65 Cards in this Set
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Plate tectonics
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Describes the large scale motions of the earth.
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Transform boundaries
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Occur where plates slide or perhaps more accurately grind past each other along transform faults.
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convergent boundaries
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Occur when two plates slide towards each other commonly forming either a subduction zone or a continental collision.
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Divergent boundaries
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Occur when two plates slide apart from each other. Mid-ocean ridges, mid-Atlantic ridge,Africa's east African rift.
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B) an unpaid credit card balance that accrues interest.
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Which one is an example of positive feedback?
A) the heating/cooling system of a house
B) an unpaid credit card balance that accrues interest. C) the human body cooling by sweating. D) the level of a lake filled by rain and drained by stream.
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Clean well
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Well that has no contamination from septic tank
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contaminated well
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a well that is contaminated from the septic tank sewage.
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Salt water intrusion
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If there is an abundance of wells there is more likely to be a salt water intrusion. (water from the ocean being pumped up the wells)
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groundwater withdraws result in what?
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Land surface subsidence
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Declining ground water levels....
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four corners and California are the two major areas.
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Name a great American city on a large body of water...
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Albuquerque, NM
The Rio Grand Basin is an underground lake that is bigger than lake Superior.
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What are 4 kinds of Metamorphic rocks?
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--Shale -> slate -> phyllite-> schist -> gneiss
–Basalt -> greenschist-> amphibolite-> granulite
–Limestone-> marble
–Sandstone -> quartziten
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Waste Isolation Power Plant (WIPP)
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Located in Carlsbad, NM.
As of March 2010 WIPP has received 8,275 transuranic waste shipments
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Sandstone
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groundwater flows in pore spaces (blue); high “permeability”.
sedimentary rocks made from small grains of the minerals quartz and feldspar. They often form in layers as seen in this picture. They are often used as building stones.
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granite
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Groundwater flows in fractures only, no pore spaces:Low Porosity
- A usually light-colored igneous rock that is found in continental crust.
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Rates of ground water flow
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relatively slow
- must flow through pore spaces
- <.01m/day to 200m/day
- results in storage of 2 wks to 10000 yrs
Rapid (0.5 M/day) in permeable materials:
–Gravelly sand, limestone
•Very slow (one 1/100 millionth M/day:
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Groundwater Problems
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Urban Areas: Rapid pavement runoff, lowered infiltration: reduced recharge
•Oil, exhaust residues, improper use of chemicals or storage, pollutant washoff
•Groundwater “Mining”: Diminishing groundwater reserves; aquifer compaction and subsidence (and environmental issues)
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What is the Rio Grande compact?
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an agreement between Colorado, New Mexico and Texas on how water from the Rio Grande River will be shared
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colorado river compact (1920s)
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- 7 states divide
- CA gets the largest share
- mexico gets the smallest share (now polluted puddle)
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MONSOONS
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strong winds that blow across south asia at certain times of the year
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compare and contrast El Nino and La nina
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El Nino occurs every 3-7 years in late December. Reverses the surface water direction from west bond to east bound. Warm surface water collects on west coast of south america, preventing upwelling. La Nina is opposite of El Nino. Water temp along coastline south america 3-5 C colder
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El Nino affect on climate?
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In Australia, The 'El Nino Effect" causes drought, lack of water, dry season.
In South Amercia, it causes the COMPLETE opposite. It causes flash flooding, lots of rain, and causes the collapse of the 'Peruvian Fishing Industry' - which is the main fishing industry in South America.
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La Nina's affect on climate?
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Makes tropical areas colder.... much colder
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Global Warming
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The increase of the global average temperature on Earth.
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greenhouse effect
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natural situation in which heat is retained in earths atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane. water vapor, and other gases
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If we basically do nothing, and global CO2 emissions continue to grow at the pace of the last __ years for the next __ years, we will pass the doubling level — an atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide of ___ parts per million — around midcentury.
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30
50
560
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Yucca Mountain, Nevada
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controversial as proposed site for permanent storage of high-level nuclear waste, 70-miles northwest of Las Vegas, near volcano and earthquake faults
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Mass extinctions
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Period of time in which great numbers of species went extinct
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The 5 Earth "Spheres"
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-Atmosphere
-Geosphere
-Magnetosphere
-Hydrosphere
-Biosphere
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Biosphere
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contains the combined portions of the planet in which life exists, including land, water, and air or atmosphere.
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hydrosphere
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hydro=water
water in all its forms
a component of the hydrosphere is the cryosphere = water frozen as snow and ice
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Geosphere
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The mostly solid, rocky part of the Earth; extends from the center of the core to the surface of the crust.
