ENVR SCI 201
Volcanism
-interior of planets remained hot due to retained accretionary heat and radioactivity -all planets are cooling: large planets cool more slowly -high internal temp causes mantle convection and volcanism -volcanism adds gases to atmosphere and plate tectonics recycle rock buries C,S, and O Earth is only planet where plate tectonics are active - allow for the system to be dynamic and life survive -mars has cooled and no longer has plate tectonics
What are important processes for evolution for terrestrial planets?
1) Impact and differentiation 2) Planetary Mass 3) Distance from the Sun 4) Volcanism 5)Presence/Absence of biosphere 6) Earths magnetic field 7) Earths large moon
What are the Earth's external sources of energy? What is a king tide?
1) The sun -radiates energy as a result of thermonuclear reactions(fusion in core) -responsible for 99.985% of energy -atmosphere absorbs some wavelengths of EMR 2) Gravity (tides) from the moon/sun - causes earth tides and ocean tides -earth tides deform earth generating energy - all liquid bodies on earth have tides but they are very small (5 cm) -atmospheric tides also exist (oscilate more at equator) affected more by solar because of gas expanding when heated King tide is where both the sun and moon are in line causing the largest tide (no ground water, storms make it worse)
What are the implications that Earth is a closed system?
1) the amount of matter in a closed system is fixed and finite (no place to throw things away) 2) the changes made in one part of a closed system will affect other parts of the system
What is our solar system composed of?
8 planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune Inner terrestrial planets: small, rocky, metallic, dense Outer Jovian planets (gas giants): large, less dense, icy/gaseous
What is an ionic bond?
A chemical bond that's formed when an atom transfers and electron to another Atom
What is the habitable zone?
A goldilocks zone where there is sufficient atmospheric pressure and liquid water (surface temp) where life can survive
What is the nebular hypothesis?
A huge swirling cloud of cosmic gas and dust (a nebula) became the sun and the planets
What is a model?
A representation of something, typically a simplification of something complex-
What is dynamic equilibrium?
A steady state where two or more reversible processes occur at the same rate (homeostasis) All natural cycles exist in a state of dynamic equilibrium not all steady states are in dynamic equilibrium bc some of the processes may not be reversible
What is the third law of thermodynamics?
Absolute zero is where matter has no heat this state does not exist in nature, all matter has some energy/entropy everything with a temp emits radiation :
Impact and differentiation
Accretion climaxed 4.5 billion years ago creating tremendous heat Melting: collisions convert gravitational/kinetic energy into thermal energy Differentiation: Terrestrial planets partially melted and chemically segregated -dense metals (Fe) sank -Lighter materials (Si,O,C) floated
What is the issue with algae blooms?
Algae in lake erie bloom due to eutrophication Consumes a lot of CO2 and produces O2 Takes away all the minerals and materials underneath making it very hard for fish to survive Erie is very warm, shallow and next to farm lands
What are some characteristics of radiation?
Any object above 0K emits radiation radiation energy is transferred by photons that travel in electromagnetic waves at the speed of light and do not require a medium Wavelength of radiation is measure in micrometers wavelength= speed of light/frequency
What is a system?
Any portion of the universe that can be isolated from the rest for the purpose of observing and measuring its state. Can be defined on any scale and reservoirs of energy and matter with flows in and out. HAS DEFINED BOUNDARIES IT IS A CONCEPT-Abstact
How does the nebular hypothesis start?
As nebular material coalesces into the sun, it condenses and begins runaway fusion reactions -source of solar energy and source of all elements up to iron
Presence/Absence of biosphere
Biogeochemical cycles affect composition of earths atmosphere adding O2 and sequestering C Small section but has large fluxes Biosphere and plate tectonics allowed for evolution and maintenance of a breathable atmosphere Limestone is a fossil where C was sequestered by life
What are the types of potential energy?
Chemical energy: binds molecules and is released in combustion and respiration Nuclear energy: binds atomic nuclei and is released in nuclear reactors Physical energy like mechanical: a spring Gravitational: ball at top of a hill
What are systems comprised of?
Components Can be reservoirs, attributes, or subsystems Components are interconnected within the system
What are the different types of models?
