Climate and Biomes Test 1

Estuary

A habitat in which the fresh water of a river meets the salt water of the ocean.

Profundal

A region of water where sunlight does not reach, below the limnetic zone in the very deep lakes

Swamp

A wetland ecosystem in which shrubs and trees grow

Limnetic

A zone of open water in lakes and ponds

What is albedo? Give an example of a surface with high albedo and a surface with low albedo.

Albedo is how much a surface reflects solar energy. The polar ice caps have high albedo and a tropical rainforest has a low albedo.

Nekton

All organisms that swim actively in open water, independent of currents

Rain Shadows

Areas of low rainfall on a downward or leeward side of the mountain

Describe some of the ways that humans impact aquatic biomes.

Chemical runoff and pollution, overuse of water, eutrophication.

Adiabatic heating/cooling

Cooling: As air rises higher and higher in the atmosphere, the pressure on it decreases. The lower pressure allows the rising air to expand in volume, and this expansion lowers the temperature. Heating: When air sinks toward Earths surface, the pressure on it increases. The higher pressure forces the air to decrease in volume, and this decrease raises the temperature of the air

What is upwelling? Where does it occur? How does it influence productivity?

Deep ocean currents rise to the surface of the ocean causing what is known as an upwelling. they occur when strong winds rapidly carry surface currents away from an area. it bring large amounts of nutrients from the bottom of the ocean toward the surface. The increased nutrient levels support areas of abundant ocean life and lead to excellent fishing grounds.

Eutrophic

Describes a lake with a high level of productivity

Oligotrophic

Describes a lake with a low level of productivity

Mesotropic

Describes a lake with a moderate level of productivity

Phytoplankton

Floating algae

Hadley, Ferrel, Polar cells: where they are located, why they form, how they impact surface winds

Hadley Cells: Convection currents that cycle between the equator and 30 degrees N and S. Warm air rises from the equator going towards the north and south poles. this creates trade wins and tropical easterlies. Ferrel Cells: between 60 degrees n and 30 degrees south. Reverse of the Hadley cell, air flows polewards and eastward near the surface and equatorward and westward at higher altitudes. Polar Cells: Convection currents are formed by air that rises at 60 degrees N and and sinks at the poles 90 degrees N and S

Explain El Niño. Where does it occur and how do they affect climate?

Happens every 3 to 7 years, cause surface currents in the tropical pacific ocean to reverse direction. includes cooler and wetter conditions in the SE United States and unusually dry weather in southern Africa and Southeast Asia.

What are the benefits of coral reefs? What are the major causes of coral reef loss?

Have some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. They: protect coastlines from the damaging effects of wave action and tropical storms. provide habitats and shelter for many marine organisms. Bleaching, destructive fishing, and tourism.

Jet Streams

High altitude strong winds associated with the downwelling of the Hadley cell near 30 degrees and the upwelling of the ferrel cell at 60 degrees. West to east.

What are the benefits of a wetland? What are the major causes of wetland loss?

Improved water quality, flood control, wildlife and fisheries habitat, and recreational opportunities. The major causes of wetland loss are urbanization and agriculture

What is the difference between the equinox and the winter solstice? What are they?

In simplest terms, an equinox represents a day with equal duration of day and night (Mar 21 and September 23) and thus we have a spring and a fall equinox. And solstice refers to a day with either the longest day (June 21, also called summer solstice) or shortest day (Dec 21, also referred to as winter solstice).

What is the relationship between Earth's rotation and the Coriolis Effect? How does it affect the movement of air masses in the northern hemisphere and in the southern?

In the Norther Hemisphere, air going up and down curves to the right and in the southern hemisphere, air going up and down curves to the left

Praire pothole

Is an area of the northern Great Plains and midgrass and tallgrass prairies that contains thousands of shallow wetlands known as potholes. These potholes are the result of glacier activity in the Wisconsin glaciation, which ended about 10,000 years ago.

Thermohaline circulation: what drives it and how it helps distribute heat

It drives the mixing of surface water and deep water, crucial for moving heat and nutrients around the globe. Driven by surface waters that contain unusually large amounts of salt.

What are the major challenges an organism living in the intertidal zone would face?

Its challenging because its in the area with the highest and lowest tide. organisms must adapt to both the dry and wet tides. its constantly changing.

What causes the thermohaline circulation or conveyor belt?

Movement of ocean water caused by density difference brought about by variations in temperature and salinity. As ocean water freezes at the poles it concentrates salt, and the colder, denser water sinks.

What is the rainshadow effect? What causes it and how does it affect climate? Give an example of where it occurs.

Occur when humid winds blowing inland from the ocean meet a mountain range. On the windward side of the mountains, air rises and cools, and large amounts of water vapor condense to form clouds and precipitation. On the leeward side of the mountains, cold, dry air descends, warms via adiabatic heating, and causes much drier conditions. Example: The cascade range in Oregon.

Gyres: general patterns in northern vs. southern hemisphere

Ocean surface currents rotate in a clockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in a counter clockwise direction in the southern hemisphere.

Intertidal zone

Portion of the shoreline that lies between the high and low tide lines

Lotic

Relating to or living in actively moving water.

Lentic

Relating to or living in still water

Hypereutrophic

Result of excessive inputs of nutrients in a lake.

How saturation points change with temperature

Saturation point: the maximum amount of water vapor that can be in the air at a given temperature. When the temperature of air falls, its saturation point decreases, water vapor condenses into liquid water, clouds form and precipitation occurs. Vice versa for an increase in temperature

Zooplankton

Small free-floating animals that form part of plankton

Describe what happens to solar energy as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere and hits the Earth's surface. What influences do the shape of the Earth and the tilt have on this process? Is the heating at the surface even?

