environmental science CH.3

Question 1

geosphere

Answer 1

the solid part of the Earth that consists of all rock, as well as the soils and loose rocks on the Earth’s surface

Question 2

hydrosphere

Answer 2

consists of all of the water on or near the earth’s surface

Question 3

crust

Answer 3

Earth’s thin outer layer composed almost entirely of light elements

Question 4

mantel

Answer 4

the layer beneath the crust, makes up 64 percent of the mass of the Earth. It is approximately 2900 km thick and is made of rocks of medium density

Question 5

core

Answer 5

Earth’s innermost layer composed of the densest elements.

Question 6

lilthosphere

Answer 6

Earth’s outer layer - a cool rigid layer, 15km to 300km thick, that includes the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle. It is divided into huge pieces called tectonic plates

Question 7

asthenosphere

Answer 7

the layer beneath the lithosphere - a plastic, solid layer of the mantle made of rock that flows very slowly and allows the tectonic plates to move on top of it

Question 8

tectonic plates

Answer 8

pieces of the lithosphere that glide acreoos the underlying asthenosphere in much the same way as a chunk of ice drifts across a pond

Question 9

chemical

Answer 9

chemical species in the air, soil, and water environments; and the effect of human activity and biological activity on these.

Question 10

weathering

Answer 10

Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils, and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with the Earth’s atmosphere, water, and biological organisms.

Question 11

erosion

Answer 11

removal and transport of surface material including rocks, dirt, etc.

Question 12

atmosphere

Answer 12

A mixture of gases that surrounds a planet or moon.

Question 13

troposphere

Answer 13

all weather happens here/layer of Earth’s atmosphere closest to Earth’s surface (where weather takes place and where most pollution occurs)

Question 14

stratophere

Answer 14

above troposphere (temperatures rise as altitude increases because the ozone absorbs the sun’s UV energy

Question 15

ozone

Answer 15

A molecule of oxygen containing three oxygen atoms.

Question 16

radiation

Answer 16

transfer of energy across space and in the atmosphere

Question 17

conduction

Answer 17

he flow of heat from a warmer object to a colder object

Question 18

convection

Answer 18

transfer of air by air currents

Question 19

greenhoues effect

Answer 19

Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth’s atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases

Question 20

evaporation

Answer 20

liquid water is heated by the sun and then rises into the atmosphere as water vapor

Question 21

water cycle

Answer 21

the continuous movement of water into the air, land, and back to other sources

Question 22

condensation

Answer 22

The change from a gas to a liquid

Question 23

precipitation

Answer 23

Any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth’s surface.

Question 24

salinity

Answer 24

concentration of all the dissolved salts in the ocean waters

Question 25

fresh water

Answer 25

makes up about 3% of all water on the Earth’s surface

Question 26

biosphere

Answer 26

All the parts of the planet that are inhabited by living things; sum of all Earth’s ecosystems