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Biosphere
Context within which life exists
Population
A population comprises all the individuals of a given species in a specific area or region at a certain time
Communities
Community refers to all the populations in a specific area or region at a certain time and their interactions.
Ecosystem
Ecosystems are a self sustaining association of living plants and animals and their nonliving physical environment
Biome
large, stable, terrestrial or aquatic ecosystem classified by the predominant vegetation type and the adaptations to that environment.
Habitat
environment in which an organism resides or biologically is adapted to live.
Niche
function, or occupation of a life form in a given community.
Mutualism
associations between pairs of species that bring mutual benefit.
Parasitism
obtain food at the expense of their hosts and prey
Autotrophs
Produce their own food
Heterotrohps
Consumers; have to obtain food from outside source
Decomposers
Digest organic debris outside their bodies and release nutrients in the process
Photosynthesis
6Co2+6H2O+Sunlight=C6H12O6+6O2
Net Primary Productivity
Takes account for Loss.
Life Zones
Originally=Alexander Humboldt, Elevation Modern= Hart Merriam, temp and Precip
Succession
organized change in community, from simple to complex
Primary Succession
establishment of plants on land that has not been previously vegetated
Secondary Succession
is the invasion of a habitat by plants on land that was previously vegetated.
Tropical Rain Forests
1.) Most diverse expression of life 2.) High Precip=ITCZ 3.) High Temp=Insolation 4.) Big Trees 5.) Cancer Drugs 6.) Half of all Species
Tropical Savanna
1.) Grasslands 2.) Almost half of surface 3.) warm 4.) distinct wet and dry 5.) scattered trees and shrubs 6.) Heterotrophs 7.) Xerophytes
Xerophytes
Have adaptations that help them conserve water
Deserts
1.) Hot and dry 2.) Continental 3.) Large Temp Variations 4.) Low Precip=Subtropical high 5.) Little biomass 6.) Succulents 7.) Jojoba 8.) atacama Desert
Succulents
thick, fleshy plant tissue, hold water well, needles for protection
Jojoba
Plant that you get oil from for shampoo, vertically oriented leaves-less transpiration
Atacama Desert
Dryest place on earth
Temperate Deciduous Forest
1.) Deciduous Trees dominate 2.) Coniferous Trees 3.) Common NA animals
Deciduous Trees
trees that lose their leaves, so they dont lose water
Coniferous trees
Evergreen trees- trees that do not lose their leaves, cant store as much water, less transpiration
Temperate Rain Forest
1.) High Rainfall 2.) High diversity 3.) Some of tallest trees in world 4.) Coastal RedWood 5.) Northern Spotted Owl
Coastal Redwood tree
largest trees in world, 30 stories high
Mediterranean Shrubland
1.) Hot Dry seasons=subtropical high 2.) Mild, wet winters=subpolar lows 3.) shrubland-short plant, multiple stems 4.) Schlerophyllous 5.) fires 6.) Santa Ana Winds deeper roots, eastward, wetter, being converted to farmland
Schlerophylls leaves
small, hard, waxy leaves
Midlatitude Grassland
1.) Lower Precip 2.) Continental 3.) Steppe 4.) Great Plains 5.) Argentina-Beef 6.) Crops 7.) most heavily modified 8.) Tall and Short Grass 9.) Grasses dependent on fire
Tall Grass
deeper roots, eastward, wetter, being converted to farmland
Short grass
middle US, westward, dense leaves and roots
Boreal Forest (Taiga)
1.) Subartic 2.) Short summers, Long winters 3.) Precip=Snow 4.) Coniferous Trees Dominate 5.) Discontinuous Permafrost 6.) Cone Serotiny 7.) Giant Sequoia
Cone Seroteny
cones open, and release seeds in presence of heat and fire
Giant Sequoia
3000 years old, 810 tons in weight, similar to redwood
Tundra (Artic/Alpine)
1.) Short Summer, Long Winter 2.) Scarce trees 3.) shrubs, and low line vegetation 4.) Continuous Permafrost 5.) Few Deep Roots ^^^^ 6.) low level of diversity 7.) Concern for melting permafrost
Earths Interior
1.) Thin Crust 2.) Upper Mantle 3.) Lower Mantle 4.) Outer Core 5.) Inner Core
How they came up with idea of earths interior?
