EAR 203 Labs

Earth's surface temperature depends onthree factors:

(1) the solar flux available at the distance ofEarth's orbit,(2) Earth's reflectivity, and(3) the amount ofwarming provided by the atmosphere (i.e., the greenhouse effect).

if you double the distance from the sun, by how much does radiation decrease?

(1/2)2

Earth's standard atmosphere, has a pressure of

1.013 bar or 101,300 Pa at sea level

At what time are Africa and South America clearly separated by open ocean

120 mya

A glass layer by analogy is most similar to what type of cloud?

A glass layer analogy is more similar to a cirrus cloud, because they allow incoming solarradiation to pass through and absorb and re-emit most outgoing infrared radiation. Thus, in botha pane of glass and a cirrus cloud, visible light passes through, while another part of the EMspectrum is re-directed or re-emitted.

how does a strong El Nino impact the continental USA

A strong El Nino impacts the continental USA by increasingprecipitation around the lower coasts and the oceans off them, by ascale of up to 2 more mm/day. It also impacts the continental USA bydramatically increasing temperatures nearly everywhere, butespecially around the midwest, where increases can reach up to 2.5degrees celcius. Some parts of the Central US are unaffected byincreased precipitation patches, and some parts of the US do notexperience significant differences in temperature, but overall nearlyevery part of the continental US experiences some increase in rainfall and/or temperature during a strong El Nino year.

name two plagioclases

Albite and anorthite

stefan-boltzman law

Amount of radiative energy being emitted by a blackbody (equals to area under curve)

Which type of daisies are the first to begin to grown and why?

Black daisies are the first to begin to grow. This is because the local temperature is higher for them, 12 degrees Celsius, in comparison to the local temperature for white daisies, 2 degrees Celcius. These warmer temperatures allow them to initially grow faster.

Cleavage

Breakage of a mineral along planes of weakness in the crystal structure.

Fracture

Breakage of a mineral, not along planes of weakness in the crystal structure.

What happens by the early Jurassic?

By the early Jurassic, there are significant deserts and mountains in the parts of thesupercontinent that are now Africa and South America. North America, South America, andAfrica have formed in close to their modern orientation but remain melded together

can changes in wind direction and precipitation be reconciled with changes in pressure?

Changes in wind direction and precipitation can be reconciled with changes in pressure. In the summer,pressure overall decreases, while precipitation overall increases. This makes sense, as low pressureareas are more likely to have precipitation. As pressure decreases, precipitationincreases. Furthermore, there are more instances of convergence in wind direction in the summer,which leads to low pressure and precipitation. In the higher pressure, less precipitous winters, thereare more instances of divergence.

Luster

Character of the light reflected by the mineral.

Reaction to Hydrochloric Acid

Chemical interaction of HCl and calcium carbonate. (CaCO3)

Streak

Color of the mineral when it is powdered.

dark daisy system

Dark daisies absorb more sunlight than bare ground, so as the dark daisies grow, the planetary albedo decreases, causing planetary temperature to increase.

magnetism

Electromagnetic force generated by an object or electrical field.

there are a lot more red IR photons than yellow VL photons. Why is this the case

Firstly, outgoing longwave infrared radiation photons contain less energy than incomingshortwave visual light photons. Since the energy that is received by incoming solar radiation isequal to energy radiated into space through infrared radiation, there must be more photons ofinfrared radiation. For incoming and outgoing energy to be equal, there must be more outgoinginfrared photons than incoming solar photons.Secondly, most outgoing infrared radiation is reflected to Earth by the greenhouse effect.As such, while all the incoming solar radiation photons are absorbed by the Earth or reflectedinto space, quickly disappearing from our view, many of the infrared photons stay in circulationin our vision, so that their population is very large as we watch, while visible light photons quickly disappear from view

Does seasonality of precipitation change from W to E?

