APES Unit 3
Examples of organic sedimentary rock
coal, chalk
Some precipitation is converted to ice that is stored in ____, usually for long periods of time
glaciers
five biogeochemical cycles
hydrologic (water), sulfur, phosphorus, carbon and nitrogen
The transfer of water from the oceans to the atmosphere to the land and back to the oceans
hydrologic cycle
Plate tectonics explain global distribution of:
volcanoes, earthquakes, faults, mountain belts, and features of seafloor
four major geological processes included in the carbon-silicate cycle
weathering, transport by ground and surface waters, erosion, & deposition of crustal rocks
How is shale made?
From deposits of sediment (mud)
Define: nitrogen fixation
The process of converting inorganic, molecular nitrogen in the atmosphere to ammonia or nitrate
Define denitrification:
The process of releasing fixed nitrogen back to molecular nitrogen
Metamorphic rocks start from a:
parent rock
What does clastic mean?
particles
A crustal cycle only, doesn't take place in the environment
phosphoric cycle
Why is the phosphorus cycle important?
phosphorus is an essential element for life, often is a limiting nutrient for plant growth (helps plants to make proteins) and used in the process of making nucleic acid
Boundaries between plates are geologically active areas
plate tectonics
The slow movement of these large segments of Earth's outermost rock shell
plate tectonics
A mechanism for explaining Continental Drift-new theory from late 1960's-early 1970's
plate tectonics or the new global technology
Based on convection cells from asthenosphere to crusts
plate tectonics or the new global technology
Interactions of plates build major features of Earth's crust
plate tectonics or the new global technology
Thin, rigid blocks move horizontally
plate tectonics or the new global technology
What determines the magnitude of an earthquake?
richter scale
Numerous processes that produce rocks and soils
rock cycle
Slate is the metamorphic form of:
shale
Most precipitation falling on terrestrial ecosystems becomes ____ ____
surface runoff
This water flows into streams, which eventually carry water back to lakes and oceans, from which it can evaporate to repeat the cycle
surface runoff
Some ____ ____ seeps into the upper layers of soils where it is used by plants, and some evaporates from the soils back into the atmosphere
surface water
Involves creation and destruction of the solid outer layer of Earth, the lithosphere
tectonic cycle
Two cycles the rock cycle depends on and what for
tectonic cycle for energy hydrologic cycle for water
Define reservoirs
temporary storage sites for nutrients in certain portions of their cycles such as the atmosphere, the oceans and other bodies of water, and underground deposits
The processes responsible for formation and change of Earth materials
the geologic cycle
Substantial amounts of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere but apparently not reabsorbed and thus remaining unaccounted for
the missing carbon sink
Involves the movement of phosphorus throughout the biosphere and lithosphere
the phosphorus cycle
The hottest and thinnest layer of the atmosphere
thermosphere
The rest of the earth's water that is not available is:
too salty for us to use, is stored as ice, or is too deep underground to extract at affordable prices using current technology
Occurs where one plate slides past another
transform fault boundary
Two examples of glacial ages and other climate evidence
-Ancient glaciation in modern tropical regions -Direction of glacial flow
Where did life start on Earth?
the ocean
Two objections to continental drift
-Continents cannot "plow" through ocean crust -Gravitational forces associated with tides too small
Two natural processes that purify water
-Evaporation and subsequent precipitation -Chemical and biological processes naturally filters and partially purifies water flowing above ground through streams and lakes and below ground in aquifers, mostly by actions of decomposer bacteria
Edward Bullard fit continents at 2000m water depth in this evidence for continental drift
Puzzle-like fit of continents
Only about ____ of the earth's vast water supply is available to humans and other species as liquid freshwater in accessible groundwater deposits and in lakes, rivers, and streams
0.024%
Two reasons why water is important to earth
1. Dissolves many nutrient compounds and it is a major medium for transporting nutrients within and between ecosystems 2. The primary sculptor of the earth's landscape as it flows over and wears down rock over millions of years
Four pieces of evidence for continental drift
1. Puzzle-like fit of continents 2. Matching sequences of rocks and mountain chains 3. Glacial ages and other climate evidence 4. Distribution of organisms
Three major ways humans alter the water cycle:
1. We withdraw large quantities of freshwater from streams, lakes, and aquifers sometimes at rates faster than nature can replace it 2. We clear vegetation from land for agriculture, mining, road building, and other activities, and cover much of the land with buildings, concrete, and asphalt, which increases runoff, reduces infiltration that would normally recharge groundwater supplies, accelerates topsoil erosion, and increases the risk of flooding 3. We also increase flooding when we drain and fill wetlands for farming and urban development
How many major plates are there?