1.) Magnetic field from iron core 2.) Path of seismic waves and ability to detect
Crust
1.) Thin shell 2.) Ocean Crust- more dense 3.) Continental Crust- less dense 4.) When they come in contact=ocean crust sinks beneath
Magma
molten rock
Igneous Rock
cooled magma
Sediment
weathering and erosion of igneous rock
Sediment Rock
sediment compacts
Metamorphic rock
sediment rock heated and pressurized
Plate Tectonics
1.) Earths crust is not 1 solid piece 2.) Alfred Wegener first proposed- Cont. Drift 3.) Rocks are same on different continents 4.) Species " " " " " 5.) coal in Anartica- formed by tropical plants 6.) Continental Drift
Pangea
1.) One large continent 2.) believe it split through millions of years
Magma
1.) Molten Rock 2.) Comes through cracks in earths surface
Lava
1.) when magma comes through earths surface
Ocean to Ocean Convergent
1.) Creates Volcanic Island Chains 2.) When ocean plates collide into each other
Ocean to Continent Convergent
1.) Ocean plates collide into land 2.) Creates long mtn Chains of Volcanic Islands on pacific coasts of America 3.) Ocean subducts under lighter cont. plate 4.) Trenches, volcanoes and Earthquakes
Continent to Continent Convergent
1.) Crustal plats converge 2.) Creates Earthquakes 3.) Mtn Range formed at plate boundries
Divergent Plates
1.) Plates Separate 2.) Volcano eruptions 3.) Plates move apart from each other 4.) Primary Succession potential 5.) Creates gap in surface
Pacific Ring of Fire
Ring of volcanic activity and seismic waves surrounding the pacific coast
Mariana Trench
1.) East of Phillipenes 2.) the deepest Trench in the world, over 7 miles
Hot Spots
1.) Holes where magma rises up 2.) How Hawaii Formed 3.) Individual sights of upward movements from the mantle 4.) Forms new Islands
Earthquakes
1.) Divergent plates creates stress 2.) When energy is released, called earthquake 3.) Epicenter 4.) Focus
Epicenter
1.) Point on Earths surface directly above the focus
Focus
1.) Point of origin of earthquake
Scales for Earthquakes
1.) Mercalli 2.) Moment Magnitude Scale
Mercalli Earthquake Scale
1.) Qualitive measure of how strong and amount of damage
Moment Magnitude Scale
1.) How to measure the amount of energy released 2.) Logarithmic scale
Tsunamis
1.) Harbor waves
How Tsunamis Form
1.) Plate boundary slips 2.) Earthquake happens 3.) Displaces Water 4.) Builds up as wave 5.) Hits shore and caused damage 6.) Hard to detect, bc they happen so fast
Volcanos
1.) vent that magma rises up out of and builds a mountain
AA Lava
1.) Jagged 2.) Sharp 3.) Thick Lava
Pahoehoe Lava
1.) Smooth 2.) Slow moving lava
Pyroclastic Flow
1.) Bits of pulverized rock and fire mixed together
Viscosity
1.) Resistance to flow 2.) Less viscous- less severe eruptions 3.) More viscous- more severe eruptions; it clogs vent, builds up pressure and explodes
Shield Volcano
1.) Less viscous lava 2.) Gentle sloped 3.) Effusive (not explosive) 4.) Hawaii
Cinder Cone
1.) Bits of hot rocks and clasts 2.) When they explode the rocks and clasts build up around vent 3.) Smaller 4.) Explosive 5.) Paricutin in Mexico
Stratovolcano (Composite Cone)
1.) layers of alternating cooled lava and clasts by stratification 2.) Mt. Fiji 3.) Explosive 4.) high Viscosity 5.) Magma and gas build up psi-explosive 6.) Often they are most Destructive
Caldera
1.) Huge Volcano 2.) Eruption is so violent that top of Mtn collapses into itself 3.) Craters in Lake Oregon
