7.2 Flashcards
What is the hydrosphere?
All of the water on Earth.
What is the lithosphere?
The outermost layer of the Earth.
What is the atmosphere?
The layer of gases surrounding the Earth.
What is the biosphere?
All living things on Earth and their ecosystems.
How do Earth’s four spheres relate to each other?
They interact and influence each other.
What does the biosphere consist of?
Biota (all living things).
What is the biosphere?
The layer in which life exists on Earth.
What are biomes?
Regions influenced by environmental factors like latitude, temperature, and rainfall.
What are ecosystems?
Smaller areas within biomes, defined by interactions among organisms in a particular environment.
What is the troposphere?
The 1st layer of the atmosphere, closest to Earth, containing closely packed air particles. It makes up 75% of the atmosphere’s mass.
What is the stratosphere?
The 2nd layer, about 55 km above Earth’s surface, containing the ozone layer, which absorbs UV radiation and allows visible light and IR through.
What is the mesosphere?
The 3rd layer, with temperatures ranging from 0 to -90˚C, where meteors burn up as they enter Earth’s atmosphere.
What is the thermosphere?
The 4th layer, 80-500 km from Earth, containing the ionosphere.
What is the exosphere?
The outermost layer of the atmosphere, located 500 km or more from Earth.
What is the hydrosphere?
The hydrosphere contains all the water on Earth, which moves through different states via the water cycle.
What is the lithosphere?
The Earth’s rocky crust, consisting of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks, and soil.
How are biomes in the biosphere named?
Biomes are named based on their dominant type of vegetation.
Are any biomes physically located within the lithosphere?
Yes, some biomes are physically located within the lithosphere.
Where is carbon found in the hydrosphere?
As dissolved carbon dioxide.
Where is carbon found in the lithosphere?
As coal, oil deposits, and rocks like limestone.
Where is carbon found in the atmosphere?
As methane and carbon dioxide.
Where is carbon found in living things?
As proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids.
What does the carbon cycle show?
How carbon moves through the biosphere.
How does carbon travel from the atmosphere to living things?
Carbon dioxide is absorbed by photosynthetic organisms like plants.
What processes are vital in the carbon cycle?
Photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
What is photosynthesis?
A process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy, which can later fuel their activities.
What is the chemical reaction for photosynthesis?
6CO₂ + 6H₂O → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂ (Carbon dioxide + water + sunlight → Glucose + oxygen)
What do plants take in and produce during photosynthesis?
Plants take in carbon dioxide and water, and produce glucose and oxygen in the presence of sunlight.
What does the nitrogen cycle explain?
How nitrogen moves through the biosphere.
Why is nitrogen important?
- Cells need it to make DNA and proteins (enzymes, hormones, etc.).
- Plants need it to make chlorophyll for photosynthesis.
How much nitrogen makes up the air?
Nitrogen makes up approximately 78% of the air.
Can nitrogen in the air (N₂) be used directly by organisms?
No, nitrogen in the air needs to be changed through processes in the nitrogen cycle.
What is fixation in the nitrogen cycle?
Fixation is the first step, where bacteria convert nitrogen into ammonium, making it usable by plants.
What is nitrification?
Nitrification is the process where ammonium is changed into nitrates by bacteria, which plants can then absorb.
What is assimilation in the nitrogen cycle?
Assimilation is how plants absorb nitrates from the soil into their roots, using the nitrogen in amino acids, nucleic acids, and chlorophyll.
What is ammonification?
Ammonification is the decaying process where decomposers like fungi and bacteria turn nitrogen from dead plants and animals back into ammonium.
What is denitrification?
Denitrification is when extra nitrogen in the soil is released back into the air by special bacteria.
What does the phosphorus cycle represent?
How phosphorus moves from the lithosphere to the hydrosphere, through food chains, and back.
Why is phosphorus important?
It is a key component of fertilizers, promoting plant growth, healthy root and shoot development, flower and seed production, and improving crop quality.
What benefits does phosphorus provide to plants?
It promotes healthy root growth, early shoot growth, improved flower and seed production, and enhances the quality of fruit, vegetables, and grain crops.
How does phosphorus differ from nitrogen in terms of climate change?
Phosphorus has no major gaseous form, so it has little impact on climate change.
List 6 examples of human impacts on earth cycles.
Deforestation, Mining, Travel, GHG’s, increasing population, industrial wastes, Travel.