Some of the solar energy is absorbed by the atmosphere. because the earth is spherical and at a tilt, the energy doesn't hit all the spots equally, and therefore the heating at the surface is not even all around.

Upwelling

Surface currents diverge, or separate from one another, causing deeper waters to rise and replace the water that has moved away. The movement of deep, cold, and nutrient-rich water to the surface

What 2 primary factors determine climate?

Temperature and precipitation

What is the difference between Hadley, Ferrel, and Polar Cells? How do these cells or global circulation patterns redistribute heat and cause the following pressure zones to form: subtropical high, polar high, equatorial low, subpolar low. Be able to label these on a map of the world.

The Hadley cell is located between 0 and 30 degrees latitude, has air rising at the equator and sinking at 30 degrees. Creates high atmospheric pressure, high pressure zones are associated with calm dry weather. Low latitude air movement toward the equator that with heating, rises vertically, with poleward movement in the upper atmosphere. This forms a convection cell that dominates tropical and sub-tropical climates. The Ferrel cell is located between 30 and 60 degrees latitude, air rising at 60 degrees and sinking at 30 degrees. driven by circulation by the ferrel and Hadley cells. cold air travels down and warm air travels up. A mid-latitude mean atmospheric circulation cell for weather named by Ferrel in the 19th century. In this cell the air flows poleward and eastward near the surface and equatorward and westward at higher levels. The Polar cells, move in the same direction as the Hadley cells, air rises near 60 degrees (low pressure zones) and fall near the poles (high pressure zone). Air rises, diverges, and travels toward the poles. Once over the poles, the air sinks, forming the polar highs. At the surface air diverges outward from the polar highs. Surface winds in the polar cell are easterly (polar easterlies).

Floodplain

The area subject to flooding during a given number of years according to historical trends.

Coriolis effect: how it works and the patterns we see in northern vs. southern hemisphere

The deflection of an objects path due to the rotation of Earth. Causes moving air and water to turn left in the southern hemisphere and turn right in the northern hemisphere due to Earth's hemisphere.

What causes changes in intensity of sunlight at different latitudes?

The farther away a latitude is from the equator the less sunlight it receives.

How density of air changes with altitude

The higher you go the less dense the air will be -there is less air pushing down from above and gravity is weaker -at higher altitudes air molecules are spread out

How does temperature affect density and water vapor capacity of a parcel of air? What is the dew point? What is relative humidity?

The hotter the air is, the less dense it is and the colder the air is the more dense it is. As the temperature increase so will the water vapor, vice versa? Relative humidity is used to describe water vapor in the air and expresses how close the air is to reaching its water vapor capacity.

Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

The latitude that receives the most intense sunlight, which causes the ascending branches of the two Hadley cells to converge

Benthic

The muddy bottom of a lake, pond, or ocean

Albedo

The percentage sunlight/solar energy reflected from a surface

El Niño: conditions during normal vs. El Nino

The periodic changes in winds and ocean currents, causing cooler and wetter conditions in the southeastern United States and unusually dry weather in southern Africa and Southeast Asia

What are the prevailing winds? What causes them? Be able to label the easterlies, westerlies, and trade winds are on a map of the world.

The result of the air being moved by convection currents (the Hadley cells at the equator and other convection cells near the poles and mid-latitudes) combined with the Earth's rotation.

What does the tilt of the Earth have to do with the seasons?

The seasons are caused as the Earth, tilted on its axis, travels in a loop around the Sun each year. Summer happens in the hemisphere tilted towards the Sun, and winter happens in the hemisphere tilted away from the Sun.

Littoral

The shallow zone of soil and water in lakes and ponds where most algae and emergent plants grow

Where prevailing winds are located on earth

There are winds in the northeast and winds in the southeast.

How surface ocean currents distribute heat

They transport the warm water and precipitation from the equator toward the poles and cold water from the poles back to the tropics.

Mangroves

Tropical trees that grow along coasts and help maintain the health of coastal environments

Dew Point

When the air is saturated, the air has reached its water vapor capacity and contains all the water vapor it can hold. Relative humidity is 100%.

Latent heat release

When water vapor in the atmosphere condenses into liquid water, energy is released

What factors drive ocean currents? What is a gyre and how do they move water? How do they affect climate? Specifically describe how the Gulf Stream influences our climate on the east coast and how it impacts northern Europe.

Wind drives the surface currents. A gyre is any large system of circulating ocean currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis effect. Ocean currents act much like a conveyer belt, transporting warm water and precipitation from the equator toward the poles and cold water from the poles back to the tropics. Thus, currents regulate global climate, helping to counteract the uneven distribution of solar radiation reaching Earth's surface. The gulf stream brings warm water to northern europe, despite the fact that it should be cold. The gulf stream brings warm weather to the east coast. Similarly, because water temperature changes much more slowly than air temperature, when a cold air mass moves toward the coast from from Canada, the coastal areas will stay much warmer than farther inland. Thus, the warm ocean current tends to moderate the temperatures along the coast.

Marsh

an area of low-lying land that is flooded in wet seasons or at high tide, and typically remains waterlogged at all times.

Ultraplankton

extremely small photosynthetic bacteria that are responsible for 70% of the primary productivity near the ocean surface

Benthos

organisms that live attached to or near the ocean floor