Environmental Geology (Papa) Flashcards
What are some hazardous earth processes that are related to environmental change?
- Natural disasters
- Rivers and flooding
- Salinization and saline environments
- Coastal hazards and erosion
Where is the Aral Sea located?
in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
What is the environmental issue that has occurred around the Aral Sea?
As the population around the lake has increase, water has been intensively extracted for agricultural and harmful fertilizes have leached into the lake. This has led the size of the lake to greatly decrease and the water has become unsuitable for crops or drinking.
Carrying capacity
the max. population size of a species that can be sustained with an area
S - Curve population graph
the population stabilizes at a carrying capacity
J- Curve population graph
the population stabilizes around the carrying capacity but continues to increase over it and then crash below it.
When the population around rivers increases…
nitrate concentrations in the river increase
3 parts of the Earth
- atmosphere
- hydrosphere
- lithnosphere
Earth is an open system with respect to …
energy
Earth is closed system with respect to …
materials
Silicate weathering controls …
climate change (because it uses up CO2)
Precipitation
when a solid is formed from a solution
How does silicate weathering occur?
(geological time-scale)
Rain contains carbonic acid, when it falls this acid breaks down rocks
Residence time
the total time that a substance has spend within a controlled volume
Coefficient of variation
measures the dispersion of a probability/frequency distribution
Chemicals emitted during mining…
cause erosion and loss of habitats
Layers of the atmosphere in order
Ground (highest temp/) Troposphere Stratosphere Mesosphere Thermosphere
The sack’s made there.
Energy coming from the sun has a …. wavelength
short
Energy returning to space from the Earth has a … wavelength
long
What is the atmosphere composed of? (top 3)
- Nitrogen
- Oxygen
- Argon
How is the CO2 concentration of the atmosphere, from thousands of years ago, measured?
By collecting ice core samples and analyzing gas bubbles trapped inside
CH4
Methane
The difference in energy outputs vs. inputs is what causes …
global warming
When the sun rays hit the surface (away from the equator) cover a broad range it is ….
winter
When the sun rays hit the surface (away from the equator) cover a narrow range it is ….
summer
What are the 3 climate cell types?
From equator 1. Hadley cell 2. Ferrel cell 3. Polar cell To poles
The Coriolis effect causes …
objects moving straight will appear to curve (because of the Earth’s rotation)
- curve to the right on the NH
- curve to the left on the SH
In a high pressure cell …
- air flows in all directions (due to the high pressure the air is pushed away from the pressure cell)
- high pressure at the center
In a low pressure cell …
- lower pressure in the center than the areas around it
- air moves towards the low pressure cell
What causes the monsoonal climate of South Asia?
The movement of a high pressure cell from the south (in the summer / wet season) to the north (in the winter / dry season)
As the Earth rotates around the sun, causing different seasons, the intertropical convergence zone shifts and with it so does the high pressure cell
Intertropical convergence zone
Near the equator
The Intertropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ, is a band of low pressure around the Earth which generally lies near to the equator. The trade winds of the northern and southern hemispheres come together here, which leads to the development of frequent thunderstorms and heavy rain.
The thermohaline circulation is driven by differences in…
salinity and temperature of ocean water
Cold water is…
- denser
- holds less salt
- holds more gases
Warm water is….
- less dense (expands)
- holds less salt
Where do upwellings occur?
- close to the coast, where marine currents push water upwards
- also driven by trade winds pushing surface water
What are the main seawater constituents?
(in order)
- Pure water ( 95.68%)
- Oxygen
- Hydrogen
- Chloride
- Sodium
- Magnesium
- Sulfate (SO4)
Pelagic …
relating to the open sea
Benthos
is the community of organisms that live on, in, or near the bottom of a sea, river, lake, or stream, also known as the benthic zone
Benthic zone
the lowest ecological zone in a water body, and usually involves the sediments at the seafloor
Nekton
aquatic animals that are able to swim and move independently of water currents.
Plankton
the small and microscopic organisms drifting or floating in the sea or fresh water, consisting chiefly of diatoms, protozoans, small crustaceans, and the eggs and larval stages of larger animals.