7
about ____ of the water that reaches the atmosphere evaporates from the surfaces of plants, through a process called transpiration, and from the soil
90%
Who created the theory of continental drift?
Alfred Wagner
Proposed one large continent in 1912
Alfred Wegener
Three examples where there are matching sequences of rocks and mountain chains
Appalachian Mountains, Great Britain, Scandinavia
This layer of the earth is warm, plastic, and able to flow
Asthenosphere
Two places limestone comes from
Coral and dead sea animals
Two examples of evidence for plate tectonics
Earth's magnetic field (paleomagnetism) and sea floor spreading
Three major types of rock is classified as
Igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic
This layer of the earth has a surface to about 100 km
Lithosphere
This layer of the earth is cool, rigid, and brittle
Lithosphere
What is used to measure the intensity of an earthquake?
Mercalli scale
What scale is used to determine the hardness of rocks?
Mohs scale of mineral hardness
Why did Alfred Wegener's theory not get much positive response from other geologists?
Not enough evidence
One large continent surrounded by single large ocean
Pangaea
About 200 million years ago, superocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea
Panthalassa
Define aquifer
Porous sponge-like formations of rock, sand, or gravel that hold groundwater
Example of distribution of organisms as evidence of continental drift
Same land animals distributed in different continents (e.g., South America and Africa)
One example of a transform fault boundary
San Andreas Fault in California
Four cycles that make up the geologic cycle
Tectonic, Hydrologic, Rock, Biochemical
Elements required either in small amounts by all life or moderate amounts by some forms of life and not all by others
micronutrients
The hydrologic cycle can be viewed as:
a cycle of natural renewal of water quality
Define atmosphere:
a thin spherical envelope of gases surrounding the earth's surface
Three similarities of matching sequences of rocks and mountain chains
age, rock types, and structures
Some precipitation sinks through soil and permeable rock formations to underground layers of rock, sand, and gravel called ____, where it is stored as ____
aquifers, groundwater
The four major components - or reservoirs - of Earth's systems
atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere
The complete path a chemical takes through the four major components - or reservoirs - of Earth's systems
biogeochemical cycle
What is the element that anchors all organic substances?
carbon
Carbon combines with and is chemically and biologically linked with the cycles of oxygen and hydrogen that form the major compounds of life
carbon cycle
Most forms of life get supplies of critical nutrients from compounds containing ____, ____, ____, and ____ that are circulated in their respective ____ ____
carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, chemical cycles
examples of macronutrients
carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorus, nitrogen, and sulfur
A complex biogeochemical cycle over time scales as long as one-half billion years.
carbon-silicate cycle
Believed to provide important negative feedback mechanisms that control the temperature of the atmosphere
carbon-silicate cycle
The process in which new chemicals are formed from elements and compounds through chemical change
chemical reaction
purpose of the hydrologic (water) cycle
collects, purifies, and distributes the earth's fixed supply of water
Plate tectonics explain the evolution of:
continents & oceans
Occurs when plates collide
convergent plate boundary
Produces linear coastal mountain ranges or continental mountain ranges
convergent plate boundary
New lithosphere is produced (seafloor spreading) in this process
divergent plate boundary
Occurs at a spreading ocean ridge, where plates are moving away from one another
divergent plate boundary
Three types of plate boundaries
divergent, convergent, transform
Life is sustained by the flow of ____ from the ____ through the ____, the ____ of ____ within the ____, and ____
energy, sun, biosphere, cycling, nutrients, biosphere, gravity
three major processes involved in water cycle
evaporation, precipitation and transpiration
Left undisturbed, wetlands provide the natural service of ____ ____, acting like ____ to absorb and hold overflows of water from ____ ____ or ____ ____ ____
flood control, sponges, drenching rains, rapidly melting snow
Biogeochemical cycles are driven by:
gravity and the one-way flow of energy from the sun
Includes: Evaporation of water from the oceans Precipitation on land Evaporation from land Runoff from streams, rivers, and sub-surface groundwater
hydrologic cycle
In Alfred Wegener's time, what did some believe in, rather than one large continent?
land bridges
Two ways nitrogen fixation takes place
lightning and in soil (mostly by nitrogen-fixing bacteria in legumes)
Marble is the metamorphic form of:
limestone
When chemical elements are not available at the right times, in the right amounts, and in the right concentrations relative to each other
limiting factor
Elements required in large amounts by all life
macronutrients
Include the "big six" elements that form the fundamental building blocks of life
macronutrients
The most dense and coldest layer of the atmosphere
mesosphere
Biogeochemical cycles are an important component of the earth's ____ ____
natural capital
Cycle responsible for moving important nitrogen components through the biosphere and other Earth systems
nitrogen cycle
Why is the nitrogen cycle important?
nitrogen is required by all living things and helps to make proteins