Unit 11 Earth's Atmosphere
Oxygen O2 % in atmosphere
21%
Tilt of Earth's axis
23.5 degrees; depending on the tilt of our earth we will have different seasons
Force of air determined by temperature and distance above sea level
Air pressure
The ____ of air is the mass of air per unit of volume.
Air pressure
Weight of air pushing down against a given area
Air pressure
Gas in the atmosphere that is needed for life
Carbon dioxide
Why does conduction occur mainly in the lower atmosphere?
Conduction can't happen in the upper atmosphere because the molecules are too far apart for them to come into contact with each other and transfer heat through conduction.
How do convection currents form in the atmosphere? Why are they deflected?
Convection occurs in the atmosphere when hot material rises and cold material sinks. Convection currents are deflected due to the rotation of the Earth, and produces the Coriolis Effect.
Layer of the that has high thermosphere concentration of electrically charged particles
Ionosphere
Gas Consumers of Oxygen
Fossil fuel, burning, cellular respiration
Greenhouse gases
Gases that absorb heat in the atmosphere
Permanent Gases
Gases with large residence times; Nitrogen and oxygen
Summer solstice
Greatest tilt towards the sun, longest day of sunlight, June 20-22
Historically, global climate...
Has varied slightly over time
Gamma rays
Have highest energy of all electromagnetic rays
Radio Waves
Have longest wavelength of all EM waves
What would happen if the number of photosynthetic organisms increased? Decreased?
If the number of photosynthetic organisms increased then there would be more oxygen in the atmosphere. If they decreased then there would not be enough for eukaryotes to survive.
Modern Atmosphere
Ozone layer began to form which allowed for cyanobacteria/Stomatolites to live outside of water and multiply. They performed photosynthesis which released oxygen that built up in the atmosphere
Ozone facts
Ozone protects Earth's surface from harmful radiation, a molecule of ozone consists of three oxygen molecules, ozone absorbs high energy ultraviolet light, splitting of ozone molecules DOES NOT warm the mesosphere.
What is the importance of a permanent gas? Examples?
Permanent gases make up the majority of the mass of the atmosphere, including nitrogen and oxygen.
What role did photosynthetic organisms play in our early atmosphere?
Photosynthetic organisms produced earth's first atmosphere supply of oxygen which allowed for the ozone layer to develop
Gas Producers of Oxygen
Plants in photosynthesis
Gas Consumers of Carbon Dioxide
Plants in photosynthesis, dissolving in the oceans
Cold air is denser than warm air and, therefore, has higher ____
Pressure
Which property of air vary from sea level to the top of a high mountain?
Pressure
A greenhouse gas mainly absorbs heat that...
Re-radiated from earth's surface
Type of pollution that can be formed by car exhaust and burning coal or oil
Smog
Form of energy that ravels through matter in waves
Sound
Layer of atmosphere that includes the ozone layer
Stratosphere
Evidence of Cyanobacteria
Stromatolites
Why is the atmosphere necessary for life on earth?
The atmosphere provides crucial conditions for life to exist on Earth. Without the atmosphere, all of the oceans would boil away, and no life could exist in the oceans. Without the atmosphere there would be no way for the Earth to stay warm without the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Without the atmosphere there would be no weather, so water would be stuck in the oceans. There would be no wind and water to weather rocks so soil would not be able to form. There would be no ozone layer, so life would not be able to exist outside of the oceans.
Global Heat budget
The balance between incoming and outgoing radiation
What evidence can we see of the oxygen revolution?
The banded iron formation in rocks
Infrared
Light with wavelengths too long for humans to see
Ultraviolet
Light with wavelengths too short for humans to see
What was the earth's second atmosphere composed of?
Lots of water, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen
Ozone layer
Made up of oxygen molecules that were formed from broken down water vapor, O3, protects us from UV radiation
Magnetosphere
Magnetic field that protects earth from solar winds
Solid particles in the atmosphere
May include slat, ash, may harm human health, and allow clouds to form
The coldest temperatures in the atmosphere occur in the...
Mesopause
Coldest layer of the Earth's atmosphere
Mesosphere
How do photosynthetic and eukaryotic organisms "strike a balance" for our atmosphere?
