Final Flashcards
(107 cards)
1
Q
Isobars
A
Lines of equal air pressure
2
Q
Processes that increase salinity (remove water)
A
- Evaporation
- Formation of sea ice
3
Q
Surface circulation
A
Huge, slowly moving gyres.
4
Q
Salinity
A
- The total amount of solid material dissolved in water
- Typically expressed in parts-per-thousand (%)
- Average salinity is 35%
- Major constituent is sodium chloride
5
Q
Cumulonimbus
A
cloud forming a towering mass with a flat base at fairly low altitude and often a flat top, as in thunderstorms
Often produce rain showers and thunderstorms.
6
Q
Hanging wall
A
The rock above the fault surface
7
Q
Climate
A
- Climate is over a long period of time
- Generalized, composite of weather
8
Q
Factors affecting seawater density
A
- Salinity
- Temperature- The greatest influence
9
Q
Ocean Layering
A
Surface layer
Transition zone
Deep zone
10
Q
Latent heat of condensation
A
Heat energy is released.
11
Q
Aerosols
A
Tiny solid and liquid particles
Water vapor can condense on solids
Reflect sunlight
Help color sunrise and sunset
12
Q
Dew point Temperature
A
- Temperature to which a parcel of air would need to be cooled to reach saturation
- Cooling the air below the dew point causes condensation
13
Q
Radiation Fog
A
Earth’s surface cools rapidly
Forms during cool, clear, calm nights
14
Q
Five main gyres
A
- North Pacific
- South Pacific
- North Atlantic
- South Atlantic
- Indian Ocean
15
Q
Longshore current
A
Current in surf zone
Flows parallel to the shore
Moves substantially more sediment than beach drift
16
Q
El Niño
A
A countercurrent that flows southward along the costs of Ecuador and Peru
- Warm
- Usually appears during the Christmas seaso
- Blocks upwelling of colder, nutrient-filled water, and anchovies strive from lack of food.
17
Q
Stratosphere
A
- About 12 km to 50 km
- Temperature increases at top
- Outer boundary is named the stratopause
18
Q
Strike-Slip Faults
A
(Characterized by horizontal-motion)
19
Q
Temp. Variation in Low-Lat.
A
- High temp. at the surface
- Rapid decrease in temp. with depth (thermocline)
20
Q
Density
A
Mass per unit volume (how heavy something is for its size.)
Determines the water’s vertical position in the ocean
21
Q
Cold front (cont.)
A
Wall of dark clouds
Heavy precipitation
After the passage of a cold front winds become more northerly, skies clear, and temp. drops
22
Q
Deep-ocean circulation
A
- Most water involved in deep-ocean currents begins in high latitudes at the surface
- A simplified model of ocean circulation is similar to a conveyor belt that travels from the Atlantic Ocean, through the Indian and Pacific Oceans and back again
23
Q
Fetch
A
The distance that wind travels
24
Q
Orographic Lifting
A
Elevated terrains act as Barriers
Result can be a rain shadow desert
25
Surface currents
Develop from friction between the ocean and the wind that blows across the surface
26
Monsoon
Seasonal change in wind direction
Occur over continents:
During warm months:
-Air flows onto land
-Warm, moist air from the ocean
Winter Months:
- Air flows off the land
- Dry, continental air.
27
How to spot rip current?
1. See an interference in normal wave pattern
2. Channel of outgoing water up to 100 meters wide
3. Stronger when waves are stronger
4. Channel of outgoing water full of sediment
28
Frontal (Or precipitation) fog
- Forms during frontal wedging when warm air is lifted over colder air
- Rain evaporates to form fog.
