Unit 2 APES Flashcards
What is a thin spherical envelope of gases surrounding the Earth’s surface?
atmosphere
What consists of the part’s of earth’s air, water, and soil where life is found?
biosphere
What gases does the troposphere mainly consist of?
nitrogen and oxygen
What layer consists of all of the water on or near earth’s surface
hydrosphere
What consists of the earth’s core, mantle, and outer crust
geosphere
What are large regions with distinct climates and certain species adapted to them?
biomes
What are the two types of aquatic life zones called?
freshwater life zones and marine/ocean life zones
What are the three factors that sustain life on Earth?
one-way flow of high-quality energy from the sun, cycling of matter or nutrients through parts of the biosphere, and gravity
What is the natural greenhouse effect?
heat buildup in the troposphere caused by the presence of certain gasses, called greenhouse gases; without this effect, the earth would be nearly as cold as Mars, and life as we know it could not exist
What layer of the atmosphere contains the ozone layer?
stratosphere
What is the core?
the Earth’s innermost zone; extremely hot and has a solid inner part surrounded by a liquid core of molten or semisolid material
What is the mantle?
the thick zone surrounding the core; made mostly of solid rock
What is the zone of hot, partly melted rock that flows and can be deformed like soft plastic?
athenosphere
What are tectonic plates?
various-sized areas of the earth’s lithosphere that move slowly around with the mantle’s flowing asthenosphere
What is the lithosphere?
outer shell of the earth, composed of the crust and the rigid, outermost part of the mantle outside the asthenosphere