earth life support system definitions

Question 1

photosynthesis

Answer 1

when plants convert water and carbon into starch and sugar

Question 2

respiration

Answer 2

in living organisms where intake of oxygen produces energy and releases CO2

Question 3

decomposition

Answer 3

breakdown of animals and plant structures by bacteria and releases carbon into the atmosphere

Question 4

combustion

Answer 4

the burning of organic materials which released CO2

Question 5

natural sequestation

Answer 5

the process of capturing and storing carbon in ocean, soil, and vegetation

Question 6

weathering

Answer 6

breakdown of rocks by physical, chemical, and biological processes

Question 7

differences between slow and fast carbon cycle

Answer 7

Slow: processes that move through the earth’s crust and take millions of years to complete
eg. ocean, soil, atmosphere sequestation

Fast: carbon processes that go between atmosphere and biosphere and can be completed within years
eg. combustion, photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition

Question 8

difference between organic and inorganic carbon in the oceans

Answer 8

organic carbon is incorporated in a living thing while inorganic isnt

Question 9

key stores and flows in the carbon cycle

Answer 9

stores: trees, soil, ocean, atmosphere

flows: diffusion between ocean and atmosphere, combustion from industrial plants, upwelling and downwelling between surface and deep ocean, sedimentation at the ocean floor, burning of fossil fuels in industrial plants

Question 10

Evaporation

Answer 10

Liquid water turning into water vapour

Question 11

Transpiration

Answer 11

when water evaporates from the pores of the surface of the leaves

Question 12

condensation

Answer 12

when water vapour turns into liquid water

Question 13

precipitation

Answer 13

when moisture falls from the clouds to the ground

Question 14

interception

Answer 14

when parts of the rainfall gets intercepted by vegetation

Question 15

ablation

Answer 15

the natural removal of surface snow and ice

Question 16

run off

Answer 16

when there is more water than the land can absorb

Question 17

infiltration

Answer 17

the downward movement of water from the surface into the soil

Question 18

percolation

Answer 18

the movement of water through the soil

Question 19

throughflow

Answer 19

downward movement of water within the soil

Question 20

groundwater flow

Answer 20

the deeper movement of water through the underlying permeable rock layer that is below the water table

Question 21

cryospheric processes

Answer 21

processes involving ice sheets and glaciers

Question 22

what can influence the relative significance of flows and stores in water cycle

Answer 22

relief

geology

Question 23

key stores and flows in the water cycle

Answer 23

stores: atmosphere, ocean, soil, vegetation

flows: precipitation, infiltration, surface runoff, throughflow, interflow, groundwater flow, base flow, evaporation, transpiration