For most cities, seasonality of precipitation doesn't change from W and E. However, for Crescent City, which is furthest West, the summer months (by Northern hemisphere standards) have far lower levels of precipitation than the winter months. For the rest of the cities, which are further East, there is not much seasonality of precipitation.

ow, looking only in the Phanerozoic, how many times in this part of Earth History canyou identify periods when glaciers are prominent features on the Earth's surface, liketoday? Based on your findings, how frequent are glaciations?

Glaciations were prominent on Earth's surface around 460-440 millions yearsago, from around 335-280 million years ago, and then again from around 45million years ago to now. This is three times in this part of Earth's history. Based on these findings, glaciations occur every 100-250 million years.

What happens to the absolute range in temperature moving from S to N?

I don't notice any trend in range of temperature as the cities move North (as latitude becomes closer to 0). There isn't a pattern of the range of temperature becoming successively smaller or larger.

Are there longitudinal trends in mean annual temperature? (North America)

I don't see any longitudinal trends in mean annual temperature. The mean temperature for each city is between the range of 7.65 degrees and 11.1 degrees, with variations that don't follow a pattern.

why do pressure variations occur more so over land?

I speculate that these pressure variations occur more so on land than over water because water has amuch higher heat capacity and albedo than land, so air behaves differently over it. There is unevenheating over land and water. Since water changes temperature far more slowly, pressure changesoccurring over it occur far more slowly and less dramatically. Land, on the other hand, can heat andcool off quickly and significantly, impacting pressure by impacting the temperature of the air above it.While temperature of land varies dramatically across seasons, temperature in the ocean varies lessintensely and more slowly, meaning changes in pressure occur less intensely and more slowly over the ocean. Land also has far more variations in elevation that can impact pressure.

what are the seasonal changes in temperature in South America?

In general, monthly average temperature decreases in from around February- June (roughly our spring and summer) and increases from July to January (roughly our fall and winter).

1750s temperature trends

In the 1750's, temperatures begin at 3C. This slowly but more steadily increases to 13C. Once itreaches this point, temperature stays around there, vacillating between 12-14C, for a while. Itthen hovers around 15C, vacillating more slowly between 14C and 16C. Again, increases anddecreases are not steady trends but have many jumps.

ice age temperature trends

In the ice age, temperatures begin at around -23 C and quickly fall to -29C. They then rapidlyrise to around -3 C, and then more slowly rise up to around 5C before falling back down to 1C,where temperatures vacillate between 1C and 5C. Increases and decreases in temperature after -3C is reached are not steady trends but rather have many ups and downs.

light daisy coverage feedback loop

Light colored daisies create a local albedo that is higher than bare ground, so as the light daisy population increases the planetary albedo increases and the planet's temperature decreases. *There is a positive coupling between daisies and albedo. *There is a negative coupling between albedo and temperature. this loop is negative

Taste

Nerve ending reaction in the tongue to different chemicals. Lick the mineral to determine if

How does the initial relationship between Te and T0 change on the left hand side of the graph? Please explain why.

On the left hand side of the graph, temperatures for Te are initially higher than To, but they eventually decrease below To and stay that way. This is because since local temperatures are higher for black daisies initially, at first they grow faster than white daisies. White daisies cool surface temperatures with their high albedos, so they begin cool and decrease temperatures, decreasing their ability to grow and their surface area. Eventually, rising temperatures due to rising solar luminosity and the black daisies mean the light daisies bounce back and grow, eventually surpassing dark daisies. This means that there is a spike in temperature at the beginning where dark daises, which increase surface temperatures with their low albedos, are more abundant than light daises, and Te has higher temperatures than To. Eventually, when light daisies, with their high albedos, approach and overcome dark daisies, they decrease temperatures below To.

feedback loop on left side of optimum for white daisies

On the left side of the optimum growth temperature, an increase in temperature causes an increase in daisy growth that increases planetary albedo, thus decreasing temperature. This is a stable, negative feedback loop.

wein law

Predicts wavelength where most radiant energy is emitted from sun or earth

Specific Gravity

Ratio of the mass of a mineral to the mass of an equal volume of water.