Explosive
The gasses build up to high psi, bc the magma rises to top then cools, blocking off vent, once enough psi builds up it explodes. More Viscous Magma
Effusive
Less viscous magma, not explosive
Weathering
1.) Breaking down of rock
Erosion
1.) Movement away of broken down rock
Physical Weathering
1.) Frost action/Freeze thaw 2.) Salt Crystal Growth 3.) Exfoliation
Frost action/Freeze thaw
1.) Water Gets in crack 2.) Freezes, then thaws 3.) Widens crack 4.) Forces Rock apart 5.) Increases surface area 6.) Microthermal climate, high elevation 7.) Layers of hard rock and soft rock 8.) Patterns in the Artic are example
Salt Crystal Weathering
1.) Water gets in rock along with salt 2.) Salt builds up into crystals 3.) Adds force to rock 4.) Slowly splits it apart 5.) Near oceans, and arid deserts 6.) Can make honeycomb looking things called tafoni's
Tafoni
Honey comb looking things on rock where salt crystal weathering has taken place. Happens near oceans.
Exfoliation
1.) Magma beneath surface rises 2.) Cools (pluton), making rock over head 3.) overhead rock causes over burden
Chemical Weathering
1.) Breakdown of rock due to chemical reaction
Oxidation
1.) Chemical breakdown of rock (usually metallic) w/ the presence of water. 2.) Makes red appearance (rust) 3.) warm, moist environment
Carbonation
1.) Chemical breakdown of rock from reaction of CO2 with water 2.) Produces acids that eat away rock
Mass Movements 4 types:
1.) Creeps 2.) Falls 3.) Landslides 4.) Flows Driest_______________________________Saturated Slowest | Creep Flows | Landslides Flows | Falls Flows Fastest
Creeps
1.) Gradual 2.) Mass movement of surface soil 3.) Soil Creep 4.) Occurs with frost action 5.) Human Activity, cattle 6.) dry
Falls
1.) Mass movement at faster rate 2.) little to intermediate water content 3.) Mtn Regions
Landslides
1.) Sudden, rapid movement of cohesive mass of bedrock that is not saturated with moisture 2.) High Rainfall 3.) Marine west coast
Mudflow
1.) Fast movement of rock and mud 2.) High moisture 3.) If this happens stay in car and buckle seat belt
Lahar
1.) Mudflow on a volcano 2.) Water from snow melted by heat from lave
Solifluction
1.) Slow moving of saturated soil in Artic 2.) Snow Melts 3.) Carries saturated soil away slowly
Scarification
1.) Humans are involved in mass movement 2.) Ore piled up that cannot use-Mine tailings
Fluvial
Rivers, streams, water flow, etc....
Drainage Basin
1.) Control what comes in and out of river basin 2.) Local Scale
Drainage Divide
1.) Dividing line between drainage basins 2.) Local Scale
Rills/Gullies
1.) Carved into landscapes 2.) Cuts into land 3.) Start at high elevation 4.) Flows down, cutting into land 5.) Water adds up, builds into streams
Discharge
1.) amount of water that flows through section per unit of time 2.) Help know how dangerous river are 3.) Helps estimate when and how large a flood 4.) Gullies merge-discharge becomes higher 5.) Faster river flows- more availability to erosion and weathering 6.) Dissolv…
Dissolved load
chemically weathered
Suspended load
Particles you can see
Bed load
Larger rocks
Braided Stream
1.) No definite channel 2.) Areas with lots of sediments deposited 3.) Mud 4.) Chokes on sediment 5.) Mtn and Glaciers
Meandering Stream
1.) Single, Definite channel 2.) Each curve is a meandering 3.) Changes over time due to flooding, deposit.
Oxbow Lake
1.) Former Meander becomes isolated from the rest of the river 2.) When meandering stream curves meet 3.) Water takes shortest path
Point bar
1.) Where velocity is the slowest 2.) Where sediment is built up and deposited 3.) Builds little beach looking things 4.) usually on the inside of curve
Cut bank
1.) Bend in stream where velocity is highest 2.) Usually on the outside of curve
Delta
1.) Where river slows down and sediments are deposited 2.) High biodiversity 3.) Hunting and fishing is good 4.) Wetlands help to filter out Pollutants 5.) Example is Mississippi River delta
Alpine Glacier
1.) Mtn Glaciers 2.) High Altitude 3.) Form from gradual build up of snow 4.) Alps, Rockies, Hemilaya, Andies, Kilimenjaro
Continental Glaciers
1.) Large Area 2.) High latitude 3.) Antartica 4.) Greenland
Cirque
1.) Bowl Shaped formation 2.) Where old river or drainage basin was 3.) Moves down and converges to form large glaciers 4.) When they merge they make valley glaciers
Tidewater Glacier
1.) Valley Glacier that extends all the way to the ocean 2.) Front is suceptable to melting by ocean water 3.) Ice melts and breaks up-forming icebergs
Calving
1.) Breaking off and formation of ice bergs from tidewater glaciers
Valley Glacier
1.) Cirque glacier formed together were river was
Accumulation Zone
1.) Snow falls and accumulates 2.) weight increases and compresses into ice 3.) Starts to flow downhill 4.) Net gain if Accumulation is greater than ablation
Ablation Zone
1.) Rate of loss of ice is greater than gain 2.) sucseptable to melting 3.) Sublimation- ice to gas
Crevasses
1.) difference in psi in glacier 2.) Causes glacier to move at different speeds 3.) To relieve psi, makes break in glacier called a creavass
Plucking
1.) Act of picking up rocks and grinding along glacier
Abrasion
1.) the lines that rock form on glaciers from plucking 2.) Grinding on surface
Arete
1.) Sharp, knife like 2.) Form between Cirque 3.) Susceptible to more erosion 4.) If erosion occurs its called a Col
Col
1.) Where Arete is worn down 2.) Saddle shaped formation formed from eroded Aretes
Horn
1.) Sharp 2.) Triangular peak around cirque 3.) Sharp pyramid shapes around cirque
Hanging Valley/Waterfall
1.) Series of Cirque Glaciers meet with Valley Glaciers 2.) Valley Glacier cuts into rock deeper than cirque 3.) When they recede they make hanging valley, and often a waterfall
Fjord
1.) Type of Tidewater Glacier 2.) Flooded U shape Valley 3.) Carves out land till below sea level 4.) When glacier retreats it forms a Fjord, water then floods river bc its below sea level
Till (Glacial Drift)
1.) Rocks dropped by glacier 2.) Find braided stream bc lots of sediments
Erratics (Glacial Drift)
1.) Big boulders piled up by glacier 2.) after piled and become to large they drop
Moraines (Glacial Drift)
Small hills or mounds of till 1.) Lateral- forms side of glacier 2.) Medial- when lateral merge from valley glacier 3.) Terminal- farthest extent glacier has reached.
Lateral Moraine
1.) Forms side of glacier
Medial Moraine
1.) When lateral moraine merge from two valley glaciers
Terminal Moraine
1.) Farthest extent glacier has reached. 2.) Picks up till and drops it at bottom
Freeze Thaw Causes
1.) Rock Falls in Mountains 2.) Rocks Splitting 3.) Patterned Ground in Artic 4.) Cracked and Pothole Roads
Salt Crystal Growth causes
1.) Niches in Canyons 2.) Tafonis
oxidation Causes
1.) rust 2.) red soils

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