UNIT 4 APES

Before 1994 how many L of water were required per toilet flush? After 1994?

Before the early 1990s in the United States, standard flush toilets typically required at least 3.5 gallons (13.2 litres) per flush and they used float valves that often leaked, increasing their total water use.

What type(s) of weathering is caused by plant roots?

Biological weathering occurs when plants break up rocks with roots or root exudates. The process is slow, but may strongly influence landscape formation.

What is the least weathered soil horizon?

C horizon

More than half the irrigated land in the world is located in what 4 countries?

China, the United States, India and Pakistan

What percent of the world's freshwater is used for agriculture

In most regions of the world, over 70 percent of freshwater is used for agriculture

What type of solid would have the biggest problem with pollution infiltrating groundwater? Why?

Industrial discharges, urban activities, agriculture, groundwater pumpage, and disposal of waste

What is the relationship between the size of the Hawaiian Islands and hotspots?

The hawaiian islands were formed by a hotspot

In what ways can human activities contribute to the negative effects of drought?

human activities, including increased demand, outdated water management, climate change from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, growing energy and food production, intensive irrigation, diminished supplies

Why can we not access a majority of Earth's fresh water for use?

locked up in glaciers, polar ice caps, atmosphere, and soil; highly polluted; or lies too far under the earth's surface to be extracted at an affordable cost.

Describe what the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 does.

prohibits surface coal mining within the boundaries of any unit of the National Park System

What is a cone of depression and how is it formed?

pumping from a well in a water table aquifer lowers the water table near the well. This area is known as a cone of depression. The land area above a cone of depression is call the area of influence.

What chemical pollutants lead to the formation of acid precipitation?

sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) are emitted into the atmosphere and transported by wind and air currents

The movement of tectonic plates occurs through convection currents in what layer?

the molten rock in Earth's mantle below the crust.

What is xeriscaping and why is it useful?

the practice of designing landscapes to reduce or eliminate the need for irrigation. This means xeriscaped landscapes need little or no water beyond what the natural climate provides

What is erosion?

the process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents.

What is the purpose of an aqueduct? What disadvantages exist with aqueducts?

to channel water from a freshwater source, such as a lake or spring, to a city. In time of war the besieger of a town could pollute the aqueduct water or cut the supply

Why were a majority of the dams in the United States built?

to secure water supply and enable socioeconomic growth

What is acid precipitation and why does it occur?

unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions,one of the consequences of air pollution

Why is hydroponic agriculture the most effective in terms of water use?

water in a hydroponic system is captured and reused, rather than allowed to run off and drain to the environment

How is sedimentary rock formed? Igneous?

Igneous rocks form when molten rock (magma or lava) cools and solidifies. Sedimentary rocks originate when particles settle out of water or air, or by precipitation of minerals from water.

Modern low flow shower heads use how much water for a 10 min shower?

18 gallons

Even though the population of the U.S. has risen over the past 50 years, why has the amount of water used leveled off?

?Electricity water use increased almost 400 percent from 1950 to 2005, but dropped about 19 percent from 2005 to 2015. Irrigation water use increased

Describe the traits of each soil horizon.

A horizon: most organic matter/ hummus, zone of overlying organic material mixed with underlying mineral material The O horizon is thin in some soils, thick in others, and not present at all in others. mostly organic matter. Organic matter in various stages of decomposition E horizon: is a zone of eluviation, and is the zone through which iron and aluminum pass from overlying horizon, zone of leaching of metals and nutrients: occurs in some soils beneath either the O horizon or A

What type of soil would you want to use as the base for a landfill? Why?

Clay soil, forms a barrier between trash and enviroment

What type of mine is the most dangerous for humans to work in?

Coal mine

What type of plate boundaries are most likely to create volcanoes?

Destructive, or convergent, plate boundaries are where the tectonic plates are moving towards each other.

Humans create impermeable surfaces such as roads and parking lots. What problems can they cause for water and soil

Essentially, in built areas with extensive impervious surfaces, water can't soak naturally into the earth — instead it rushes across the landscape, carrying pollutants and biological contaminants into our waterways, poisoning fish, wildlife, and us

How is new rock material made along divergent plate boundaries?

Magma pushing from mantle

What is Humus? In which soil horizon is it found?

Most commonly called topsoil, the A horizon is a layer of mineral soil that has a defined soil structure, and it is mostly made up of humus (decayed organic matter).

What are the world's largest three rivers?

Nile,amazon, yangtze

What is the difference between chemical and physical weathering?

Physical weathering is the breakdown of large rocks into fragments by physical forces; the chemical composition of the rock is not changed. Chemical weathering is the breakdown of rock by chemical reactions; the chemical composition is changed.

What do we use water most for daily in the United States?

Production of electrical power toliets

What factors can lead to an exposed rock surface weathering more rapidly?

Rainfall and temperature

In what type(s) of rock are fossils found in?

Sedamintary rocks

What percent of the world's water is found in the Middle East and North Africa? What percent of the world's drinking water?

While the Middle East and North Africa is home to 6% of the world's population, it receives only 2% of the world's renewable fresh water.

What type of soil is ideal for growing plants? Why?

a loam and has roughly 40% sand, 40% silt and 20% clay. Another important element of soil is its structure, or how the particles are held together - how they clump together into crumbs or clods. A loose structure provides lot of pore spaces for good drainage and root growth.

What is a levee? How can they help? What problems can they cause?

a natural or artificial wall that blocks water from going where we don't want it to go. Levees may be used to increase available land for habitation or divert a body of water so the fertile soil of a river or sea bed may be used for agriculture. They prevent rivers from flooding cities in a storm surge

What is a hot spot?

a volcanically active area of Earth's surface far from a tectonic plate boundary

What services does soil provide for an ecosystem?

air quality and composition, temperature regulation, carbon and nutrient cycling, water cycling and quality, natural "waste" (decomposition) treatment and recycling, and habitat for most living things and their food.

Why is the core of earth made up of the densest metals?

because it is the densest, made of solid iron and nickel.

Why can't inorganic substances be broken down in soil?

cannot be eliminated by oxidation or thermal decomposition of those compounds.

What effect does plate tectonics have on speciation and extinction?

change the degree of geographical isolation of species,

Describe where Earth's freshwater is found

glaciers, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers, streams, wetlands and even groundwater.