Term: biosphere https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.B00664 Definition: That part of the globe that encompasses all forms of life on the earth. It extends from the ocean depths to a few thousand metres of altitude in the atmosphere, and includes life forms at the earth's surface, in soils and constituents which exchange materials with atmospheres, oceans or surfaces. Source: PAC, 1990, 62, 2167. 'Glossary of atmospheric chemistry terms (Recommendations 1990)' on page 2176 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199062112167) Citation: 'biosphere' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.B00664 License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms. Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.