Conceptual: Helps us define and understand a system (picture) Physical/Scale: Model used to test hypotheses within a system (it is scaled) Computational Model: Allows for increased complexity, computers decide variables the GCM has increased scale of resolution to fine scale Box Model: Graphical and or quantitative representation of. a system (box reservoir/arrow flux) Need to see flux/reservoir amounts and numbers)
What is the 1st law of thermodynamics?
Conservation and Transformation In a system of constant mass, the energy involved in any physical or chemical change is neither created nor destroyed but changes from one form to another Energy is stored in reservoirs and cycles through them by fluxes
What is earths chemical differentiation?
Crust: Rocky Mantle: plastic (Mg, Fe, Al, Si, O) Core: liquid Fe, S Inner Core: solid Fe increasing density and pressure with depth differentiaition of continental from oceanic crust (ocean crust is heavier than continental)
Planetary Mass
Determines cooling rate which helps determine rate of volcanic activity Determines how much gravitational pull to retain atmosphere Earth, Venus Mars retain volcanic gases Jupiter and Saturn retain primordial H2 and He planetary mass determines if you have an atmosphere which determines if you have a biosphere
Distance from the sun
Determines how much of which elements initially condense and accrete - relatively little solid material in the hot inner portion of early solar system -rocky inner planets vs icy outer planets -helps determine surface temp in later stages of planetary evolution (presence/absence of liquid water=habitable zone)
What is the evolution of the Earth atmosphere
Earth had lots of H2 He and ammonia and methane at the beginning, then earth lost it and gained water vapor and carbon dioxide and nitrogen, then plants formed and consumed all the CO2 and produces lots of oxygen
Earths materials
Earth has liquid water and aqueous solutions Earth has an atmosphere and has aerosol particles Earth has a biosphere and has organic molecule and soil -moon only has rock and regolith
What type of system is Earth?
Earth loses 50,000 tons of H/He each year and gains 40,000 tons/yr of space dust On human scale earth is open because we have lost 0.000004% of stuff On the environmental time scale earth is a closed system
What is the earths composition vs crust composition
Earth: Iron 35%, oxygen 30%, Silicon 15% all the other stuff Crust: Oxygen 46%, SIlicon 28%, and Al 8% iron only 6% Abundant Si and O - silicate minerals (quartz) and silicate rocks (granite) silicate mineral weather slowly Due the weathering for so long we now hace 75% sedimentary rock and 25% igneous rock on the surface DUE TO ACCRETION
What is earths energy budget? in or out?
Earths energy cycle must be balanced In: solar radiation, powers wind, evaporation, rainfall, currents, photosynthesis -internal heat energy drives tectonics Out: reflection (albedo) and re-radiation after absorption 40% of shortwave reflected by clouds ice/snow (high albedo) -absorbed incoming shortwave solar radiation ends up as heat and is re-radiated as infrared towards space -greenhouse affect reradiates the radiation in every direction WE ABSORB MORE THAN WE LOSE 1st law if we absorb more we will change equilibrium Earth avg of 35%
What is the hydrosphere and cryosphere?
Earths water including oceans, lakes, streams, underground water, snow and ice Cryosphere: frozen parts of the hydrosphere only 3% of water is fresh (30% is ground water/ 69% is glaciers/ 0.3 % is surface water)
What is energy and what are the two types?
Energy is the capacity to do work (E) and it moves matter, creates chemical bonds, and makes things happen Drives all the cycles and processes in Earth systems Potential energy: stored in a system Kinetic energy: expressed in motion or action (or a combination of these)
What is terrestrial/geothermal heat? What does convection have to do with it?
Energy source from decay of elements and as you go deeper in the earth you get warmer (gradient) lots of conductive geothermal energy all around the world Convection transfers heat from earths interiors to the surface and provides the driving force behind plate tectonics (as lava) lots of potential in iceland and africa
What is the 2nd law of thermodynamics?
Entropy always increases Energy always changes from a more useful more concentrated form to a less useful, less concentrated form Energy degrades with every flux from one reservoir to another (run downhill) ALWAY RELEASE HEAT
Types of kinetic energy?
