and stress field after the ice, which may lead to the sea level decline in the early ice sheet area.

Adjustment of crustal balance caused by glacier melting

For example, in bathurst Bay, Nunavut, Canada, the sea level in this area has been falling due to the lithospheric balance caused by the melting of the ice sheet since the deglaciation period, forming many coastlines, and now the sea level in this area is still falling, as shown in the following figure.

The coastline formed in Nunavut, Canada since the glacial recession.

Fourth, I didn't come to the exhibition.

The scientific research of the earth system has entered a new era, and the ability of human beings to go to the sky, the ocean and the deep part of the earth has gradually increased. Various detectors are gradually spread all over the sky, ocean, surface and below, and a huge observation network has been established to obtain the information of earth system elements in real time. Geo-historiography combines the scientific research of the earth system that spans time and space and ancient and modern processes, helping us to better understand the past, present and future of the earth. At the same time, the emergence of supercomputers, extremely fast operation speed and huge storage capacity make it possible for people to simulate highly complex nonlinear earth systems. Use modern information technologies such as big data and cloud computing to process and analyze data, establish models and promote the development of earth system science.

1, original data acquisition

1, modern process observation system

By using the survey method and technology of the integration of air, space and earth, the basic element information such as quantity, occurrence, structure and distribution of various elements in the earth system is obtained through various observation platforms. For example, at the global level, Global Environmental Monitoring System, Global Terrestrial Observing System, Global Ocean Observing System, Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), International Long-term Ecological Research Network, FLUXNET and Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) have been established.

2. Historical data collection

All kinds of rocks and sediments formed on the earth faithfully recorded the geological process and environmental information at that time, and were "natural books" for recording the history of the earth. We can use these materials to reconstruct the evolution process of the earth system in geological history. At present, ocean and continental drilling has been carried out, which is helping people to extend to an older geological history, and the progress of high-precision instrument analysis technology enables people to obtain geological information with higher spatial and temporal resolution.

2. Simulation forecasting system and sustainable development of services.

After obtaining the first-hand raw data, it is necessary to simulate the process of the earth system at various time and space scales, so as to better understand the operation and evolution law of the earth system at different circles, processes and time and space scales and serve the sustainable development. In recent years, the observation of raw data has been strengthened, and the simulation and prediction have just started, but the development momentum is rapid.

Evolution of climate model

In March, 2002, Japan Earth Simulator began to operate, which is dedicated to promoting the research and development of marine geoscience and related fields in Japan.

In March, 20 15, the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with the Institute of Computing Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Network Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongke Shuguang and other units, took the lead in launching the prototype system construction project of "Earth System Numerical Simulation Device", and the national major scientific and technological infrastructure project of "Earth System Numerical Simulation Device" was approved for construction in 20 17.

2065438+2007165438+1October, Qingdao National Laboratory of Marine Science and Technology, National Center for Atmospheric Research of the United States and Texas A&M University jointly established the International High Resolution Earth System Prediction Laboratory.

From 2065438 to April 2008, the US Department of Energy (DOE) spent four years building the Billion Earth System Model (E3SM), as the "first end-to-end multi-scale Earth System Model", which can simulate the movements of the crust, atmosphere, icebergs and oceans, and thus predict the interaction among the crust, atmosphere and water circulation system.

It is believed that with the diversified development of observation means and the rapid progress of technology, the temporal and spatial resolution of obtaining the information of basic elements such as quantity, occurrence, structure and distribution of various elements in the earth system is getting higher and higher; The continuous development of computing speed and storage capacity of computers and the rapid progress of supercomputers; With the continuous expansion of the earth system model to all walks of life and the depth of time and space, the earth system science is bound to usher in greater development and progress, thus promoting human scientific understanding of the earth itself, enhancing human ability to adapt to global environmental changes and serving sustainable development!

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Wu Fuyuan, Guo, Will the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau cause global climate change? . 10000 scientific problems

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IPCC Fifth Assessment Report

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20 18 the 10th China (Hainan) international marine industry Expo (20 18 September 28th-30th).

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