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Geography > Earth And Life > Flashcards

Earth And Life Flashcards

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1
Q

What % of all living organisms is water?

A

Between 65-95%

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2
Q

What is the most abundant molecule in living cells?

A

Water

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3
Q

How much does water vapour in the atmosphere raise global temperatures?

A

Around 15°C

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4
Q

How many litres of water is required to produce 1kg of chocolate?

A

17,000

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5
Q

How much water is required to produce 1 tonne of steel?

A

100,000+

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6
Q

Which element forms the basis of 95% of all known compounds?

A

Carbon

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7
Q

What percentage of the world’s energy is supplied by fossil fuels?

A

80%

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8
Q

What percentage of water is stored in the oceans?

A

97

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9
Q

What is the cryosphere?

A

Water in a solid (frozen) state

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10
Q

What percentage of fresh water on Earth is frozen?

A

75

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11
Q

What are aquifers?

A

Rocks such as chalk and some sandstones that can store and transmit water

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12
Q

Which store accounts for 0.7% of all water and 20% of fresh water?

A

Groundwater (aquifers)

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13
Q

what is ablation?

A

Water being lost from snow or ice (e.g. by melting, iceberg calving, sublimation)

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14
Q

What is sublimation?

A

Water changing from a solid state (ice) to a gaseous state (water vapour)

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15
Q

Where is 99.9% of carbon stored?

A

Sedimentary rock such as limestone

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16
Q

How much carbon is stored in sedimentary (carbonate) rocks and deep ocean sediments?

A

100,000,000 Gigatonnes

17
Q

How many Gigatonnes of carbon are stored dissolved in the oceans?

A

39,000

18
Q

Typically, how long is carbon stored in rocks?

A

150 million years

19
Q

What is peat?

A

Partly decomposed organic matter that has accumulated in waterlogged and therefore anaerobic conditions

20
Q

What is the dew-point?

A

Temperature at which the air becomes fully saturated. Further cooling results in condensation.

21
Q

Describe convection and how it produces clouds

A

Air is heated at the surface, rises in columns and cools. It tends to form cumulus clouds with flat based and that extend up through the atmosphere

22
Q

Describe frontal uplift and how it produces clouds

A

Warm air rises a long a front over several hundreds of kilometers. Stratus clouds (widespread dense horizontal layer) formed at lower levels and cirrus clouds (made of ice crystals and with a wispy appearance) form at high altitudes

23
Q

Describe advection in cloud formation

A

A large mass of air moves horizontally over a cooler surface (often the ocean). Atmosphere is cooled below few point and stratus clouds (dense widespread layer) are formed

24
Q

Describe orographic uplift in cloud formation

A

Air forced over a range of hills or mountains. If sufficient cooling occurs, condensation takes place

25
Q

What is environmental lapse rate?

A

For every km increase in altitude, temperature decreases by approximate 6.5°C

26
Q

What constitutes high intensity rain?

A

> 10-15mm/hour

27
Q

What is interception?

A

The temporary storage of water on vegetation or buildings before it reaches the surface

28
Q

What does pervious mean and what is an example of a pervious rock type?

A

Water is able to move through cracks and joints, e.g. carboniferous limestones

29
Q

What is the water table?

A

Boundary between saturated and unsaturated conditions underground

30
Q

What is iceberg calving?

A

When glaciers reach the sea ice masses break off and float away

31
Q

What does anthropogenic mean?

A

Caused by human activities

32
Q

What is combustion?

A

Burning if organic material in the presence of oxygen

33
Q

What is weathering?

A

The in situ breakdown of rocks at or near the Earth’s surface by physical, chemical or biological processes

34
Q

How many billions of tonnes are transferred to the oceans and atmosphere by chemical weathering of rock annually?

A

0.3 billion tonnes

35
Q

What is chelation?

A

Biological organisms produce organic acids which weaken and breakdown rocks (biological weathering)

36
Q

What is carbon sequestration?

A

The capture and long-term storage of carbon from the atmosphere. It occurs naturally but humans are trying to find ways of achieving this in order to reduce levels of atmospheric CO2

Geography (17 decks)

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