midterm part 2 Flashcards
What is the latent heat of vaporization of water?
540 cal/gr - Amount of energy required to break all the hydrogen bonds to have water vapor
At what temperature is water denser?
Most substances increase density as temperature decreases (True for liquid water but only above 4oC = 39o F
Does water have a low or high heat capacity?
Water has a very high heat capacity because of the great number of hydrogen bonds = Resists changing temperature when heat is added or removed
What does temperature measure?
Heat (Transfer of energy) - measures how rapidly molecules are vibrating. Is the object’s response to input or removal of heat
How much heat per gram of Granite you need to raise it 1 degree? How much for aluminium, for water, etc? Which one has a higher heat capacity granite or water?
Granite (0.20) Aluminium (0.22) Water (1.00) - water has highest heat capacity
How many states does water has on earth?
solid, liquid, gas.
Why does ice float?
Water increases density as temperature decreases, expanding about 9% as
the ice crystal forms, that is why ice floats on liquid water (less dense)
At what percentage does water expands in crystal ice form?
9%
Why water is liquid? From the heat/energy point of view?
between 0 and 100 degrees - high heat capacity
What are hydrogen bonds? What are chemical bonds?
Chemical bond: energy relationship formed when electrons are shared between atoms or moved from one atom to another
Hydrogen bonds: the + end of one water molecule (H+) bonds to the end of another water molecule (O-
What is the thermal inertia of the water?
high heat capacity, 1c -Ocean absorbs heat from sunlight, but temperature rises very little (high heat capacity). Water’s thermal inertia (resist change temperature ) prevents broad swings of temperature. Heat stored in the ocean during day and released at night (summer-winter)
Which one transfers more heat water vapor or liquid water (ocean)? Why?
Water vapor transfers much more heat than ocean currents (high latent heat of vaporization of water)
Why does the salinity of the ocean not change?
Dissolved salts precipitate out of the water and are bound into sediments
What is the consequence in the ocean and the atmosphere to unequal solar heating? (Ocean currents and atmospheric weather)
convection - regulation of climate
How many million square kilometers of the Antartic Ocean are frozen and liquified every year between summer and winter?
20 million square km
What are the thermal properties of water vapor?
Water vapor can storage and transfer huge amounts of energy because of its latent heat of vaporization (540 calories/gr)
What is a salinometer?
measures salinity
How does the transfer of heat from the Equator to the poles work?
Caused by convection currents because of the unequal solar heating
What is the highest and lowest temperature registered on land?
50oC to -90oC a variation of around 140oC
What is the percentage of salinity of the ocean?
Average 3,5 gr/liter
What are the different types of salts contained in the ocean?
Most of dissolved solids in seawater are salts separated into ions, the most common are chloride and sodium ions, sulfate, mag
What are the different layers of density zones in the ocean?
surface zone/mixed - pycnocline - deep zone
What is a water mass?
Water mass: Body of water with characteristic temperature and salinity
What are the two light zones?
euphotic - aphotic
How much light and infrared does the first meter of water absorb?
First meter of water absorbs 71 % of light and all infrared
What is the density of water? (pure and ocean ́s water)
Density of water (pure = 1.000 g/cm3; sea water 1.020-1.030 g/cm3)
What does Active Sonar stand for?
Sound Navigation And Ranging -
• Projection and return through water of short pulses of high-frequency sound • Used to search for objects in the ocean
What is the speed of sound in the ocean
about 1,500 meters per second
When does refraction of light occurs in the ocean?
Occurs when light or sound wave moves between two mediums with different densities
What are high levels of Co2 (in the ocean) good for?
High levels of CO2 are good for increasing the photosynthesis in the ocean
Do sea grasses grow better in lower or higher levels of CO2?
high
When pH changes 1 unit, the concentration of H+ will change by how many folds?
1 fold
Have we empirically observed the correlation between the increase in the CO2 dissolved in the ocean and the descent in the pH (increase in acidity)?
yes
Why is it important to do research about ocean acidification?
We need to know what
exactly the problem to solve it
How is ocean acidification reaction?
- When CO2 dissolves in seawater, carbonic acid is produced via the reaction:
CO2 + H2O H2cO3
• This carbonic acid dissociates in the water, releasing hydrogen ions and
bicarbonate: H2cO3 H+ + HcO3
how does ocean acidification affect marine life?
- High levels of CO2 in the ocean severely affects living organisms, because the lower the pH, the more difficult
for the organisms is to get carbonate (CO3) to produce calcium carbonate (CaCO3) (corals, shells, bones…).