Salinity is determined by …
ratio between rainfall and evaporation
As the salinity of water increases the freezing point …
decreases
At what temperature is water the most dense?
4°C
… liquid can hold more gas
Cool
Thermocline
the decrease of temperature in the water column
Hypolimnion
the lower layer of water in a stratified lake, typically cooler than the water above and relatively stagnant.
If the surface of a body of water is very productive at the surface, … conditions are likely to form at the bottom.
anoxic
Oligotrophic
deficiency of nutrients
Eutrophic
over abundance of nutrients
Primary production along coastlines is higher because…
of upwelling which brings nutrients from deeper water
What are the 2 most important and growth-limiting nutrients in the ocean?
Phosphorus and nitrogen
Osmosis
movement of water through a semi-permeable membrane
Radiolaria/radiozoa
protozoa that produce mineral skeletons (usually made of silica)
How often often does the El Niño Southern Oscillation happen?
every 2-7 years
How many years does it take for the ocean to mix?
3,500 years
What negative feedback occurred during the snowball Earth?
- CO2 built up from volcanoes
- since there was no precipitation there also was no chemical weathering to reduce CO2
- causing the greenhouse effect to amplify
HCO3
Bicarbonate
CaCO3
Calcium carbonate
How long ago was the Earth created?
4.5 - 4.8 billion years ago
Life remained in the ocean during the early period of the life on Earth because …
it was protected from UV rays there, and once enough O2 was present to create an atmosphere, life slowly appeared on land
During the coniferous period, dragonflies were …
2m wide (as more O2 was present)
The equilibrium of gas concentrations in the atmosphere and ocean depends on …
the temperature
Exothermic reactions …
release energy into the environment
Organic carbon can only be produced by …
producers
The largest carbon reservoir is …
deep ocean dissolved inorganic carbon
Microbes
all unicellular organisms
What are the 2 stable carbon isotopes?
C12 and C13
What causes an atom to become radioactive?
when more neutrons are added beyond a certain point
Isotopes of an element have the same chemical properties but different …
physical properties ( because they have different masses)
Neutron and protons contribute the same amount to the mass, but electrons …
don’t make a big difference
When an atom is an ion:
of P is NOT = to # of E
When an atom is stable:
of P is = to # of E
‘Older’ ocean water is more …
nutritious
Photic zone
the region of the water column that receives light
Energy is obtained from the redox reactions of N-bearing molecules by …
various microbes
N2 is the most abundant form of N but…
it cannot be used by biota, because it has a triple bond that cannot be easily broken
Oxidation
- removal of electrons
- increase in charge/valence state
Reduction
- adding of electrons
- decrease in charge/valence state
All compounds that contain oxygen have …
been oxidized
In order for plants to used nitrogen …
it needs to be fixed as ammonium (NH4+) or nitrate (NO3-)
The reduction of carbon occurs during photosynthesis. (F/T)
True
Respiration is an oxidation reaction. (F/T)
True
Oxygen containing compounds are not stable under anoxic conditions because …
O is in high demand by bacteria
Denitrification
microbes reduce compounds containing N to gaseous forms of N
The triple bonds in N2 can be split by …
lightning
Humans account for … of the global transport of N in rivers
50%
Sulfur is an essential component of …
protein
Cation (charge?)
positively charged
Anion (charge?)
negatively charged
Acid rain is caused by?
hint: sulfur
Fossil fuels contain a lot of reduced sulfur which is oxidized during burning
SO2 (gas) reactions with H2O creating H2SO4 (sulfuric acid)
Pyrite is an important component of the … cycle
sulfur
Why is acid rain deposited close to the industries burning fossil fuels?
Because the industrial SO2 has a short residence time
Sources of SO4 2- in the atmosphere:
- sea salt
- fossil fuel burning
- deflation of desert soils containing gypsum
- volcanism
- biogenic gases
Elements with a larger mass tend to have a … number of stable isotopes
higher
Chemical reactions favor … isotopes
light
Sea water contains more … isotopes
heavy
because the light isotopes have been removed from the water by chemical reactions