The wast product of photosynthesis is the necessary reactant for cellular respiration and vice versa
Convection
Transfer of energy by a circulation or movement of a liquid or gas, transfer of heat by vertical movement of air masses, main way that heat moves through the atmosphere
Conduction
Transfer of energy from molecule to molecule by direct contact
Layer of atmosphere where weather, clouds, and smog occur
Troposphere
The ____ contains 75 percent of the atmospheric gases
Troposphere
Gas Producers of Water
Water Cycle
What makes water astonishingly unique?
Water can exist in all three states of matter under Earth's normal conditions.
Gas in the atmosphere that varies in amount from place to place
Water vapor
Ozone depletion
caused by CFCs that react with the ozone layer
The pressure of the air _____as altitude increases
decreases
Winter solstice
earth is tilted the most away form the sun, longest darkness, December 21-22
Convection occurs in...
gases and liquids
Variable gas
gases that have small residence times; tend to be greenhouse gases like H2O and CO2; keep earth from freezing
Greenhouse effect
greenhouses gases trap in radiation causing the atmosphere to warm up
Warm air is ____ dense than cool air
less
Ozone pollution
located in the troposphere, caused by pollutants produced by cars, power plants, chemical plants and other sources chemically reacting in the presence of sunlight
The density of air is highest at ____ altitudes
low
The pressure of the air is greatest at _____
low altitudes
Without photosynthesis, there would be little _____ in the air.
oxygen
The greenhouse effect is caused...
partly by human action, partly by natural processes
Accretion disk
the process of a growth of a massive object by gravitationally attracting and collecting of additional materials; Happens through disk-like structure of diffuse material or gas
The division of the Earth's atmosphere into layers is based on _____ differences
temperature
____ is a measure of how fast or how slow molecules move
temperature
Residence time
the amount of time a gas is in the atmosphere
Evidence of high oxygen content in atmosphere and oceans recorded in...
the banded iron
The tropopause prevents cool air in the troposphere from mixing with the...
warm air in the stratosphere
Chemical reactions between ____ and ____ result in formation of ____
water and carbon dioxide, limestone rocks
_____ makes up 0 to 4 percent of the atmosphere
water vapor
Vernal/Spring Equinox
no tilt either direction, 12 hr each, March 20-21
Autumnal/Fall Equinox
no tilt either direction, 12 hr each, September 22-23
Third most common gas in the earth's atmosphere
Argon
First Atmosphere
-Hydrogen and Helium -Solar winds came and swept them away bc too light for Earth's gravity to hold them
Carbon Dioxide CO2 % in atmosphere
0.0395%
Water H20 % in atmosphere
0.4%
Stratosphere
-2nd layer -contains ozone layer -gets warmer with altitude -some bacteria live here -Warned by ozone layer, when ozone molecules are broken up, they release energy -Temperature and pressure increase with altitude -aka nitrogen layer because of temperature variation
Mesosphere
-3rd layer (middle layer) -coldest layer -strong winds -breaks up asteroids -Not warmed by anything -Pressure decrease with altitude -Meteors break up
Thermosphere
-4th layer -warms up with altitude -hottest layer -contains the ionosphere, large portion of charged particles -blocks high energy radiation such as x-rays and gamma rays -Temperature increases with altitude -most ionosphere contained here -Gases to far apart, even though high temp, doesn't feel hot
Troposphere
-closest to surface -where we are located -most weather occurs here -75% of atmosphere mass -warmed by terrestrial radiation -ozone pollution located here -gets colder with higher altitude -Pressure/density and temperature decrease with altitude
Exosphere
-outermost layer -very thin air -fades into space -where light gases such as hydrogen and helium are found -temperature increases with height, but material is so sparse that it would fee cold Where the ISS and other satellites orbit the Earth -Thickest layer
ionosphere
-radio waves move here -grows and shrinks depending on the amount of sunlight -photoionization occurs here -where aurora borealis is located -grows when solar radiation is highest -blocks high energy solar radiation (gamma, x-rays) -responsible for radio communication
Ozone O3 % in atmosphere
0.000006%
3 important events in earth's atmospheric history
1. Formation of Oceans 2. Photosynthesis 3. Ozone development
When did our first atmosphere form? Our second? Our current?
1st: 4.5 BYA 2nd: 4 - 3.8 BYA Current: 400 MYA
Nitrogen N2 % in atmosphere
78%
Height above sea level
Altitude
Aurora
Bands of light that occur at the poles due to the coupling if solar flares and Earth's magnetic field
How does a temperature inversion affect air quality?
Because air is trapped in the lower stratosphere, pollutants are trapped with it.
