APES Unit 3

Examples of organic sedimentary rock

coal, chalk

Some precipitation is converted to ice that is stored in ____, usually for long periods of time

glaciers

five biogeochemical cycles

hydrologic (water), sulfur, phosphorus, carbon and nitrogen

The transfer of water from the oceans to the atmosphere to the land and back to the oceans

hydrologic cycle

Plate tectonics explain global distribution of:

volcanoes, earthquakes, faults, mountain belts, and features of seafloor

four major geological processes included in the carbon-silicate cycle

weathering, transport by ground and surface waters, erosion, & deposition of crustal rocks

How is shale made?

From deposits of sediment (mud)

Define: nitrogen fixation

The process of converting inorganic, molecular nitrogen in the atmosphere to ammonia or nitrate

Define denitrification:

The process of releasing fixed nitrogen back to molecular nitrogen

Metamorphic rocks start from a:

parent rock

What does clastic mean?

particles

A crustal cycle only, doesn't take place in the environment

phosphoric cycle

Why is the phosphorus cycle important?

phosphorus is an essential element for life, often is a limiting nutrient for plant growth (helps plants to make proteins) and used in the process of making nucleic acid

Boundaries between plates are geologically active areas

plate tectonics

The slow movement of these large segments of Earth's outermost rock shell

plate tectonics

A mechanism for explaining Continental Drift-new theory from late 1960's-early 1970's

plate tectonics or the new global technology

Based on convection cells from asthenosphere to crusts

plate tectonics or the new global technology

Interactions of plates build major features of Earth's crust

plate tectonics or the new global technology

Thin, rigid blocks move horizontally

plate tectonics or the new global technology

What determines the magnitude of an earthquake?

richter scale

Numerous processes that produce rocks and soils

rock cycle

Slate is the metamorphic form of:

shale

Most precipitation falling on terrestrial ecosystems becomes ____ ____

surface runoff

This water flows into streams, which eventually carry water back to lakes and oceans, from which it can evaporate to repeat the cycle

surface runoff

Some ____ ____ seeps into the upper layers of soils where it is used by plants, and some evaporates from the soils back into the atmosphere

surface water

Involves creation and destruction of the solid outer layer of Earth, the lithosphere

tectonic cycle

Two cycles the rock cycle depends on and what for

tectonic cycle for energy hydrologic cycle for water

Define reservoirs

temporary storage sites for nutrients in certain portions of their cycles such as the atmosphere, the oceans and other bodies of water, and underground deposits

The processes responsible for formation and change of Earth materials

the geologic cycle

Substantial amounts of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere but apparently not reabsorbed and thus remaining unaccounted for

the missing carbon sink

Involves the movement of phosphorus throughout the biosphere and lithosphere

the phosphorus cycle

The hottest and thinnest layer of the atmosphere

thermosphere

The rest of the earth's water that is not available is:

too salty for us to use, is stored as ice, or is too deep underground to extract at affordable prices using current technology

Occurs where one plate slides past another

transform fault boundary

Two examples of glacial ages and other climate evidence

-Ancient glaciation in modern tropical regions -Direction of glacial flow

Where did life start on Earth?

the ocean

Two objections to continental drift

-Continents cannot "plow" through ocean crust -Gravitational forces associated with tides too small

Two natural processes that purify water

-Evaporation and subsequent precipitation -Chemical and biological processes naturally filters and partially purifies water flowing above ground through streams and lakes and below ground in aquifers, mostly by actions of decomposer bacteria

Edward Bullard fit continents at 2000m water depth in this evidence for continental drift

Puzzle-like fit of continents

Only about ____ of the earth's vast water supply is available to humans and other species as liquid freshwater in accessible groundwater deposits and in lakes, rivers, and streams

0.024%

Two reasons why water is important to earth

1. Dissolves many nutrient compounds and it is a major medium for transporting nutrients within and between ecosystems 2. The primary sculptor of the earth's landscape as it flows over and wears down rock over millions of years

Four pieces of evidence for continental drift

1. Puzzle-like fit of continents 2. Matching sequences of rocks and mountain chains 3. Glacial ages and other climate evidence 4. Distribution of organisms

Three major ways humans alter the water cycle:

1. We withdraw large quantities of freshwater from streams, lakes, and aquifers sometimes at rates faster than nature can replace it 2. We clear vegetation from land for agriculture, mining, road building, and other activities, and cover much of the land with buildings, concrete, and asphalt, which increases runoff, reduces infiltration that would normally recharge groundwater supplies, accelerates topsoil erosion, and increases the risk of flooding 3. We also increase flooding when we drain and fill wetlands for farming and urban development

How many major plates are there?

