Chapter 6 Vocabulary

Question 1

Thunderheads

Answer 1

rapidly moving, towering clouds

Question 2

Air Pressure

Answer 2

Result from zillions of tiny molecules of gases (mostly nitrogen and oxygen) in the atmosphere zipping around at incredible speeds and hitting and bouncing off anything they encounter

Question 3

Dew Point

Answer 3

When the temperature drops below a certain level where condensation takes place

Question 4

Prevailing Winds

Answer 4

major surface winds that blow almost continually and distribute air and moisture over the earth’s surface

Question 5

Upwelling

Answer 5

movement of nutrient-rich bottom water to the ocean’s surface. This can occur far from shore but usually occurs along certain steep coastal areas where the surface later of ocean water is pushed away from shore and replaced by cold, nutrient-rich bottom water

Question 6

El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

Answer 6

Changes in climate patterns

Prevailing tropical trade winds blowing westward weaken or reverse direction

Question 7

Latitude

Answer 7

Distance from the Equator

Question 8

Altitude

Answer 8

Height above sea level

Question 9

SemiDesert

Answer 9

In the semiarid zones between deserts and grasslands

This Biome is dominated by thorn trees and shrubs adapted to long dry spells followed by brief, sometimes heavy rains

Question 10

Chaparral

Answer 10

vegetation consisting chiefly of tangled shrubs and thorny bushes
temperate shrubland

Question 11

Succulent Plants

Answer 11

Fleshy plants such as the saguaro cactus.
These plants have 3 adaptations..
No leaves, store water in fleshy tissue, reduce water loss by opening pores

Question 12

Permafrost

Answer 12

a perennially frozen layer of the soil that forms not to far below the surface when the water there freezes

Question 13

Alpine Tundra

Answer 13

Polar grasslands

Occur just south of the arctic polar ice cap

Question 14

Epiphytes

Answer 14

air plants
plants that grow without soil, get water from the humid air and rain, and receive nutrients falling from the trees’ upper leaves and limbs

Question 15

Tree Plantations

Answer 15

consists of only one tree species

Clears and replaces diverse forests

Question 16

Coniferous Evergreen Trees

Answer 16

cone-bearing

spruce, fir, cedar, hemlock, and pine that keep some of their narrow-pointed leaves (needles) all year round

Question 17

Coastal Coniferous Forests

Answer 17

Temperate Rain Forests are found in scattered coastal temperature areas with ample rainfall or moisture from dense ocean fogs.

Question 18

Bogs

Answer 18

wet muddy ground too soft to support a heavy body.

Question 19

Islands of Biodiversity

Answer 19

land that is filled with a variety of different plants and animals.

Question 20

What are storms’ rotations due to??

Answer 20

Coriolis effect

Question 21

Coriolis effect?

Answer 21

A phenomenon that causes fluids, like water and air, to clear with the travel across or above earth surface

Question 22

Fluids ___ as they travel across or above earths surface?

Answer 22

Curve

Question 23

What direction does the Earth spin on its axis?

Answer 23

West to east

Question 24

Why is the equator spinning faster than the polls?

Answer 24

The earth is a sphere and wider in the middle

Question 25

How much of the earths oceans have we explored?

Answer 25

5%

Question 26

Where are most volcanoes on earth located?

Answer 26

Bottom of the sea

Question 27

What do you call the greatest mountain range on earth?

Answer 27

Mid-ocean range