Term
| Formation of the Atmosphere |
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Definition
-Took the appearance of life on Earth to add oxygen
-Oxygen formed the ozone
-Earth's atmosphere today consists mostly of volcanic gas modified by interaction with sunlight, land, and life
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Term
| Atmosphere of Other Planets Compared to Earth |
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Definition
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Term
| Atmosphere layers in order |
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Definition
Earth's Surface
Troposphere
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Thermosphere(Ionosphere) |
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Term
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Definition
Starts at Earth's surface and rises 5km
Known as the weather layer |
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Term
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Definition
Temperature remains and stable and stratified
Ozone is in this layer |
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Term
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Definition
| Temperature decreases with height throughout |
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Term
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Definition
Very little gas
Very hot
Reflects radio waves back to Earth
Stops UV light and heat (unique to Earth) |
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Term
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Definition
| Because the troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere have essentially the same gas composition |
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Term
| Why is Earth's atmosphere unique? |
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Definition
It sustains life
Venus's atmosphere is very hot and heavy (would crush us)
Mars's atmosphere is very thin |
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Term
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Definition
Nitrogen-- 78.08%
Oxygen-- 20.95%
Trace gases-- .97% (greenhouse gases important for regulating Earth's temperature) |
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Term
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Definition
The lower you are in the atmosphere the heavier you are because more vapor is weighing down on you
Warm air rises
Cool air sinks |
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Term
| Water Vapor Holding Capacity |
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Definition
Water holding capacity is a function of temperature
Precipitation is initiated by cooling of air because warm air can hold more vapor than cold air |
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Term
| Trace Gases-- What are they? |
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Definition
CO2, CH4 (methane), greenhouse gases
O3 (ozone), radon
Aerosols and pollutants |
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Term
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Definition
Moves from high pressure to low pressure (Convection Cell)
Creates Wind
Rotation of planet causes air to move |
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Term
| Heat Distribution-- Why is the planet unevenly heated? |
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Definition
Planet rotation
Curved surface of the planet
Travels around the sun
Tilted |
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Term
| Hadley's Theory-- Why it was wrong? |
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Definition
| Did not factor in the rect that the Earth rotates |
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Term
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Definition
Earth Rotation
Anything traveling towards the pole will be effectively deflected East
Travel towards the Equator deflects to the West |
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Term
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Definition
A place where air separates into 2 flows moving in opposite directions
Air sinks, and we have high pressure |
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Term
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Definition
| A place where 2 surface air flows meet so that air has to rise and create low pressure |
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Term
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Definition
| The state of the atmosphere at a specific place and time |
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Term
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Definition
| The long-term average of weather in an area |
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Term
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Definition
Named after where they form
Changing air masses can change local weather |
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Term
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Definition
| Warm air goes over cold air horizontally |
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Term
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Definition
| Warm air tries to go through cold front but ends up going straight up and rising |
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Term
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Definition
Follow the Interconverging zone (ITCZ)
Rain fall converges around this line
Line shifts during el nina/la nino |
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Term
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Definition
Outside of tropical area
Temperate storms |
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Term
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Definition
| Rotates counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere |
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Term
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Definition
Air rises and deflects
-NH:right(counterclockwise) around low pressure
-SH:left(clockwise) around high pressure |
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Term
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Definition
Tropical storms, hurricanes(typhoon)
26 degrees Celsius minimum to form
Counter-clockwise rotation in NH (opposite in SH)
Travels from east to west within the easterly wind belt |
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Term
| Earthquakes causing Tsunamis |
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Definition
Under-water earthquakes have higher magnitude than land
After an earthquake occurs it takes a long time for that area to have another earthquake
Earthquake must happen underwater in order to produce a tsunami |
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Term
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Definition
Speeds up Earth's rotation
Changes rotation axis |
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Term
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Definition
Moon and Sun
Earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides and storms
Wind |
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Term
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Definition
Circular motion of all molecules in a wave pushes it forward
Wave motion penetrates the water column to 1/2 the wavelength
Tsunami waves have wavelengths of 200km
Tsunami waves get very high at the shoreline |
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Term
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Definition
| Use soil and landscape to approximate wave height and tell where tsunamis happened |
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Term
| Why are satellites not always in geostationary orbits? |
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Definition
Launch costs are high because it needs a rocket
The signals are weaker because they are farther away from Earth