Hardness

Resistance to scratching.

where do seasonal variations occur

Seasonal pressure variations occur almost everywhere, but particularly over land. Pressure remainsrelatively steady over the large swaths of ocean, staying in the same range of values in most placesacross the seasons.

Smell

Some minerals such as sulfur have a unique smell.

Can temperature variations as a simple function, if so, which?

Temperature variations cannot be graphed as a simple function, though temperature averages can be. There can be an infinite number of values to describe temperature variations, meaning a simple function can't be used.

why do temperatures change with the addition of clouds?

Temperatures decrease overall. This is because clouds absorb both outgoing and incoming radiationand re-emit it both back to space and down to Earth. Thus, depending on the moment, there aremany factors at work that could be decreasing or increasing temperatures, creating more of arange. Since the clouds are closer to Earth, they have a cooling effect, re-emitting more energy back into space than they do to Earth.

how does adding cirrus clouds influence temperature?

Temperatures increase dramatically and quickly. As IR photons approach the glass barrier, theyare absorbed. Some are re-radiated back to space or the surface of the Earth. This is because thisbarrier absorbs re-directs another part of the EM spectrum, infrared radiation, while allowing visible light to pass through. The glass layer emits protons by absorbing them and then reflecting them.

what does the koppen- geiger classification scheme compose of?

The Köppen-Geiger classification scheme comprises 2-4 letter codes, which become increasingly specific from left to right. 5 main climate/vegetation classes The second modifier can be either upper of lower case and describes each climate zone in more detail, m, for example, denotes a monsoonal climate. S- Steppe W- Desert f - no dry season w- winter dry s- summer dry m- monsoonal T- summer highs between 10-0°C F- summer high <0°C a- hot summers (>22° hottest mo.)b- moderate summer (hottest mo. <22°C, hottest 4 mo. >10°C) EAR 203 Lab 1 c- short and cold summer (hottest mo. >22°C, ave. temp of coldest month >-38°C) d- very cold winter (average temperature of the coldest month <-38°C)h- hot and dry (ave. annual temperature >18°C)k- dry and cold (ave. annual temperature <18°C)

Compare the behavior of the bare planet(T0) and Daisyworld (Te).Be sure to look at the graph of average temperature versus Solar luminosity and include discussion of how the feedback loops interact.

The behavior of the bare planet is very consistent, with an almost linear growth. It appears there may be a slightly curved increase in temperature as solar luminosity increases. Daisyworld, on the other hand, has a graph that has somewhat of a hill- and-trough shape with some disconnected points falling off at the end. This makes sense because for To, there is no feedback loop, only a coupling; as solar luminosity increases, temperature increases. However, for Te, there are many feedback loops; a positive one between solar luminosity and global temperatures, feedback loops between temperature and light and dark daisy growth that depend on what the temperature is and what side of optimum temperature we are, and then feedback loops between daisy growth and albedo and therefor temperature. This means that Te cannot have the simple linear graph for temperature that To does, because it is a much more complex system with far more feedback loops, many of which change as solar luminosity changes.

Identify the driest and wettest places.

The driest places are Klamath Falls and Pocatello, which are further West, and the wettest places are Manchester and Syracuse, which are furthest East.

What effect does the presence of daisies have on the albedo and local temperature with increasing solar luminosity and how might this relate to your answer in to question?

The presence of more light daisies than dark means the surface has a higher albedo and a lower temperature. The presence of more dark daisies than light means the surface has a lower albedo and a higher temperature. Solar luminosity increases global temperatures, which, depending on what point in the graph we are and what solar luminosity it is, can cause one population to overtake or continue to overtake another. This relates to the answer because as solar luminosity increases, it goes from favoring the low-albedo dark daisies, which increase local temperatures, to the high-albedo light daisies, which decrease local temperatures. One daisy is performing better than the other.

How large is range between warmest months and the coldest months? Are there large differences between locations at the same latitude? (North America)

The range between the warmest and coldest months is very high, except for Crescent City. For most cities, it's a range of about thirty degrees Celsius.

How do temperature ranges for the 6 cities in South America compare to those for Syracuse, NY (43 degrees North)?