Gas Consumers of Ozone
CFC's, naturally destroyed and created in stratosphere
Gas Producers of Carbon Dioxide
Cellular respiration, burning of fossil fuels, cement manufacturing
Solar Winds
Charged particles from the sun that caused Hydrogen and Helium to escape into space
Terrestrial radiation
Energy absorbed by the Earth and re-radiated into the atmosphere; Long-wave electromagnetic radiation originating from Earth and its atmosphere. It is the radiation emitted by naturally radioactive materials on Earth including uranium, thorium, and radon.
Pressure change with altitude
Decrease in pressure with increasing altitude
Gas Producers of Nitrogen
Denitrification, volcanic eruptions, burning fuels
Energy Facts
Energy can change form, can do work, can travel, but CAN'T be created
Coriolis effect
Effect deflects moving objects to right in northern Hemisphere and left in southern; responsible for large scale weather patterns, winds will bend in different directions (northern vs. southern hemispheres) due to earth's rotation
Forms of energy include...
Electrical energy, chemical energy, and light energy
Layer of atmosphere between the thermosphere and space
Exosphere
The international space station orbits Earth in the...
Exosphere
Earth's atmosphere consists mainly of oxygen
F
Energy can only travel through matter
F
Gas molecules in the exosphere are extremely cold
F
Gases in the atmosphere are too thin to block any solar rays
F
Light with the most energy is infrared light
F
Most of the heat in the troposphere comes from the sun
F
Sound waves travel through empty spaces between air molecules
F
The atmosphere is about 10% water vapor
F
The aurora borealis occur because of storms on Earth's surface
F
The density of the air is greatest at high altitudes
F
The greenhouse effect causes more solar energy to reach the surface of the earth
F
The top of the mesosphere is warmer than the bottom
F
Warm air sinks and cool air rises
F
The type of energy trapped by the atmosphere is ultraviolet light
F (Solar Energy)
Radiation
How the sun travels through space
What was the earth's atmosphere first composed of?
Hydrogen and Helium
What is a foreseeable issue with ozone depletion?
If ozone depletion continues, then many land-dwelling organisms would suffer from cancer
What would happen if the number of eukaryotic organisms increased? Decreased?
If the number of eukaryotes increased there would be too much carbon dioxide in the air. If they decreased there would not be enough.
Why is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere important?
It helps regulate the amount of energy the atmosphere absorbs
Role of Carbon Dioxide
Keeps the earth warm, necessary for photosynthesis, forms rocks
The climate of a region or location is affected by...
Latitude, elevation, and season
How does Earth's temperature vary by latitude? What causes this variation? How does the temperature of earth affect Earth's atmosphere?
Latitudes farther from the equator receive slanted rays from the sun. This is because of Earth's axial tilt. At some times of the year, these regions experience more (or fewer) hours of sunlight, causing seasons and global temperature variations.
Earth's spheres
Layers above the Earth's surface that are based on temperature
Main gas in the earth's atmosphere
Nitrogen
What is the percent of each gas in our current atmosphere?
Nitrogen = 78% Oxygen = 21% Argon = 1% Carbon dioxide = 0.0391%
Where did the gases from the third atmosphere come from?
Nitrogen and argon were there from earlier atmospheres, whereas the oxygen came into being because of photosynthetic organisms
Gas consumers of Nitrogen
Nitrogen fixation bacteria, lightning
What is the role of each gas in our atmosphere?
Nitrogen makes up the majority of the atmosphere. Oxygen allows respiration organisms to survive. Carbon dioxide keeps the Earth warm. Water vapor controls the water cycle
What happened to the gasses in the second atmosphere?
Nitrogen stayed in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide dissolved in the water to form oceans which became limestone rocks. Large portion of carbon dioxide and water caused the Earth to be very warm because of the greenhouse effect
What was the earth's third atmosphere composed of?
Nitrogen, oxygen, and argon
Exact percent of modern atmosphere gases
Nitrogen-78% Oxygen-21% Argon-0.9% CO2-0.0395% Water Vapor-0.4%
Second Atmosphere
Outgassing-nitrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, as well as methane and ammonia
About 99% of the atmosphere consists of nitrogen and _____
Oxygen
Which has was not present on Earth at time of formation 4.6 billion years ago
Oxygen
Naturally occurring gas in the stratosphere that is considered a pollutant in the lower atmosphere
Ozone
What does ozone do?