Expressed as movement in electrons/atoms/materials Electromagnetic/radiant: electromagnetic radiation (visible light, x-rays, IR) Electrical: moving electrons and charged particles Heat: vibrating atoms and molecules Motion of objects
negative vs positive feedback
Feedback is when the output of a system also serves as an input to it Negative feedback: the systems response in the opposite direction of initial input -self-limiting/ stabilizing (reinforce) Positive feedback: an increase in output leads to a further increase in input (amplifies the effect of inputs) (disrupt) Destabilizing: initial change is reinforced leading to larger change which causes an even larger change
What is a flux and what are some units used?
Flux: amount per unit time passing through a unit area normal to that direction surface energy fluxes expressed in metric units Wm^-2 1W= 1 Js^-1
Everything about atoms
Has protons (+) and neutrons in the core (nucleus) has electrons (-) atomic number is number of protons Isotopes have the same atomic number but different mass C12 C13 are stable and C14 is radioactive which means it is spontaneous to another isotope ion is something that loses its electrons
What is the Venutian surface like?
Has rock and regolith but does not have liquid water or erosion by water no evidence of life atmosphere is 96% CO2 -these are runaway greenhouse affect and products of volcanism
What must the hypothesis of the formation of the solar system explain? - Nebular hypothesis
How two classes of plants form (terrestrial and Jovian/gas giants -distance from the sun and condensation explain it -planets revolve around the sun, and in the same in direction and same plane -sun and planets except venus rotate counterclockwise on their axes -moons revolve around their planets in the same direction
Earths Large moon
Idea is that an asteroid struck early earth then it splattered and the splatter condensed and formed a moon -we know because the samples of the moon are very similar to our earth -Heavy bombardment differentiated moon and earth -moon still has craters because of plate tectonics (dynamic surface) -Also gives us gravitational and oceanic tide
What is the biosphere? What are its affects on other reservoirs?
Includes all organisms and un-decomposed remains of organisms Atmosphere: photosynthesis (generates oxygen) Hydrosphere: transpiration can be a very large flux Lithosphere: cycles erosion
What is the atmosphere?
Mixture of gases that surround the earth. Thin layer that separates us from space Contains mostly N (78%), O (20%), Ar, CO2 and H20 (contains parts of hydrosphere) Protects life from solar radiation and is a reservoir for circulating 02 and CO2 Ozone is a direct consequence of biosphere and it is from photosynethesis of early life
What is the life zone?
Narrow zone where Earth's four reservoirs interact - 20km thick and home to all known life forms Interactions happen when things meet conditions supporting life are created by dynamic interactions between reservoirs all modified by the biosphere (fluxes in/out are so large even tho the sphere is small)
Different types of systems?
Open: energy/matter in and out Closed: Matter does not leave/energy in or out (the earth) Isolated: No matter/energy leaving (impossible)
Positive coupling vs negative coupling
Positive coupling: increase leads to increase or decrease leads to decrease (arrow) Negative coupling: increase leads to decrease or decrease leads to increase (line end)
Radiation properties of surfaces
Radiation incident on a natural surface is partitioned some of the incident raditation flux (R) is reflected, absorbed, or transmitted Earth can re radiate energy back during the night with clouds
What are types of heat and mass exchange?
Radiation: the transfer of energy in the form of electromagnetic waves. No mass is transferred and no medium is required, how the sun heats earth Conduction: Transfer of energy from molecule to molecule within a system. medium is required (adjacent) how the earths rocks are heated Convection: The transfer of heat/mass by the movement of mass/fluid like air and water and the movement of energy (convection) hot water brings up heat Advection: the transfer of heat and mass by the horizontal movement of a liquid or gas (wind blows across a lake picking up water vapor)
What are Earths internal energy sources
Radiogenic heat: 66% of interior heat comes from decay of radioactive elements -gives us helium Accretionary heat: left over from the collision of particles to form earth
What are Reservoirs? What are fluxes? -What happens when flux in/out is bigger or equal? What is residence time?