The range for these cities is about 7 to 12 degrees Celsius, whereas the range for Syracuse is much higher, 30.3 degrees Celsius (34.2-3.9).

what are seasonal changes in precipiation in South America?

There are seasonal changes in precipitation as well, though there is less of a consistent rule across the board. In general, it seems precipitation is higher from around October to April, dropping off from around March/April to September. However, this isn't precisely true for every city. Some are steady across the months, while some have big variations across seasons.

Why is there an inverse relationship between dark and light daisy growth when plotted versus solar luminosity?

There is an inverse relationship between light and dark daisy growth when plotted versus solar luminosity because in the beginning, increasing temperatures due to increasing solar luminosity mean that dark daisies grow faster than light daisies because they increase surface temperature closer to optimum while light daisies decrease surface temperature farther from optimum. Eventually, the optimum is surpassed, and dark daisies decrease because they heat surface temperature further from optimum while light daisies increase because they decrease surface temperature closer to optimum. Therefor, they have an inverse relationship because they react differently to temperature increases. One performs better in lower temperatures, the other in higher, so depending on what solar luminosity and global temperatures are, one is performing better while the other is struggling.

hen were Washington and NYC first connected by dry land?

They were first connected by dry land 415 million years ago

explain parabolic daisy graph

This is because the dark daisies start out at a maximum point, and as temperatures increase, they become less and less favorable for the dark daisies. When optimum temperature is reached, the dark daisies can begin growing again, and their population increases again.

feedback loop on right side of optimum for white daisies

To the right of the optimum growth temperature, the luminosity forcing increases temperature, causing a reduction in daisy coverage accompanied by a decrease in planetary albedo. This unstable, positive feedback loop results in an increase of mean global temperature.

temperature trends today

Today, temperatures begin at 14C. They dip down to 13 briefly, but then slowly begin increasingto 16C, vacillating between 14 and 16C. It appears to stabilize between 15 and 16C.

Color

Visible light spectrum radiation reflected from a mineral.

When were London and Washington at separated by < 1000 km and where werethey geographically speaking?

Washington and London were separated by less than 1000 km fromaround 325 Mya to 310 Mya. At both time periods, they were around 13degrees South in latitude. Geographically speaking, they are part of a largelandmass that shifts and moves throughout those 15 million years andincludes parts of modern-day North America, Europe and North Africa. (Pangea)

Vary the deathrate setting between 0.1 and 0.4 and observe how the behavior of the Te curve changes. Speculate on why the death rate matters.

When death rate is lowered to one, the lines become more spread out, both for the temperature and land area graphs. The temperature graph loses the irregularities at the end. Increasing to 0.3 also spreads the lines out, but for temperature even more values at the end drop to 0, while surface area also experiences some dips into the negatives. When death rate increases to .4, both graphs devolve towards the end, becoming irregular and no longer forming a line of some sort. Te and To are more intertwined, as are light daisy and dark daisy growth. Death rate likely matters because if plants die quickly, surface temperature changes quickly, and therefor a higher death rate means quicker responses in the system. Daisy populations, albedo, and surface temperatures can vary drastically in smaller periods of time. This kind of quick change likely leads to the instability that causes irregularities towards the end of the graphs.

Which type of daisies are the last to die out and why?

White daisies are the last to die out. This is because as solar luminosity and therefor temperatures increase, white daisies are better at surviving because their high albedos lower surface temperatures closer to a survivable level. However, dark daises only increase surface temperature as solar luminosity increases, and so more quickly reach a surface temperature that is not survivable. - NOT totally right. got a comment on it but can't tell what it is.

what is boen's reaction series

a crystallization sequence

what is daisy growth defined by?

a maximum, minimum and optimal temperatures This relationship resembles a parabolic shape.

what is Moh's hardness scale

a measure of the relative hardness and resistance to scratching between minerals.

Flux

amount of energy (or number of photons) in an electromagnetic wave that passes perpendicularly through a unit surface area per unit time.