29
Sea Level Pressure
Average:
- Slightly more than 1,000 millibars
- About 14.7 pounds per square inch
Pressure decreases with altitude
- One-half of the atmosphere is below 3.5 miles (5.6 km)
- Ninety percent of the atmosphere is below 10 miles (16 km)
30
Collision-coalescence process
- Warm clouds
- Large hygroscopic condensation nuclei
- Large droplets form
- Droplets collide with other droplets during their descent
- Common in the tropics
31
Latent heat of fusion
Heat released when freezing
32
Processes that decrease salinity (add water)
- Precipitation
- Runoff from land
- Icebergs melting
- Sea ice melting
33
Coriolis Effect
- Apparent deflection in the wind direction due to Earth’s rotation
- Deflection is to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere
34
Transition zone
- Between surface layer and deep zone
| - Thermocline and pycnocline
35
Continental Shelf
Flooded extension of the continent
varies greatly in width
Gently sloping
Contains oil and important mineral deposits
Some areas are mantled by extensive glacial deposits
Most consist of thick accumulations of shallow-water sediments
36
Ocean Temperature
Surface water temperature varies with the amount of solar radiation received
- Lower surface temperatures are found in high-lat. regions
- Higher surface temperatures found in low-lat. regions
37
Spring tide
During new and full moons
Gravitational forces added together
Especially high and low tides
Large daily tidal range
38
Warm front (cont.)
Clouds become lower and thicker
Light precipitation
After the passage of a warm front, winds become more southerly and temperatures warm
39
Fog
Cloud with it's base at or near ground
Most fogs form because of:
- Radiation cooling
- Movement of air over a cold surface.
40
Cyclone winds (Northern Hemisphere)
- Inward (convergence)
| - Counterclockwise
41
Continental Slope
Marks the seaward edge of the continental shelf
Relatively steep structure
The boundary between continental and oceanic crust
42
Cyclone
A center of low pressure
| Pressure decreases towards the center
43
Cold front
```
Cold air replaces warm air
Shown on a map by a line with triangles
Twice as steep (1:100) as warm fronts
Advances faster than a warm front
Associated weather is more violent than a warm front
-Intensity of precipitation is greater
-Duration of precipitation is shorter
```
44
Passive Continental Margins
Found along most costal areas that surround the Atlantic Ocean
Not associated with plate boundaries
45
Ocean currents
Masses of water that flow from one place to another
46
Latent Heat
- Stored or hidden heat
- Not derived from temperature change
- Important in atmospheric processes.
47
Evaporation
Liquid is changed to gas
48
Dip-slip Fault
Vertical movement of hanging wall and footwall
49
Latent Heat of vaporization
600 calories per gram of water are added.
50
Advection fog
Warm, moist air moves over a cool surface
51
Isostasy
Concept of a floating crust in gravitational balance
When weight is removed from the crust, crustal uplifting occurs
- Process is called isostatic adjustment
52
Wave measurements
Height- Distance between aa trough and a crest
Length- The horizontal distance between successive. crests
Period- Time interval for one full wave
53
Localized convective lifting
Localized convective lifting occurs where unequal surface heating causes pockets of air to rise because of their buoyancy
54
Warm front
```
Warm air replaces cooler air
Shown on a map by a line with semicircles
Small slope (1:200)
Clouds become lower as the front nears
Slow rate of advance
Light-to-moderate precipitation
```
55
Andean-Type Mountain Building
Oceanic-Continental crust convergence
56
Ozone
Concentrated between 10 to 50 kilometers above the surface.
| Three atoms of oxygen (O3)
57
Isotherm
a line connecting places of equal temperature.
58
Thermosphere
- No well-defined upper limit
- Fraction of atmosphere’s mass
- Gases moving at high speeds
59
Deep Zone
- Sunlight never reaches this zone
- Temperatures are just a few degrees above freezing
- Constant high-density water
60
Convection
- Mass movement within a substance
| - Usually vertical motions
61
Neap tide
a tide just after the first or third quarters of the moon when there is least difference between high and low water.
62
Footwall
The rock below the fault surface
63
Axis (degrees)
Inclined 23^1/2 degrees.
64
Mesosphere
- About 50 km to 80 km
- Temperature decreases
- Outer boundary is named the mesopause
65
Windward
- Part of orographic lifting
| - Wet side of the mountain
66
Sublimation
Solid is changed directly to a gas
67
Condensation
Water vapor (gas) is changed to a liquid
68
Transform Fault
Large strike-slip fault that cuts through the lithosphere
Often associated with plate boundaries.