Reservoir: place where the energy or matter is store (units are amounts) Flux: amount over time (rate) of energy/matter transferred in>out reservoir is sink out>in reservoir is a source in=out : steady state Residence time: length of time energy or matter spends in a reservoir. (calculated avg with reservoir size/fluxes)
Earth magnetic field
Result of spinning liquid iron core which generates a magnetic field where we spin on our axis Venus has no magnetic field Field protects us from solar wind (harmful radiation allowing for life) allowing for life
What type of radiation does the earth and sun emit
Sun releases shortwave radiation (gamma rays) -sun is a blackbody radiator (absorbs all EMR) Earth releases longwave energy -absorbing energy, reradiating it
What are emergent properties?
System components create emergent properties wherein a pattern, complex behavior, or structure is the result of collective activities of the individual components -found on the finite earth closed system (spheres interacting with each other)
What is the human sphere?
The Anthroposphere we aren't separate from the biosphere but we aren't a full part of it where do we draw the line?
What is the most famous physical model?
The Miller-Urey Experiment that created a model to simulate how life formed on Earth Made fake ocean, atmosphere, lightning, and chemicals and it revealed that 20 amino acids formed Went from abiotic to biotic (organic compounds) with heat and elements
How does the atmosphere react to radiation?
The atmosphere absorbs both short/longwave radiation and the absorption depends on the absorption spectra of atmospheric gases ozone/oxygen absorb all uv radiation water and co2 absorb a lot of infrared Lower atmosphere has higher concentration of gas/aerosols and suspended particulate matter =. greater absorption and re-radiation
What is the greenhouse effect?
The blanketing effect which allows for life on the planet CO2 and H20 retain heat and shoot it back in every direction we have added to much radiatively active gases
What is an example of convection?
The global atmospheric convection: Convection cells in the atmosphere, are parcels of air transport energy and mass from one location to another
What is the geosphere/lithosphere?
The solid earth Has rock and regolith Most static but dynamic in the sense of geologic resources/hazards like earth quakes A large source of energy
What is always component in models
Time is always a component and an inherent assumption in models. We usually think about all things on a human time scale
What is a tipping point? and what is the resilience of a system? Example?
Tipping point: A threshold where the system cannot return to the starting point, even with the removal of the forces that pushed the system past the tipping point Resilience: the tendency of a system to return to or remain within stable conditions, despite a change in forces acting upon the system (in a deep valley) In gray wolves in isle royale very low resilience because it is affected by many things and are now endangered
What are earths spheres?
atmosphere, lithosphere/geosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere All reservoirs and have subsystems All these reservoirs have matter and energy flow in between
fusion vs fission
fission splits a massive element into fragments, releasing energy in the process. (nuclear reactor) Fusion joins two light elements, forming a more massive element, and releasing energy in the process They both release energy because of the binding energy per nucleon curve
Different types of rock
igneous: formed by the cooling and consolidation of magma (molten rock) -plutonic rock: magma underground -volcanic rock:magma that has emerged sedimentary: Chemical precipitation of material carried in solution in sea. or deposition of mineral particles in suspension by water/wind metamorphic: Igneous or sedimentary rock that has been changed due to high temps or high pressures
organic vs inorganic compounds
inorganic compounds-do not contain carbon abiotic organic compounds-do contain carbon (covalent bonds) biotic
What are the 5 characteristics of a mineral?
naturally occurring, inorganic, solid, crystal structure, specific chemical composition ROCKS do not have to contain minerals (coal is inorganic)
What are the steps of the scientific method?
observation, hypothesis, experiment, other scientists test hypothesis becomes theory may become law/principle
What are the common states of matter?
solid: matter is firm and compact and atoms are fixed liquid: definite volume and atoms flow freely gas: volume is size of container and atoms move rapidly plasma: ionized gas with unique properties (in the sun) colloids: gels Change in between these states by going through different phases
What is a cycle? What is the hydrologic cycle?
the constant movement of material from one reservoir to another (need to have this in a closed/isolated system for matter) Hydrologic cycle is the flow of water between hydrosphere, atmosphere, and lithosphere (evaporation, precipitation, run off)
What is the electromagnetic spectrum?
the range of wavelengths or frequencies over which electromagnetic radiation extends. Radio<infrared< visible< UV < xray< gamma longer wavelength means lower frequency shorter wavelength=higher frequency
