Exam 2 Flashcards
Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR)
10 degrees Celsius per 1000 meters
As parcel rises it expands.
Wet Adiabatic Lapse Rate (WALR)
5 degrees Celsius per 1000 meters
Cirrus Clouds
Thin and wispy
Cumulus Clouds
Puffy clouds with flat bottoms and vertical growth
Stratus Clouds
Layered, flat “sheets” that cover the whole sky. Usually grey.
Nimbo or Nimbus
Precipitation likely
Lenticular Clouds
Lens shaped clouds that form when air goes up and over mountains
Types of Precipitation
Rain, Sleet, Snow, Freezing Rain, Hail, Graupel (Soft Hail)
Convectional Atmospheric Uplift
Warm bubbles of rising air
Orographic Atmospheric Uplift
Air that moves up and over mountains
Frontal Atmospheric Uplift
Air masses (cold and warm fronts) collide. Warm rises over cold causing long clouds along the boundary.
Convergent Atmospheric Uplift
Low pressure centers
(a.k.a. troughs) causing an uplift of air.
Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR)
10*c/1000m
Wet Adiabatic Lapse Rate (WALR)
6*c/1000m
Lifting Condensation Level
Air parcel (currently cooling at the DALR) begins to cool at the WALR
Fog
Clouds that touch the ground. Surface of air is saturated.
Types of Fog
Radiation (cool air trapped at surface)
Advection (warm air flows over cool air)
Sea (Warm sea air is blown to shore)
Evaporation (over a lake or body of water)
Types of Violent Weather
Thunderstorms, Derechos (a line of storms caused by continuous winds), Tornadoes, Tropical Cyclones
Eye of the Hurricane
The calm region of the hurricane located directly in the middle
Cold Front
The boundary of cold air mass particularly following the edge of a low pressure system.
Warm Front
A large warm air mass replacing a cold front particularly leading a low pressure system
Occluded Front
Warm and moist air trapped by cool air
Stationary Front
Collection of air masses but neither is strong enough to replace the other. Clouds, prolonged precipitation
Milankovitch Cycles
Cycles of natural climate change controlled by Earth-Sun positions
Eccentricity
Earth’s non-circular orbit around the Sun, orbit becomes more circular every 100,000 years
Obliguity
Angle of Earth’s axis, varies from 21* to 24.5* over the course of 40,000 years
Precession
“Wobble” of Earth towards and away from Sun over 20,000 years
Causes of Climate Change
Natural Change - Solar patterns, Plate tectonics, Ocean currents, Earths rotation/ axis
Human Inflicted - CO2 output, cars, factories, etc
Anthropogenic Climate Change
Climate change caused by humans (i.e. cars and factories emitting greenhouse gases)
Earth’s Internal Layers
Crust, Upper Mantle, Lower Mantle, Outer Core, Inner Core
Core
Inner core: Solid iron and nickel
Outer Core: Liquid iron and nickel
Mantle
Lower Mantle: Solid iron, magnesium, and silicon
Upper Mantle: Solid-Plastic-Solid (stretches and flows) iron, magnesium, and silicon
Crust
Continental: Felsic (made of Feldspars)
Oceanic: Mafic (made of Magnesium and Iron)
Geologic Times Scale
Tells RELATIVE ages of rock, based on fossils, divided into two periods: Pre-Cambrian and Cambrian
Pre-Cambrian Period
“Before Life”
Cambrian Period
“Life”
3 periods: Old Life, Middle Life, New Life
Old Life (Cambrian Period)
Paleozooic, Fish and Plants
Middle Life (Cambrian Period)
Mesozoic, Dinosaurs
New Life (Cambrian Period)
Cenozoic, Mammals (The current time period)
Elements
monoatomic materials. (oxygen and silicon are most common in crust.)
Minerals
Combination of 2+ elements
Rocks
Combinaiton of 2+ minerals
Igneous Rocks
Made of molten magma
Sedimentary Rocks
Made of fragments of rock and mineral
Metamorphic Rocks
Rocks that have been modified due to heat and pressure
Intrusive Igneous
Solidifies slowly underground, formed of large crystals
Extrusive Igneous
Solidifies quickly on the surface, formed of microscopic cystals
Jointing
Fractures in bedrock, formed without movement
Exfoliation
Outer layers of rock “peel” away releasing pressure
Types of sedimentary rocks
Clastic, Chemically Precipitated, Organic
Global Warming
Increase in global temperature. It is important because of HOW FAST it is increasing.
Continental Shields
Large, stable, low-relief exspanses of land
Plate Tectonics
Formation, movementand destruction of lithospheric plates
Divergent Plate Boundary
Plates move away from eachother and new crust comes to the surface. Mainly Oceanic Crust.
Convergent Plate Boundary
Subduction occurs.One plate goes under the other and is recycled/destroyed
Transform Plate Boundary
Plates slide past eachother side to side
Isostasy
Balance of earth’s crust on the asthenosphere below
Folding
Crust is folded
Downward: Syncline
Upward: Anticline
Normal Fault
Formed by tension. Has a huge cliff called a scarp
Reverse Fault
Formed by compression
Strike-Slip Fault
Fault that breaks along each other. Parallel to each other. “Shear”
Earthquake
Release of energy (seismic waves) below the crust causing movement above. Measured by Magnitude with a Seismograph. Epicenter and Focus
Lithosphere
Ridged outer part of the earth. The Crust and the Upper Mantle. (The Asthenosphere)
Magma and Lava
Molten material. Magma=underground, lava=above/on the surface
2 Types of Eruptions
Explosive (self-explanatory) and Effusive (Lava Flow)
Activity States of Volcanoes
Dormant (no evidence of eruption shows recent activity)
Active (eruption in recorded history and might erupt)
Extinct (No signs of activity)
Viscosity
A.K.A. Liquidity
Property of magma. Low = explosive, High=effusive.
Volcanic Landforms
Calderas, Composite Volcanoes, Lahar
Pyroclastic Flow
Hot ash, rock fragments, gasses, etc. that are shot out of volcanoes
Types of Weathering
Physical (frost action, salt crystal growth, pressure release)
Chemical (hydration, oxidation, dissolution of carbonates)
Mass Wasting
Downslope movement of material DUE TO GRAVITY
Types of Mass Wasting
Creep, Flow, Solifluction, Slides and Glides, Rock Fall, Talus Slopes, Scarification
Fluvial (Water) Transportation
Dissolved (particles are dissolved in river water), Suspended (particles float), Bed (particles roll, slide or bounce(saltation) aong the bedrock)
Stream Piracy
One “absorbs” another
Drainage Patterns
Radial, Annular, Trellis,Rectangular, Dendritic
Delta
Where the mouth of a river meets an ocean
Groundwater Zones
Vadose Zone-Water filters through
Water Table-Where water is level
Saturated Zone-Water stays here
Types of Erosion by River
Hydraulic Action (breaking and moving), Abrasion (moving and rubbing,”sandpaper effecct”), Corrosion (minerals and rocks dissolved)
Aeolian (Wind) Transportation
Suspension, Saltation, Surface Creep
Loess
Silt, Dust from China and Glaciers,
Important for agriculture due to the lack of rocks and it holds nutrients and water better than most substances.
Alluvial Fan
Series of layers of rock and materials of different sizes. forms fan shape because temporary streams caused by rain moves the meterail in different directions
Spring (Neap) Tide
Happens twice a month, tidal range is the highest
Wave Properties
Height (crest to trough), Wavelength (crest to crest or trough to trough), Wave Period (time it takes for two crests in a row to cross a point)
Wave Refraction
Bending of waves, moves objects along the shore (longshore drift)