Ozone blocks out harmful UV-C radiation from the sun. Without the ozone layer, organisms would not be able to survive on land
Gas Consumers of Water
Plants, water cycle, oceans
The atmosphere is needed for all the following except
Plate tectonics
Gas Producers of Ozone
Produced by smog, naturally in the stratosphere
Role of Oxygen
Produces ATP when reacted with glucose
Role of Ozone
Protects life on land from UV-C Radiation, but harmful in the troposphere
Role of Nitrogen
Provides nutrients in the soil, makes up majority of mass of atmosphere
Energy can travel through space by...
Radiation
Describe how energy is transferred through the atmosphere by radiation
Radiation travels through the atmosphere through the radiation from electromagnetic waves. Some of the heat gets trapped by the molecules in the air, and some gets absorbed by the ground. The ground re-radiates some of the heat, in the form of terrestrial radiation.
Role of Water
Redistributes heat around globe, greenhouse gas, weather
What role did Eukaryotic organisms play in our current atmosphere?
Same as before
Clouds could not form if the air contained no solid particles
T
Convection currents occur in all five layers of the atmosphere
T
Convection drives global circulation
T
Friction with gas molecules causes meteors to burn in the atmosphere
T
Gamma rays do not penetrate Earth's atmosphere
T
Most of the heat that enters the mesosphere comes from the stratosphere
T
Solid particles in the atmosphere may include dust and soil
T
The density of the air depends on how close the gas molecules are packed together
T
The main reason Earth can support life is its atmosphere
T
The thermosphere contains charged particles called ions
T
Warmer molecules have more energy than cooler ones
T
Without the atmosphere we could not hear most sounds
T
Explain how temperature changes in the troposphere
Temperature decreases with altitude because the troposphere is warmed through terrestrial radiation. As the warm air rises, it cools.
Why do temperature inversions occur? Why do you think they are more common in winter?
Temperature inversions occur when cold, dense air is trapped in the lower troposphere. This happens more in the winter since the Earth receives fewer hours of direct sunlight.
Visible light
The only light that humans can see
Where did the ozone layer come from?
The ozone layer developed from the buildup of ozone molecules high in the atmosphere. Ozone is developed from the reaction between oxygen molecules
What is the ozone layer? Why is it important for living things?
The ozone layer is a small area of concentrated ozone in the lower stratosphere. It absorbs high energy UV-C radiation and protects living things from this deadly radiation.
Why do convection currents occur in the troposphere?
The troposphere is warmed through terrestrial radiation. This creates a temperature gradient between the warmer lower troposphere and the cooler upper troposphere causes the warm air to rise, causing convection. As the warm air rises, it cools.
The northern and southern lights occur in the...
Thermosphere
What role did Eukaryotic organisms play in our early atmosphere?
They aided in the cycle of exchange between oxygen and carbon dioxide and helped the concentration of oxygen to not go out of control
Plants need oxygen in order to
They don't need oxygen
Where did Hydrogen and Helium go?
They have a low enough density for them to have been swept away by solar winds in Earth's early history
What role did photosynthetic organisms play in our current atmosphere
They produce oxygen so that anaerobic organisms can survive
Temperature decreases as altitude increases in the...
Troposphere and Mesosphere
Layers of Atmosphere in order from land to space
Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere
What is the importance of a variable gas? Examples?
Variable gases are greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide and water vapor. Greenhouse gases keep the Earth warm and water vapor also allows for the water cycle to occur
Outgassing
Volcanic eruptions that released CO2, H2O, and N2 into atmosphere
Describe the role of the atmosphere in the water cycle
Water's role in evapotranspiration allows for weather, clouds, and water to be transported across the world
What is weathering? Give examples of how weathering occurs.
Weathering occurs when water or other chemical agents break down a rock. Weathering occurs when water infiltrates cracks in a rock, and expands as it freezes (frost wedging, for example).
Temperature inversions
When cool air stays close to the ground below a layer of warm air
Difference in solar energy by latitude result in...
Winds, Weather, and Ocean Currents
Why would there be no weather without the atmosphere?
Without the atmosphere there would be no water vapor to condense and form clouds.
Why is the atmosphere important for the formation of soil?
Without the water cycle, wind, and other parts of the atmosphere there would be no ability for weathering to occur, so rocks would not be able to be broken down to form soil. With no soil, there would be no life.
Without the atmosphere, Earth would have
a greater range of temperatures