That produces a biodiversity decline. - A reduction in plankton abundance thus affects the entire marine food chain
- It also reduces the oceans ability to absorb carbon dioxide, since the plankton use carbon dioxide to create
organic matter, and excrete oxygen as a by-product
Is photosynthetic activity negatively affected by ocean acidification?
Ocean acidification (OA) has the potential to affect photosynthetic kinetics due to increasing seawater pCO2 levels and lower pH.
Do fishes hear? How?
yes.
Affect: Reduced hearing ability in anemone fish (clown fish) larvae
• Deformed morphology of CaCO3 fish ear bones (otoliths)
• Disruption of acid-base balance in neuro-sensory system
• Fitness effect: lower survival due to higher predation.
carbon cycle
The carbon cycle describes the process in which carbon atoms continually travel from the atmosphere to the Earth and then back into the atmosphere. … Carbon is released back into the atmosphere when organisms die, volcanoes erupt, fires blaze, fossil fuels are burned, and through a variety of other mechanisms.
acid
substance that releases a hydrogen ion (H+) in
solution
base
substance that combines with a hydrogen ion
in solution. Basic solution also called alkaline
atmospheric gasses
- Nitrogen 79 %
- Oxygen >20 %
- Carbon dioxide 0.04 %
- Argon 0.96 %
gasses dissolved in ocean
Nitrogen 48 %
• Oxygen 36 % (6 mg/l)
• Carbon dioxide 15 % (CO2 very soluble in water)
• Ocean absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere
Salinity
a measure of the dissolved salt in content of water
how much of the carbon dioxide (CO2) is released by humans into the atmosphere dissolves into oceans, rivers and lakes?
An estimated 30–40%
ocean acidification
The ongoing decrease in the pH
of the Earth’s oceans, caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere
what happens for every unit decrease on the pH scale?
the hydrogen ion concentration has
increased 10-fold.
what are the biological affects of ocean acidification?
Photosynthesis, calcification, other physiological affects.
geo-engineering
deliberate and large-scale intervention in the Earth’s climate system
Layers of atmosphere
Exosphere -> Thermosphere -> Mesosphere -> Stratosphere -> Troposphere
atmosphere
is composed of the volume of gases,
water vapor, and airborne particles that envelops
Earth
weather
atmospheric state at a specific time and
place
climate
long-term statistical sum of weather in an area
sun radiant energy
Only one part in 2,200 million of the Sun’s radiant energy
is intercepted by Earth (top atmosphere 7 million calories/m2)
• Only half of it is absorbed by the Earth
• Not distributed evenly across planet’s surface
• Varies with latitude and season, angle of sun above horizon,
atmospheric transparency, and surface reflectivity
what happens to absorbed light?
Absorbed light is converted to heat
• Transferred into the atmosphere
• Eventually radiated back into space (infrared)
what does the solar heating of earth vary with?
latitude, seasons
-Near Poles light spreads over a greater area (low anglemore reflection) and filters through more atmosphere
• Polar regions no sunlight during winter
what does earth’s uneven solar heating result in?
large-scale atmospheric circulation
atmospheric circulation
-Air warms, expands, becomes less dense and rises
• Air cools, contracts, becomes denser and falls
convection currents
caused by the difference in temperature between different areas of the surface of the Earth (Poles-Tropics)
The Coriolis effect
The Coriolis effect: the observed deflection of a
moving object
• Caused by the moving frame of reference on the
spinning Earth
-The Earth rotates eastward deflecting moving (objects) air or water from its course
what is the global circulation of air governed by?
uneven solar heating and the rotation of the Earth
types of atmospheric circulation cells
Hadley cells are tropical cells found on each side of
the equator to 30ºN-S
• Ferrel cells are found at the mid-latitudes 30º-60º
N-S
• Polar cells are found near the poles
what does atmospheric circulation generate?
large scale wind patterns
doldrums
the equatorial low
horse latitudes
subtropical high
trade winds easterlies
surface winds of Hadley cells 15º
N-S
Westerlies
surface winds of Ferrel cells 45º N-S
meteorological equator
irregularly imaginary line - 5º N of the Equator
General meteorological equator
Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ)
monsoons
Pattern of wind circulation that changes with the season
• Produced by annual north-south movement of the ITCZ
air density is influenced by
temp and water content
how does density of air change
Air becomes cooler when it expands and warmer when it compress
what happens to absorbed light
Absorbed light is converted to heat, transferred into the atmosphere and eventually
radiated back into space (infrared)
what causes seasons
Earth has a 23.5º tilt on its rotational axis. The tilt causes the seasons
Sea and land breezes
arise from uneven surface heating: Sea breeze-Land breeze
