earth science test 3

high pressure systems

A high-pressure area, high or anticyclone is a region where the atmospheric pressure at the surface of the planet is greater than its surrounding environment.

longshore current

A longshore current is an ocean current that moves parallel to shore. It is caused by large swells sweeping into the shoreline at an angle and pushing water down the length of the beach in one direction.

low pressure systems

A low pressure system has lower pressure at its center than the areas around it. Winds blow towards the low pressure, and the air rises in the atmosphere where they meet. As the air rises, the water vapor within it condenses forming clouds and often precipitation too.

hurricane

A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain.

ocean currents

An ocean current is any more or less permanent or continuous, directed movement of ocean water that flows in one of the Earth's oceans. The currents are generated from the forces acting upon the water like the earth's rotation, the wind, the temperature and salinity differences and the gravitation of the moon.

wave erosion landforms

Characteristics and formation of headlands and bays, cliffs and wave cut platforms, caves, arches and stacks. 6) Have a go at this Stacks exercise. Coastlines are littered with the evidence of erosion and the power of the sea.

Chinook wind

Chinook winds /ʃɪˈnʊk/, or simply chinooks, are foehn winds[1] in the interior West of North America, where the Canadian Prairies and Great Plains meet various mountain ranges, although the original usage is in reference to wet, warm coastal winds in the Pacific Northwest.

warm and cold front symbols

Cold fronts are represented by blue triangles on a weather map, and stationary fronts are represented by interchanging the symbols for warm and cold fronts on weather maps. A warm front is the surface boundary between a warm air mass and a cold air mass it is overtaking

Desalination

Desalination is a process that removes minerals from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture. Saltwater is desalinated to produce water suitable for human consumption or irrigation.

Controls of atmospheric temp

Elevation. Generally speaking, the higher the altitude, the cooler the average temperature will be. As a rough estimate, the average rate of cooling (lapse rate) for still air is 3.6°F/1000 feet. Air is heated by the surface and at higher altitudes there are fewer heat-absorbing gases.

how does salinity change

Evaporation of ocean water and formation of sea ice both increase the salinity of the ocean. However these "salinity raising" factors are continually counterbalanced by processes that decrease salinity such as the continuous input of fresh water from rivers, precipitation of rain and snow, and melting of ice.

layers of atmosphere

Exosphere: 700 to 10,000 km (440 to 6,200 miles) Thermosphere: 80 to 700 km (50 to 440 miles) Mesosphere: 50 to 80 km (31 to 50 miles) Stratosphere: 12 to 50 km (7 to 31 miles) Troposphere: 0 to 12 km (0 to 7 miles)

cloud formation

Formation of Clouds. Clouds are formed when air containing water vapor is cooled below a critical temperature called the dew point and the resulting moisture condenses into droplets on microscopic dust particles (condensation nuclei) in the atmosphere.

heat transfer

Heat transfer is the exchange of thermal energy between physical systems. The rate of heat transfer is dependent on the temperatures of the systems and the properties of the intervening medium through which the heat is transferred. The three fundamental modes of heat transfer are conduction, convection and radiation.

graded bedding

In geology, a graded bed is one characterized by a systematic change in grain or clast size from the base of the bed to the top. Most commonly this takes the form of normal grading, with coarser sediments at the base, which grade upward into progressively finer ones.

ozone

It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope O 2, breaking down in the lower atmosphere to normal dioxygen. Ozone is formed from dioxygen by the action of ultraviolet light and also atmospheric electrical discharges, and is present in low concentrations throughout the Earth's atmosphere (stratosphere). In total, ozone makes up only 0.6 ppm of the atmosphere.

jet stream

Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents found in the atmosphere of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds (flowing west to east).

depositional landforms

Landforms of coastal deposition. Coastal deposition is the laying down of material on the coast by the sea. It occurs when waves lose energy or when large inputs of sediment are made into the coastal system - perhaps due to the arrival of fluvial sediment at a river estuary.

states of water

Matter can change from one state to another if heated or cooled. If ice (a solid) is heated it changes to water (a liquid). ... If water is heated, it changes to steam (a gas). This change is called BOILING.

atmosphere gases

Of the gases listed, nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone are extremely important to the health of the Earth's biosphere.

air pressure tools

QUICK ANSWER A barometer is the scientific instrument used by meteorologists to measure atmospheric pressure

refraction of waves

Refraction is the change in direction of waves that occurs when waves travel from one medium to another. Refraction is always accompanied by a wavelength and speed change. Diffraction is the bending of waves around obstacles and openings.

shoreline erosion control methods

Shoreline Stabilization Techniques. The shoreline is a valuable and important area. It provides a rich, active habitat for fish and wildlife, and cleans stormwater runoff before it enters the water. The shoreline provides structural integrity to the water's edge, protecting it from erosion.

Submergent and Emergent Coastlines

Submergent coastline are the opposite of emergent coastlines which have experienced a relative fall in sea-levels. Features of a submergent coastline are: drowned river valleys or rias. drowned glaciated valleys or fjords. Emergent coastline are the opposite of submergent coastlines which have experienced a relative rise in sea-levels. The specific landform of an emergent coastline may be: [citation needed] Raised beach or machair.

terrigenous sediment

Terrigenous sediments are those derived from the erosion of rocks on land; that is, they are derived from terrestrial (as opposed to marine) environments.

santa ann winds

The Santa Ana winds are strong, extremely dry down-slope winds that originate inland and affect coastal Southern California and northern Baja California.

heat absorbing gases

The earth's atmosphere contains trace gases, some of which absorb heat. These gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and nitrous oxide) are referred to as "greenhouse gases." Albedo has an important influence on the earth's temperature.

abundant salts in sea water

The most abundant dissolved ions in seawater are sodium, chloride, magnesium, sulfate and calcium.

