Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Geo Final
Climate Change to Environmental Science
30
Science
Not Applicable
05/02/2008

Additional Science Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Ice Age
Definition

1. Worldwide change in sea level

2. Changes in evaporation rates

3. Changes in stream courses

4. Forces migration of animals and changes plant distribution

5. Extinction

Term
Causes of Glaciation
Definition

1. Position of land

2. Variation in Earth's orbit

     - Eccentricity- shape of orbit (100k); shape varies

     - Obiquity- tilt of Earth's axis (41k); angle changes

     - Precession- rotation of the axis (26k); E's axis wobbles

Term

Do volcanoes warm or cool the Earth?

Definition

- Dust and CO2 result in cooling

- SO2, NO4, and water vaper result in warming

-Net effect: short term cooling

Term
Natural Climate Change
Definition
  1. Volcanoes
  2. Biological productivity
  3. Land cover
  4. Sunspots/solar flares
  5. Cosmic Dust
  6. Ocean circulation patterns (probably too long term)
  7. Milankovitch cycles (too long term)
  8. Plate Tectonics (WAY to long term)
Term

Anthropogenic Climate Change

 

Definition
  1. Greenhouse gas emission
  2. Land use
  3. Removal of forests
  4. Mining
  5. Tilling of Soil
  6. Cow Farts
  7. Landfills
Term

Impacts of Global Warming

 

Definition

-Financial:

    -$50 billion/yr in additional agricultural products

    -$100 billion/yr in additional insurance losses

    -Relocating Farms, fishing areas,recreation areas

-Biological extinctions

-Loss of water supply

-Changes in weather patterns

-Cooling (!?)

-Increased frequency of oceanic storms like hurricanes (not enough data yet)

-Increased distribution of pests and diseases (probably restricted to a few regions, some studies are inconclusive)

Term

How the Maldives formed

 

Definition

     Warming=melting of ice=Sea level rise

Term

Types of Resources

 

Definition

-Renewable resources: Can be replenished over short time spans

-Nonrenewable resources: significant deposits take millions of years to form

Term
Where is Oil and Natural Gas?
Definition

-Hydrocarbon compounds are found in similar environments

    -Derived from remains of marine plants and animals

Term
Common Oil Traps
Definition

1. Anticline Trap

2. Salt Dome Trap

3. Fault Trap

4. Structural Trap

Term
Where does Coal come from?
Definition

- Formed from plant material

- Problems:

   1. environmental damage from mining

   2. air pollution

Term
Tar Sands
Definition

-clay and sand combined with water and bitumen

-Problems: CO2 emission,

Term
Oil Shales
Definition

- fine-grained rock with abundant hydrocarbons

      -(Green River formation)

-Problems: land waste, water disposal, water use, waste water management, and air pollution (sulfur gas emission, oxidation of buried minerals causes acid drainage) 

Term

Alternate Energy Sources

Definition

-90% of the world's energy needs are derived from nonrenewable fossil fuels

1. Nuclear energy

2. Solar energy (thermal)

3. Tidal energy: high tide fills reservoir, creates energy at low tide

4. Hydroelectric power

5. Geothermic energy

6. Wind energy

Term
Mineral Resources
Definition

-Commercially useful earth materials

Term
Reserves
Definition

-identified depostits of mineral resources that can be extracted profitably

    -profitability depens on high concentration and technology

Term
Resources
Definition

-include known and unknown deposits not economically or technologically recoverable

Term
Concentration of mineral resources by igneous processes
Definition

-magmatic segregation/fractional crystallization

   :Seperation of crystallized minerals and residual melt

 

Term
Hydrothermal Deposits (concentration through igneous processes)
Definition

-most from hot, metal-rich fluids leftr over from late-stage magmatic segregation

-metallic ions precipitated to produce vein deposits and disseminated deposits

Term
Hydrothermal vents
Definition

-SULFUR

-Black smokers: hotter; iron, magnesium

-White smokers: cooler; silica, barium, calcium

Term

Making Diamonds

 

Definition

-Crystallize in mantle (120-200km)

-Diamond bearing pipes: Kimberlites

Term
Concentration of mineral resources through metamorphic processes
Definition

-Contact metamorphism: When limestone is the parent rock, CO2 is deposited, allowing metal ions to migrate

-Regional metamorphism also generates useful deposits such as Talc and Graphite

Term

concentration of mineral resources through Sedimentary Weathering

Definition

-Secondary enrichment concentrates metals

    -Aluminum: Bauxite (main ore of aluminum); undesirable elements leached away

    -Copper: Malachite (common ore of copper); sulfuric acid dissolves copper and carries it deeper into the soil

Term
Concentration of Mineral Resources through Sedimentary Sorting
Definition

-Placer deposits: alluvium deposit containing valuable minerals.

     -formed by heavy minerals sorted by currents into a trap site

Term
Nonmetallic Mineral Resources
Definition

- Mineral resources arent restricted to just minerals

-Two groups of nonmetallic resources:

  1. Building materials (Aggregate: gravel, sand)

  2. Industrial materials (Fertilizers:phosphate, potassium; Sulfur; Salt)

       -Others are much rarer, and may be transported great distances

 

Term
What is Environmental Science?
Definition

-Environment=surroundings

    1. Physical-air, water, land

    2. Biological-plants, animals

    3. Social and cultural-ethics, economics, aesthetics, politics

Term
Problem with Environment
Definition

-Myth of Superabundance

   -Over-fishing

-Human population growth (1.2%/yr)

    2100: 20 bill

    2200: 66 bill

    2300: 218 bill

Term
Environmental Impacts
Definition
  1. 390 million gallons of petroleum into the ocean per year
  2. Pollution: Sewage, Metals, Trash
  3. Anoxic waters: sea water depleted of oxygen
  4. Introduced species
Term
Keys to Sustainability
Definition

-Don't pollute faster than the Earth can assimilate

-Don't consume faster than the Earth can repenish

Term
Environmental Geology
Definition

-study of the interaction of humans with the geologic environment

1. managing geological and hydrogeological resources such as fossil fuels, minerals, water (surface and ground water), and land use.

2. defining and mitigating exposure of natural hazards on humans

managing industrial and domestic waste disposal and

3. minimizing or eliminating effects of pollution, and

performing associated activities, often involving litigation.

Supporting users have an ad free experience!