Atmospheric Zones

Troposphere
Contains 75% of the total mass of the atmosphere. 5 miles at poles; 7 miles at

Layer
This is where life and almost all of our weather mid-latitudes; 10 miles

Drops 3.6 °F every 1,000 ft up;

is found. The top of the troposphere at Equator

minimum reaches -70°F

is called the tropopause
What do we know? Height (above Earth’s surface)

Temperature
Stratosphere
Contains 24% of the total mass of the atmosphere. At 30 miles
the bottom of the stratrosphere is the ozone layer

Stable at around -58°F

Mesosphere
Meteors burn up in this zone to give “shooting stars;” together with 50 miles
the thermosphere, this layer contains many ionized particles,

Decreases from 20°F at base to

and they are collectively termed the ionosphere--this
is the layer off which radio signals bounce

-166°F, before rising

to allow radio telecommunications
again at top
The Earth’s atmosphere is 78.08 percent nitrogen, 20.95 percent oxygen,

Thermosphere

Exophere: togehter with thermosphere,

makes up “outer atmosphere”
Gets so hot because the thin atmosphere reabsorbs a lot 400 miles
of radiation that bounces back from the lower layers Variable; can reach 441°F

The atmospheric density at 6,000 miles is the same as outer space. Above Up to 40,000 miles
this height, it is only the “atmosphere” in the sense that the Earth’s
Fall to near zero

gravitational and magnetic field exert some influence.

The exosphere contains the magnetosphere,
where the aurorae appear

0.93 percent argon, and 0.03 percent carbon dioxide.