7

about ____ of the water that reaches the atmosphere evaporates from the surfaces of plants, through a process called transpiration, and from the soil

90%

Who created the theory of continental drift?

Alfred Wagner

Proposed one large continent in 1912

Alfred Wegener

Three examples where there are matching sequences of rocks and mountain chains

Appalachian Mountains, Great Britain, Scandinavia

This layer of the earth is warm, plastic, and able to flow

Asthenosphere

Two places limestone comes from

Coral and dead sea animals

Two examples of evidence for plate tectonics

Earth's magnetic field (paleomagnetism) and sea floor spreading

Three major types of rock is classified as

Igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic

This layer of the earth has a surface to about 100 km

Lithosphere

This layer of the earth is cool, rigid, and brittle

Lithosphere

What is used to measure the intensity of an earthquake?

Mercalli scale

What scale is used to determine the hardness of rocks?

Mohs scale of mineral hardness

Why did Alfred Wegener's theory not get much positive response from other geologists?

Not enough evidence

One large continent surrounded by single large ocean

Pangaea

About 200 million years ago, superocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea

Panthalassa

Define aquifer

Porous sponge-like formations of rock, sand, or gravel that hold groundwater

Example of distribution of organisms as evidence of continental drift

Same land animals distributed in different continents (e.g., South America and Africa)

One example of a transform fault boundary

San Andreas Fault in California

Four cycles that make up the geologic cycle

Tectonic, Hydrologic, Rock, Biochemical

Elements required either in small amounts by all life or moderate amounts by some forms of life and not all by others

micronutrients

The hydrologic cycle can be viewed as:

a cycle of natural renewal of water quality

Define atmosphere:

a thin spherical envelope of gases surrounding the earth's surface

Three similarities of matching sequences of rocks and mountain chains

age, rock types, and structures

Some precipitation sinks through soil and permeable rock formations to underground layers of rock, sand, and gravel called ____, where it is stored as ____

aquifers, groundwater

The four major components - or reservoirs - of Earth's systems

atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere

The complete path a chemical takes through the four major components - or reservoirs - of Earth's systems

biogeochemical cycle

What is the element that anchors all organic substances?

carbon

Carbon combines with and is chemically and biologically linked with the cycles of oxygen and hydrogen that form the major compounds of life

carbon cycle

Most forms of life get supplies of critical nutrients from compounds containing ____, ____, ____, and ____ that are circulated in their respective ____ ____

carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, chemical cycles

examples of macronutrients

carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorus, nitrogen, and sulfur

A complex biogeochemical cycle over time scales as long as one-half billion years.

carbon-silicate cycle

Believed to provide important negative feedback mechanisms that control the temperature of the atmosphere

carbon-silicate cycle

The process in which new chemicals are formed from elements and compounds through chemical change

chemical reaction

purpose of the hydrologic (water) cycle

collects, purifies, and distributes the earth's fixed supply of water

Plate tectonics explain the evolution of:

continents & oceans

Occurs when plates collide

convergent plate boundary

Produces linear coastal mountain ranges or continental mountain ranges

convergent plate boundary

New lithosphere is produced (seafloor spreading) in this process

divergent plate boundary

Occurs at a spreading ocean ridge, where plates are moving away from one another

divergent plate boundary

Three types of plate boundaries

divergent, convergent, transform

Life is sustained by the flow of ____ from the ____ through the ____, the ____ of ____ within the ____, and ____

energy, sun, biosphere, cycling, nutrients, biosphere, gravity

three major processes involved in water cycle

evaporation, precipitation and transpiration

Left undisturbed, wetlands provide the natural service of ____ ____, acting like ____ to absorb and hold overflows of water from ____ ____ or ____ ____ ____

flood control, sponges, drenching rains, rapidly melting snow

Biogeochemical cycles are driven by:

gravity and the one-way flow of energy from the sun

Includes: Evaporation of water from the oceans Precipitation on land Evaporation from land Runoff from streams, rivers, and sub-surface groundwater

hydrologic cycle

In Alfred Wegener's time, what did some believe in, rather than one large continent?

land bridges

Two ways nitrogen fixation takes place

lightning and in soil (mostly by nitrogen-fixing bacteria in legumes)

Marble is the metamorphic form of:

limestone

When chemical elements are not available at the right times, in the right amounts, and in the right concentrations relative to each other

limiting factor

Elements required in large amounts by all life

macronutrients

Include the "big six" elements that form the fundamental building blocks of life

macronutrients

The most dense and coldest layer of the atmosphere

mesosphere

Biogeochemical cycles are an important component of the earth's ____ ____

natural capital

Cycle responsible for moving important nitrogen components through the biosphere and other Earth systems

nitrogen cycle

Why is the nitrogen cycle important?

nitrogen is required by all living things and helps to make proteins