The Köppen classification

as first devised by the German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in the year 1884. It was subsequently revised by Köppen himself along with another German climatologist, Rudolf Geiger. Their classification is based on the premise that native vegetation in an area best reflects the average local climate. In addition to vegetation, the Köppen Classification also considers average annual and monthly temperature as well as precipitation.

To the right of the optimum dark daisy temperature

as surface temperature increases, daisy coverage increases, meaning there is a positive coupling between surface temperature and daisy coverage. At the right point, as surface temperature increases, daisy coverage increases. As daisy coverage increases, surface temperature increases, creating an unstable positive feedback loop that results in an increase in global temperatures.

what does hydrochloric acid reveal the presence of

calcium carbonate

To the left of the optimum dark daisy temperature

dark daisies start out at their maximum point. As temperature increases, daisies die and dark daisy coverage decreases, meaning that to the left there is a negative coupling between surface temperature and daisy coverage. At the left point, as surface temperature increases, daisy coverage decreases. Decreasing daisy coverage increase albedo and decreases temperature, so this feedback loop is stable. It is negative because there is an odd number of negative couplings.

what is Moh's ten

diamond

what is largest mountain range at time of Pangea?

he largest mountain range at this time is the Central Pangean Mountains. Theylook to be about 90 degrees of longitude long, or about 492 miles

ow many Supercontinents (like Pangea) can you identify and what are their ~ ages

here are 10 supercontinents. 3 of them include:i. The Mesoarchean supercontinent (around 3000 million years ago)ii. The Cambrian supercontinent (around 500 million years ago)iii. The Triassic supercontinent (around 210 years ago)

cirrus clouds

high, thin clouds. Allow more incoming radiation to pass through, but absorb most of outgoing radiation

what happens to the right of optimum for daisies?

increased temperatures lead to less favorable conditions for daisy growth resulting in ever decreasing daisy coverage.

how does pressure change with elevation

it decreases

is there a geographic commonality between glaciations and ocean circulation

laciations tend to occur at the North and South Poles and around the continents.As such, it appears that there is a commonality between glaciation and oceancirculation. In places where there is no land, and therefor likely larger gyres ofocean circulation, there tends to not be glaciation. However, between continents,they are likely smaller gyres of ocean circulation. It is in these areas thatwidespread glaciations tend to occur. The oceans tend to be warmer than land,and therefor take longer to cool down. However, land, with its lower heatcapacity, cools more quickly. Therefore, the glaciation tends to occur closer toland masses, which cool the oceans they come into contact with.

inverse square law

look at image in lab 3

stratus clouds

low, thick clouds. Reflects more incoming radiation as well as absorbing

as latitude south increase, what happens to precipitation?

mean annual precipitation decreases

memorize the equations!!!!

memorize the equations!!!

when do the first continent sized land masses appear

mesoarchean

what are the trails of minerals/rocks at the bottom of Bowen's reaction series?

more stable, high K, Na, Si, formed at low temperature and pressure, high silica. ex. Potassium feldspar, muscovite, quartz

hat happens in the Paleo-Proterozoic, and the Neo-Proterozoic?

n the Paleo-Proterozoic, the Earth goes from having a reddish supercontinent tohaving scattered land masses, to becoming completely glaciated, to thawing andhaving scattered land masses again. The new land masses are less red than theprevious ones, and textured. They move around. In the Neo-Proterozoic, the land masses go from looking like textured rock tobeing a mix of greens and browns, without the rough texture. For the first time,the outline of the modern continents is visible. There is once again a snowball Earth and a thawing

can minerals be organic

no

do all minerals have the same crystalline structure

no

The Planck function

relates the intensity of radiation from a blackbody to its wavelength, or frequency.

what is Moh's one

talc

what happens to the left of optimum for daisies?

the daisy growth rate increases with rising temperature, leading to an overall increase in daisy coverage.

what are the traits of minerals/rocks at the top of Bowen's reaction series?

unstable at 1 bar, contains high Ca, Mg, Fe, formed at high temperatures and pressures, and low silica minerals. ex. Olivine, Calcium Plagioclase