Final Exam Flashcards
how much CO2 is absorbed by the oceans?
roughly 50% wooooahhhh
what does the decreasing ocean ph cause?
Carbonic acid (H2O + CO2 = H2CO3)
Carbonate (CO3)
Ions in the ocean that Pteropods use to make their chalky shells out of calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate
comes in calcite and aragonite forms, is dissolved by the positive hydrogen atoms present due to carbonic acid
Where do most corals live?
The DEEEP sea
Which water is acidifying faster?
Cold water since it contains more gas
Where is the ocean becoming more acidic?
Closer to the poles due to the colder water in the oceans of those areas.
Acidification of the arctic ocean
between 1990 and 2010 the depth of acidified surface water nearly tripled
Where is at a special risk of acidification?
Costal upwelling zones
positive vs. negative feedback loop
positive- accumulation that leads to extremes
negative- changes cancel each other out
Snowball earth hypothesis
2 are thought to have occurred 600-800 million years ago, each one lasted about 10 million years ago.
Drop-stones
pebbles and boulders in former ocean mud. Dropped by dirty icebergs
Albedo for water and ice
water- 12%
Ice- 50-80%
Cap carbonates
marine rocks rich in calcium carbonate such as limestone, these tend to form under warm conditions.
Hypothesis on the end of snowball
Carbon dioxide build up from volcanoes melting up or released from under the sea.
Slushball
Snowball theory but with open water around the equator
Venus syndrome
Venus (97% CO2 atmosphere), not actually possible unless we put out 10 the amount of CO2 than that already exists on our planet.
Glacial-interglacial cycles
as recorded in ice cores and ocean sediment cores
glacial- 50-100,000 years
interglacial- about 10,000 years
We live in the?
Holocene Interglacial (11,700 years)
The last interglacial was?
Eemian interglacial (125,000-75,000 years ago)
European Eemian summers
were about 1-3 degree c warmer (caused by slow Milankovitch cycles), but CO2 levels were lower
Warmer northern summers caused…
a bit more CO2 to be released due to the decay of melting permafrost
PETM
Paleocene-eocene thermal maximum (56 million years ago)
Forams
Tiny marine amoebas with chalky
Undersea eruptions
Produce CO2 and burn up organic-rich deposits creating more CO2
How tall would sea levels have been without polar ice sheets?
230 feet higher
What was found on fossil leaves during the PETM period?
Insect damage
Bee numbers
Male Annual: R- 0.531, P-0.001777, Female Annual: R- -0.712, P-0.000628
how many CO2 molecules contain fossil fuel carbon
1 in 8
How much CO2 will be stranded in the atmosphere?
about 1/5
What does carbonic acid do to rocks and minerals
Chemical weathering
When will we run out?
Coal- 114
Gas- 53
Oil- 51
