Climate Section 1 Flashcards
What is the atmosphere composed of (about)
78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% other gases (including carbon dioxide and water vapor)
What is Volcanic Outgassing
Earth used to be molten lava or liquid so the rocks and dense materials went downward but the less dense materials went up like gasses.
5 layers of the atmosphere (in order from closest to furthest from Earth’s surface)
Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere
How were oceans formed?
4.6 billion years ago the troposphere was mostly water vapor, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. As the Earth cooled 3.8 billion years ago the water vapor fell like rain, forming the oceans.
What is cyanobacteria
RNA developed in the first oceans which evolved to be photosynthetic and called cyanobacteria. They are the earliest known form of life.
What is a Banded Iron Formation (BIF)
When iron is exposed to oxygen a chemical reaction happens and the iron rusts. The oxygen catastrophe caused this to happen a lot which formed BIFs.
What is the Oxygen Catastrophe or the Great Oxidation Event?
This is when oxygen was in the oceans but was released into the atmosphere. Because of photosynthetic bacteria.
What are Global Winds
A global air pattern in the Troposphere. Spread heat from the equator to poles. Mixes molecules in atmosphere so composition in troposphere is consistent throughout.
What is the three celled model
Model of how air moves. Local winds are dictated by small-scale high and low pressure systems
What are pressure systems
where wind moves, formed when some places are hotter than others
What happens when air is heated
When air is heated more the molecules spread out and the air rises and it has high precipitation. This is called a low pressure center.
What happens when air is cooled
When air is cooled less the molecules go together the air sinks / stays at the surface and its a high pressure center and it has low precipitation
What happens when air goes up in low pressure areas
When air goes up in low pressure areas air from high pressure areas go and fill up that space. The air that goes up in low pressure areas gets cooled and becomes clouds.
