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Most ozone gas (about 90%) is located in the atmospheric layer of
Explanation
The Earth's atmosphere is organized into distinct layers based on temperature gradients. The stratosphere, which extends from approximately 10 km to 50 km above the Earth's surface, contains the highest concentration of ozone gas [3]. Specifically, about 90% of the total atmospheric ozone is located within this layer, primarily concentrated in the 'ozone layer' or 'ozonosphere' between 20 km and 30 km altitude [5]. This ozone plays a vital role by absorbing harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, which simultaneously causes the temperature in the stratosphere to increase with altitude [6]. While a small amount of ozone (the remaining 10%) exists in the troposphere as a pollutant, the vast majority is stratospheric [5]. Other layers like the mesosphere and ionosphere contain negligible amounts of ozone [2].
Sources
- [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/ozone-layer
- [2] FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Geography Class XI (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 7: Composition and Structure of Atmosphere > STRUCTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE > p. 65
- [3] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 20: Earths Atmosphere > Stratosphere (12 to 50 km) > p. 275
- [4] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 20: Earths Atmosphere > Ozone (O3) > p. 272
- [5] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 20: Earths Atmosphere > Ozonosphere > p. 276
- [6] Environment, Shankar IAS Acedemy .(ed 10th) > Chapter 19: Ozone Depletion > OTSNE $$FUETION > p. 267