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What is the atmosphere?
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the layer of gases that surround Earth
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magnetoshpere
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is formed when a stream of charged particles, such as the solar wind, interacts with and is deflected by the magnetic field of a planet or similar body
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biochemical cycles
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1. carbon cycle
2. nitrogen cycle
3. sulfur cycle
4. phosphorus cycle
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carbon cycle
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the movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back
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Water Cycle
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Water evaporates from the bodies of water land ad plants and returns when water falls on land to enter the ground, surface water or aquifers.
Human Activities that interfere
-withdraw H2O from aquifers
-Clear vegetation from the ground and build structures that prevent percolation and …
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Why are CO2 levels rising?
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Human activity
Burning of fossil fuels causes increase of carbon dioxide: oil (gas), natural gas, and coal
Burning of wood forest can also increase carbon dioxide levels. (Amazon Rain forest)
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processes that add and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
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The calvin cycle removes carbon dioxide from the air and uses it to form carbohydrates in plants. The burning of fossil fuels releases trapped carbon dioxide from the fuel and releases it back into the atmosphere.
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Calvin Cycle `
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a biochemical pathway of photosynthesis in which carbon dioxide is converted into glucose using ATP and NADPH
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Which country has the highest amount of co2 emissions in the last 3 years?
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China
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The largest reservoir of fresh water in the hydrologic cycle is
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The polar ice caps on Greenland and Antarctica
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An example of a pathway in the carbon cycle would be:
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Photosynthesis and volcanic degassing
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Where were modern long-term measurements of atmospheric CO2 started in the 1950s?
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Mauna Loa Hawaii
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Long term (over 800,000 years) records of atmospheric carbon dioxide come from
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measurements from trapped air bubbles in polar ice caps/cores (Antarctica)
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According to these long term records, preindustrial (i.e. before 1750 AD) atmospheric CO2 levels were about: (ppm = parts per million)
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280 ppm
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Historical global average temperature trends from weather station measurements show a temperature change of this much over the last 150 years
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a warming of about 0.8 degrees C
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The current (2012) measured amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is
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396 ppm
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We can reconstruct past river flows on the Colorado River by looking at
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tree ring chronologies in the Colorado River basin
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The Colorado River Compact allocating water between 7 western states was signed in the 1920s at the same time as what unusual occurrence in the Colorado River basin?
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One of the wettest decades and highest flow amounts in ~500 hundred years
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Procaryotic cells
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most diverse of cells
lack nucleus
unicellular organisms
no internal membrane bound organelles
spherical/rodlike shape
tough cell wall
reproduce quickly
evolve fast = big population
mostly single celled
archaea are prokaryotes
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One crucial characteristic of life is ________, which refers to the entire set of chemical reactions by which an organism derives energy for life processes.
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Metabolism
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Atmospheric Composition
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- 78% Nitrogen
- 21% Oxygen
- .93% Argon
- .035% Carbon Dioxide
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What are the Major Climate Zones?
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Polar Zones
Tropical Zones
Temperate Zones
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Polar zones
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Extend from 66.5 degrees to 90 degrees north and 66.5 to 90 degrees south. Cold climates because sun strikes ground at lower angle
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temperate zones
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sit between polar zones and tropics. Because temperate zones are more affected by the changing angle of the sun, these zones range from hot to cold.
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tropic zones
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is near the equator between 23.5 degrees south and 23.5 degrees north latitude and receives the most direct sunlight.
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Hadley Cell
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An atmospheric cycle of large-scale air movement in which warm equatorial air rises, moves north or south, and then descends at approximately 30°N or 30°S latitude.
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desert belts and pressure relationship
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descending dry air because moisture has already been dropped over the equator
rain- low pressure, rising air
drought- high pressure, dry descending air
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how many belts of high & low rainfall are there?
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3 belts of high
4 belts of low
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Deep Water Formation
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Deep waters are "formed" where the air temperatures are cold and where the salinity of the surface waters are relatively high. The combinations of salinity and cold temperatures make the water denser and cause it to sink to the bottom. The North Atlantic (Labrador and Nordic Seas)
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TROPOSPHERIC WINDS
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Strong winds in troposhpere work against hurricane circulation by “shearing off” the tops of vertical buildups
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Coriolis affect
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The change in the course of winds caused by the earths rotation.
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melting polar ice caps
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release of methane trapped in the tundra under ice, speed of glacial movement increases, shoreline moves, slowing of Gulf Stream (warmer tragical waters, more hurricanes, colder water and weather in europe)
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Sea Ice in the Arctic Ocean
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Pack Ice
Polar Ice
Fast Ice
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ENVS 101: EXAM 2