69
Surface mixed zone
- Sun-warmed zone
- Zone of mixing
- Shallow (300 meters)
70
Jet Stream
"river" of air
High Altitude
High velocity (120-140 KM per hour)
71
Deposition
Water vapor (gas) changed to a solid
72
Rip current
Concentrated movement of water flow in the opposite direction from breaking waves.
73
Diurnal Tidal Pattern
A single high and low tide each tidal day
| Occurs along the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico
74
Cyclone (southern Hemisphere)
Inward
| -Clockwise
75
Frontal Wedging
Cool air acts as a barrier to warm air
Fronts are part of the storm systems called middle lat. cyclones
76
Leeward
Dry side of the mountain
77
Continental Rise
- Found in regions where trenches are absent
- Continental slope margins into a more gradual incline
- The thick accumulation of sediment
- At the base of the continental slope turbidity currents that follow submarine canyons deposit sediment that forms deep-sea fans
78
Bergeron Process
Temp. in the cloud is below freezing
| Ice crystals collect water vapor
79
Bathymetry
measurement of ocean depths and the charting of the shape or topography of the ocean floor
80
Tide
High tide is lower when the world is facing the moon.
81
Semi-diurnal
- Two high and two low tides each tidal day
- Little difference in the high and low water heights
- Common along the Atlantic Coast of the United States
82
Active Continental Margins
- Subduction zone forms
| - Deformation process begins
83
Summer Solstice
Sun's vertical rays are located the Tropic of Cancer (23^1/2 N lat)
84
Beach Drift
Sediment moves in a zigzag pattern along the beach face
85
Ocean density variation in Low-lat.
- Low density at the surface
| - Density increases rapidly with depth (pycnocline) because of colder weather
86
Upwelling
The rising of cold water from deeper layers
Most characteristic along west coasts of continents
Brings greater concentrations of dissolved nutrients to the ocean surface.
87
Passive Margins
Prior to the formation of a subduction zone
88
Latent heat of melting
80 calories per gram of water are added
89
Temp. Variation in High-lat.
- Cooler surface temp.
| - No rapid change in temp. with depth.
90
Thermohaline Circulation
A response to density differences
- Temp: cold water is dense
- Salinity: density increases with increasing salinity.
91
The composition of the atmosphere
Nitrogen (N) – 78 percent
Oxygen (O2) – 21 percent
Argon and other gases
Carbon dioxide (CO2) – 0.036 percent
92
Upslope fog
Humid air moves up a slope
Adiabatic cooling occurs
93
Radiation (Cont.)
All objects, at whatever temperature, emit radiation
Hotter objects radiate more total energy per unit area than do cooler objects
The hotter the radiating body, the shorter the wavelength of maximum radiation
Objects that are good absorbers of radiation are good emitters as well
94
Weather
- Over a short period of time
| - Constantly changing
95
Three major topographic units of the ocean floor
Continental Margins, Ocean basin floor, Mid-ocean ridge
96
Ocean density variation in High-lat.
- High-density (cold) water at the surface
| - Little change in density with depth
97
Cloud droplets
Less than 20 mm in diameter
98
Pressure Gradient
Pressure change over distance
99
surface circulation Deflected
By the Coriolis Effect
- To right in north hemisphere.
- To the left in southern hemisphere
100
Reverse fault
Dips greater than 45 degrees.
101
Steam Fog
Cool air moves over a warm water and moisture is added to the air.
102
Sources of sea salts
- Chemical Weathering of rocks
| - Outgassing - gasses from volcanic eruptions
103
Incoming solar radiation
Atmosphere is largely transparent to incoming solar radiation
Atmospheric effects:
- Reflection
- Scattering
- Absorption
- About 50% of solar radiation absorbed by earth surface.
104
Radiation
```
Consists of different wavelengths:
Gamma (very short waves)
X-rays
Ultraviolet (UV)
Visible
Infrared
Microwaves and radio waves
```
105
Water Vapor
Up to about 4 percent of the air’s volume
Forms clouds and precipitation
Absorbs heat energy from Earth
106
Faults
Fractures (breaks) in rocks along which appreciable displacement has taken place
107
Convergence
Air is flowing together and rising (low pressure_
