chapter 25.1-.2, 26.2-.3, 48

Question 1

Carbon cycle

Answer 1

the intricately linker network of biological and physical processes that shuttles carbon among rocks, soil, oceans, air and organisms

Question 2

Correlation

Answer 2

the co-occurrence of two event or processes; correlation does not imply causation

Question 3

Causation

Answer 3

a relationship in which one event leads to another

Question 4

Reservoirs

Answer 4

a supply or source of a substance. reservoirs of carbon, for example, include organisms, the atmosphere , soil, the oceans, and sedimentary rocks

Question 5

Biomass

Answer 5

the total mass of organisms in a given area or volume

Question 6

Fluxes

Answer 6

the rate at which a substance, for example carbon, flows from one reservoir to another

Question 7

Biomineralization

Answer 7

the precipitation of minerals by organisms, as in the formation of skeletons

Question 8

Greenhouse gas

Answer 8

a gas in the atmosphere that allows incoming solar radiation to reach the Earth’s surface, but absorbs radiation re-emitted as heat, trapping it in the atmosphere and causing the temperature to rise

Question 9

Oxygenic

Answer 9

producing oxygen

Question 10

Aerobic

Answer 10

utilizing oxygen

Question 11

Anoxygenic

Answer 11

not producing oxygen; anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria do not gain electrons from water and so do not generate oxygen gas

Question 12

Assimilation

Answer 12

the process by which organisms take up nutrients from the environment

Question 13

Nitrogen fixation

Answer 13

the process in which nitrogen gas is converted into ammonia, a form biologically useful to primary producers

Question 14

Nitrification

Answer 14

the process by which chemoautotrophic bacteria oxidize ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate

Question 15

Denitrification

Answer 15

the process in which some bacteria use nitrate as an electron acceptor in respiration

Question 16

Anammox

Answer 16

anaerobic ammonia oxidation, energy metabolism in which ammonium ion is oxidized by nitrite, yielding nitrogen gas as a by-product

Question 17

Biogeochemical cycles

Answer 17

the cycling of carbon and other biologically important elements through the biosphere

Question 18

Biomes

Answer 18

the distinctive and stable assemblage of species found over broad region of Earth; terrestrial biomes are each recognized by their distinctive vegetation

Question 19

Coriolis effect

Answer 19

In physics, the Coriolis force is an inertial force (also called a fictitious force) that acts on objects that are in motion relative to a rotating reference frame. In a reference frame with clockwise rotation, the force acts to the left of the motion of the object. In one with anticlockwise rotation, the force acts to the right.

Question 20

Evapotranspiration

Answer 20

Evapotranspiration (ET) is the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the Earth’s land and ocean surface to the atmosphere. Evaporation accounts for the movement of water to the air from sources such as the soil, canopy interception, and waterbodies. Transpiration accounts for the movement of water within a plant and the subsequent loss of water as vapor through stomata in its leaves.

Question 21

Exapotranspiration ratio

Answer 21

Transpiration / evapotranspiration ratio is 0.757. and evaporation / transpiration ratio is 0.43. Thus, transpiration is the key process not. only in biomass production, but even in Earth´s temperature stabilisation.

Question 22

Latitudinal diversity gradient

Answer 22

the increase in species diversity from the poles to the equator

Question 23

Rain shadow

Answer 23

the area on the lee side of mountains, where air masses descend, warming, and taking up water vapor; as a result, lands in the rain shadow are arid

Question 24

Topography

Answer 24

the physical features of Earth