Rotate on gravitational pull |
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Term
| Majority of scientific satellites are Low Earth Orbiters because |
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Definition
They evolve around the Earth much quicker than geostationary
Need fuel to maintain orbit
Shorter life span |
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Term
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Definition
Measure the reflected sunlight or thermal radiation
Detect sunlight radiation reflected from the earth
They do not emit their own radiation, but receive natural light |
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Term
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Definition
| Science discipline to study the size, shape, and changes to planets |
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Term
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Definition
Emit artificial radiation to monitor the earth surface or atmospheric features
They do not depend on daylight and are hardly affected by clouds, dust, fog, wind and bad weather conditions. |
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Term
| Triangulation & Satellites |
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Definition
| Need 3 different satellites in order for a GPS to know where you are |
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Term
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Definition
| measures the time taken by a radar pulse to travel from the satellite antenna to the surface and back to the satellite receiver. Combined with precise satellite location data, altimetry measurements yield sea-surface heights |
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Term
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Definition
| Variation in depth of ocean floor |
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Term
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Definition
Reflects the balance between the addition of freshwater and evaporation
Depends of temperature (warm water can hold more salt)
Salinity of ocean changes with depth |
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Term
| Causes of Ocean Circulation |
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Definition
Earth rotation/Coriolis effect
Surface currents-- wind, uppermost 10% of ocean
Gravity
Solar heating and salinity
Continents and seafloor topography |
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Term
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Definition
Large circular flow patterns
Clockwise in Norther seas and counterclockwise in southern |
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Term
| Direction of water movement is |
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Definition
| Approximately 90 degrees to the right of the wind in the North |
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Term
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Definition
Interaction of current velocity with Earth rotation
Causes water column to spiral |
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Term
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Definition
| Water pressure equilibrium in an area so it rotates into a gyre |
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Term
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Definition
Brings heat from the equator to areas above and below the equator
Upwelling and downwelling driven by density |
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Term
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Definition
Wind drags water along surface
Develops near coast
Oversupply of water develops along shore and must sink
Warm, nutrient poor |
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Term
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Definition
Water moves away from coast so there is a shortage of water at coast so water moves upwards
cold, nutrient rich |
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Term
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Definition
Deflects right in N and left of wind in S because of Coriolis effect
Upwelling causes the surface of the equator to be cooler and nutrient rich |
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Term
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Definition
Thermohaline Circulation: cold, salty water sinks
Forms at high latitudes because of ice and temperature
Deep water circulation can be very slow |
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Term
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Definition
| Created as water is added to the surface |
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Term
| 2 sources that generate stream flows |
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Definition
Gravity: pulls water down
Friction: resists water flow (river bottom, side of river)
These two forces work against each other |
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Term
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Definition
Erosion of soil
Downcutting in channels
Softer the material, the easier this is |
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Term
| Dendritic drainage networks |
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Definition
| Branching, or treelike network of drainage |
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Term
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Definition
Typically centered on a point of uplift
More downhill gradient, water ail move more quickly and carve paths |
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Term
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Definition
Exorheic: basins that drain to the ocean
Endorheic: basins that drain to inland lakes: water never reaches the ocean |
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Term
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Definition
Skinnier, and deeper: less friction
Wide, and shallow: more friction
Velocity slows with friction
Velocity increases farther from the banks
Wetted perimeter: length of bank in contact with stream |
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Term
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Definition
| Rivers carry both solid particles and dissolved sediments |
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Term
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Definition
High velocity= larger grain transport
As river velocities decrease, larger grains drop out on the bed |
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Term
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Definition
| As you move downstream: slope decreases, cross sectional shape becomes wider and shallower (sediment at the end makes it shallower, and friction makes it expand wider) |
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Term
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Definition
After meander develops (because of soft material being eroded) erosion increases and creates a cut bank on outer bank
Increases meander and makes it more sinous
Cutoff occurs and creates an ox bow lake-- river becomes less sinous |
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Term
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Definition
1. Uplift happens (mountain building)
2. Water starts flowing down
3. Erosion creates meandering
4. Erosion creates flatter land and fertile soil
Streamflows are a major agent of change |
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Term
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Definition
One stream captures flow from another
Results from headward erosion and built up sediment
Results in a dry channel |
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Term
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Definition
Too much water
Make massive changes to the landscape quickly
Deposit and erode dramatic amounts of sediment |
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