The Lithosphere Flashcards
What’s the lithosphere?
The hard shell of the Earth, (crust and the top of the upper mantle).
What does the lithosphere contain?
Minerals.
What are minerals and where do they come from?
They’re inorganic substances, (not living) that come from the Earth.
What are the 2 types of minerals?
- Idiochromatic
2. Allochromatic
What is idiochromatic?
If rubbed across unglazed porcelain, it will leave a dark coloured streak, (might make a different colour than the mineral).
What is allochromatic?
If rubbed across unglazed porcelain, it will leave a light coloured streak, regardless of the mineral colour.
What’s the mineral classification?
1.Transparent to 2.Translucent to 3.Opaque
What does translucent mean?
Light passes through at some places.
What’s hardness?
Resistance to being scratched.
What do we use to locate and extract minerals?
Mining.
What is ore?
Rock and mineral.
What is soil created through?
The process of erosion of the parent rock.
What are soil horizons?
Layers of soil.
Classify the different soil horizons in order from the grass to the inner part of the soil.
- Organic materials
- Top Soil
- Subsoil
- Weathered or decomposed rock
- Solid rock
What’s organic materials/matter?
It contains humus, (decomposing plant/animal residue)
What’s topsoil?
A mix of humus and minerals.
What’s subsoil?
Small minerals, (trees get nutrients from this layer).
What’s weathered or decomposed rock/fragmented parent rock?
Disintegrated parent rock
What’s solid rock/unaltered parent rock?
The starting point of soil.
What 4 things alter soil?
- Oxidation, (decomposers/worms)
- Neutralization
- Decomposition
- Contaminants
SOIL BUFFERING CAPACITY: What is soil able to limit?
pH variations
SOIL BUFFERING CAPACITY: What 3 things does soil need to support plant life?
- Enough minerals
- Enough moisture
- An appropriate pH level, (usually 7) for the types of producers
SOIL BUFFERING CAPACITY: What happens when the soil is finer/filtered?
It has a higher resistance to changes in the pH when acids and bases are added to it.
Where does acid rain come from?
From emission SOx and NOx.
What will often acidify soil with low buffering capacity? And why?
Acid rain because it destroys nutrients and kills decomposers which are needed for nutrient recycling.
What’s permafrost?
A layer of permanently frosted soil, (has been 0 degrees Celsius or lower for over 2 years).
What are 3 consequences of permafrost thawing?
- Loss of infrastructure
- Landslides
- Release of stored carbon as CO2, (contributes to global warming!!!)
What are 3 energy resources?
- Fossil Fuels
- Plutonium, (Uranium/Nuclear Energy)
- Geothermal Energy
How much of the world’s electricity is produced by fossil fuels?
2/3
How are oil and natural gas formed?
Small marine animals and dead algae that were covered with silt, sand, and minerals.
How is coal formed?
It’s formed by terrestrial swamps being buried, then were compressed by silt and sand.
What advantage is there to fossil fuels?
Lots of energy
What 2 disadvantages are there to fossil fuels?
- Polluting
2. Non renewable
What energy emits from uranium?
Fission, (splitting the atoms)
What advantage is there to plutonium?
It burns clear.
What 2 disadvantages are there to plutonium?
- Non renewable
2. Waste is radioactive
How is geothermal energy formed?
Water which is deep underground will heat from the Earth’s internal heat which will then raise the water back to the surface.
What do we do with the heated water that raises to the surface?
We transform it into electrical energy or we use it directly to heat/
What 2 advantages are there to geothermal energy?
- Renewable
2. Clean, (no pollutants/emissions)
What 2 disadvantages are there to geothermal energy?
- Small disruption
2. Only useful if we have thermal/volcanic