Ocean % and Relative sizes

The ocean covers approximately 71% of Earth's surface and 90% of the Earth's biosphere.

pressure gradient force

The pressure-gradient force is the force which results when there is a difference in pressure across a surface. In general, a pressure is a force per unit area, across a surface.

equitorial low

The rise of air in the equatorial region reduces surface air pressure, creating an equatorial low pressure zone (Equatorial Low). In this zone the weather is humid and rainy, with feeble wind flowing in with no prevailing direction. It is also called the equatorial doldrums.

prevailing winds in the united states

The trade winds (also called trades) are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics near the Earth's equator, equatorward of the subtropical ridge. These winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere.

normal water vapor level

The volume of water vapor is about 4% in very warm and humid tropical air.

land and sea breezes

The wind will blow from the higher pressure over the water to lower pressure over the land causing the sea breeze. The sea breeze strength will vary depending on the temperature difference between the land and the ocean. At night, the roles reverse. The air over the ocean is now warmer than the air over the land.

seawater density factors

There are two main factors that make ocean water more or less dense than about 1027 kg/m3: the temperature of the water and the salinity of the water. Ocean water gets more dense as temperature goes down. So, the colder the water, the more dense it is. Increasing salinity also increases the density of sea water.

classifacation of air masses

They are classified according to latitude and their continental or maritime source regions. Colder air masses are termed polar or arctic, while warmer air masses are deemed tropical. Continental and superior air masses are dry while maritime and monsoon air masses are moist

tornado formation

They are usually the extreme result of a supercell thunderstorm. During the storm cold air and warm air combine in a set pattern: the cold air drops as the warm air rises. The warm air eventually twists into a spiral and forms the funnel cloud that we all associate with a tornado.

tides

Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth.

instruments used to map sea floor

Using Sonar. The first modern breakthrough in sea floor mapping came with the use of underwater sound projectors, called "sonar", which was first used in World War I

ocean currents modify the climate of coastal regions

Warm and cold ocean currents can affect the climate of coastal regions, but only when local winds blow in from the sea. Warm currents heat the air over the ocean and bring higher temperatures over land. Cold currents can lower air temperatures and can bring colder temperatures over land.

air mass

a body of air with horizontally uniform temperature, humidity, and pressure.

la nina

a cooling of the water in the equatorial Pacific that occurs at irregular intervals and is associated with widespread changes in weather patterns complementary to those of El Niño, but less extensive and damaging in their effects.

isobars

a line on a map connecting points having the same atmospheric pressure at a given time or on average over a given period.

tornado

a mobile, destructive vortex of violently rotating winds having the appearance of a funnel-shaped cloud and advancing beneath a large storm system.

rain shadow

a region having little rainfall because it is sheltered from prevailing rain-bearing winds by a range of hills.

thermocline

a steep temperature gradient in a body of water such as a lake, marked by a layer above and below which the water is at different temperatures.

typhoon

a tropical storm in the region of the Indian or western Pacific oceans.

el nino

an irregularly occurring and complex series of climatic changes affecting the equatorial Pacific region and beyond every few years, characterized by the appearance of unusually warm, nutrient-poor water off northern Peru and Ecuador, typically in late December.

The highest clouds in the atmosphere

are cirrocumulus, cirrus, and cirrostratus

seasons

each of the four divisions of the year (spring, summer, autumn, and winter) marked by particular weather patterns and daylight hours, resulting from the earth's changing position with regard to the sun.

windward

facing the wind or on the side facing the wind.

The lowest clouds

in the atmosphere are stratus, cumulus, and stratocumulus.

Mid-level clouds

include altocumulus and altostratus.

mid-ocean ridges

mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. This uplifting of the ocean floor occurs when convection currents rise in the mantle beneath the oceanic crust and create magma where two tectonic plates meet at a divergent boundary.

ocean trenches

oceanic trenches are hemispheric-scale long but narrow topographic depressions of the sea floor. They are also the deepest parts of the ocean floor

leeward

on or toward the side sheltered from the wind or toward which the wind is blowing; downwind.

food chain feeding levels

producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers,

sea level up or down

rising

biogenous

sediment from broken down organisms

hydrogenous

sediment from chemical reactions in seawater

relative humidity

the amount of water vapor present in air expressed as a percentage of the amount needed for saturation at the same temperature.

Coriolis affect

the apparent rotation of earth

continental shelf

the area of seabed around a large landmass where the sea is relatively shallow compared with the open ocean. The continental shelf is geologically part of the continental crust.

dew point

the atmospheric temperature (varying according to pressure and humidity) below which water droplets begin to condense and dew can form.

cold front

the boundary of an advancing mass of cold air, in particular the trailing edge of the warm sector of a low-pressure system.

warm front

the boundary of an advancing mass of warm air, in particular the leading edge of the warm sector of a low-pressure system.

continental slope

the slope between the outer edge of the continental shelf and the deep ocean floor.

estuary

the tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream