Chapter 6 - 7: Lithosphere, Hydrosphere, Earth and Space Flashcards
What does the Lithosphere consist of?
Minerals and Rocks
What is a Mineral?
Solid inorganic substance with atoms that are extremely organized
True or false? Minerals can be made up of one or several elements
True
What are three ways minerals can be classified?
- Color
- Transparency
- Hardness
How do you identify a mineral by color?
Determin if the mineral is idiochromatic or allochromatic by its streak.
What is the difference of idiocrhomatic and allochromatic?
Idochromic the streak of the mineral being the same color of the mineral, while allochromic is the streak being different.
How do you identify a mineral by transparency?
— By the ability to pass light through it: Transparent, Translucent, Opaque
What is the difference of Transparent, Translucent, Opaque minerals?
- Transparent : Light passes through completely
- Translucent: Light partially passes through
- Opaque: Light does not pass through
How do you measure a minerals’ hardness?
It’s resistance to being scratched (the Mohs scale)
What is any material extracted from a mine called?
Ore
What is a deposit (from a mine)
Large quantities of minerals
What is a mine called
Open pit mine
What is a drift mine
Horizontal mine
What are the three types of rocks?
Igneous, Sedimentary, Metamorphic
What is an igneous rock?
Rock formed when magma cools and solidifies
What is a sedimentary rock?
Rocks formed by the accumulation and compaction of debris
What is a metamorphic rock?
Rocks that were originally igneous or sedimentary that were transformed by heat or pressure
Where does soil come from?
Parent rock which has been warned down and turned into smaller fragments by wind, rain, and frost mixed with dead organic matter
What is a soil Horizons
The layers of soil
What are the five soil horizens in order?
- Organic matter
- Topsoil
- Sub soil
- Fragmented Parent rock
- Unaltered parent rock
What are the three conditions nessacary for plant life
- Sufficient amount of minerals
- Enough moisture
- Appropriate soil PH
What is the criteria for permafrost?
Ground that has been 0*C or below for at least two years
What is the active layer of permafrost?
The top layer that is able to thaw in the summer and freezes again in the winter
What is permafrosts impact on climate change regarding the ground?
- Due to increasing temperature’s permafrost is starting to thaw causing the once frozen land to be unstable which results in landslides.
What is permafrosts impact on climate change regarding the atmosphere?
Permafrost stores a lot of carbon, when it melts it is released in the form of methane, a GHG responsible for warming the planet. Aggravating the plant.
What are the three energy resources the lithosphere supplies?
- Fossil Fuels
- Uranium
- Geothermic
What is fossil fuels (oil and natural gas)
Energy in the form of oil that comes from the decompision of marine animals and algee that died and sank to the sea floor, slowly turning into oil and natural gas.
What is coal, where did it come from?
Coal comes from terrestrial plants that once grew millions of years ago in swamps.
What are consequences of fossil fuels
- CO2 is released
- Acid rain
- Non-renewable and will eventually run out
What is nuclear (uranium) energy
The splitting a nucleus (fission) of a uranium atom produces a large
amount of energy called nuclear energy, with no GHG emission.
What are the consequences of uranium use?
- Radiation
- Radioactive waste
What is geothermal energy?
Energy that comes from the internal heat of the earth
What are the disadvantages of geothermal energy?
- Expensive but renewable
What does the hydrosphere consist of?
All the water on earth found in all states: liquid, solid and gas
What is inland waters?
All the freshwater bodies on the planet
What is the watershed/catchment area?
Area where lakes and rivers empty into a downhill
What are the five factors that affect the flow within a watershed?
- Topography
- Geology
- Climate
- Vegetation
- Agricultural/industrial/urban development
How do you measure the amount of salt (salinity) in water
Mass of slat / volume of water
Does the density of water increase or deceases if its salinity is higher?
Increase
Does the density of water increase or deceases if its salinity is lower?
Deceases
What is the difference between ocean current and ocean circulation?
Ocean current is specific (movement of seawater in a certain direction) while ocean circulation is the combination of all the currents that moves across the oceans (everything)
What are the two types of ocean currents?
- Surface currents
- Subsurface currents
What is a surface current?
The first 400m of water, caused by wind making the water move horizontally
What is a subsurface current?
Caused by variations in water’s density (the temperature and salinity of water)
If water is cold, does its density increase or decrease?
Increase
If water is warmer, does its density increase or decrease?
Decrease
What is the thermohaline circulation of water, what is it responsible for?
It’s the combination of surface and subsurface currents, responsible for the major transfer of heat around the world (brings water from poles to the equator to the poles and water from the equator to the poles)
What does the cryosphere consists of?
All the frozen water on eaths surface
What is pack ice, does it raise the sea level when melting?
Frozen ocean water, DOES NOT RAISE THE SEA LEVEL
What is global warming effect on pack ice?
Melting, meaning loss of habitat
What is a glacier?
Mass of ice on land, formed by compressed snow.
Do glaciers smelting raise the sea level, if yes, why?
They do raise sea levels, as glaciers melting into the sea means water is being added into the ocean and affect its salinity.
What effect does the glacier’s melting have on the salinity of the ocean?
Changes the density of the ocean, causing the thermohaline circulation to slow down or stop, losing the earths’ ability to transfer heat from the equator to the poles
What are the two energy sources from the hydrosphere?
- Hydroelectric dams
- Waves and water currents
What is the atmosphere?
The layer of air surround the earth, held to the surface by gravity
What is atmospheric circulation?
The way air rises when it’s warm (near the equator), and falls when its cold (near the poles)
How does air warming at the equator affects its density and air pressure?
It becomes less dense meaning the air pressure decreases and so it rises upwards.
How does air cooling at the poles affects its density and air pressure?
It becomes more dense, meaning the air pressure increases and so it descends downwards.
What is the Coriolis effect
The way the earth is constantly rotating, causing the air traveling to the poles and equator to be deviated.
Which way does the earth spin in the NH
counter-clockwise
Which way does the earth spin in the SH
clockwise
Do air masses combine when they meet
NOOOO
What is denser, a mass of cold or hot air
cold
What is a cold front?
When a mass of cold air moves towards a mass of warm air, resulting in strong winds and heavy rain.
What is a warm front
Occurs when a mass of warm air moves towards a mass of cold air, resulting in light rain and maybe cloudy weather.
What does cold air signify?
dense air meaning it will descend into the atmosphere
What does warm air signify?
light air, meaning it will rise into the atmosphere.
What is an anticyclone?
Cold air that becomes more dense resulting it to descend creating areas of high pressure (a good thing) meaning the air drops in a cirular motion becasue of the earths rotation.
What weather does an anticyclone result in?
Clear, dry, and sunny weather
What is a depression?
The warm air allows for a decrease in density meaning the air can rise and create an area of low pressure.
What is the weather during a depression?
Cloudy and rainy
What is a cyclone?
A depression that develops over oceans, resulting in violent winds around an area of low pressure.
What is the gree house effect?
Gasses in our atmosphere that dont allow for outgoing infrared rays to go back into space (traps them in our atmophere heating the earth up)
Does the earth need GHG?
yes!! otherwise the earth would freeze (brrrr)
What is the most dangerous GHG?
methane
What are the main human activities that contribute to GHG?
- Burning forest
- Animal farts
3 Decomposing garbage
What is climate change?
Abnormal climatic conditions on Earth
caused by human activity
What is the moon mostly responsible for?
The tide
How does a high and low tide work?
The moon pulls water masses (the oceans) of the earth towards it and depending on its rotation the water will swell, either resulting in a high or low tide,
In what amount of time does the ocean’s tide change?
6 hours
