Midterm 2 planet earth
toxic volatiles escape into atmosphere during manufacturing and industrial activities such as
Manufacturing of chemicals refinery of petroleum,Spraying of pesticides,Garbage incineration
what are the three most abundant gases in the earths atmosphere
Nitrogen 78, oxygen 21, argon .9
Why are the continents high and oceans low?
Oceanic crust is denser than continental crust because oceanic crust consists mostly of basalt
What are some of the factors that cause salinity to vary from place to place?
Rate of precipitation Runoff Sea ice melt and formation Evaporation
two main factors that influence seawater density?
Salinity and temperature
Why do continental interiors show greater seasonal extremes of temperature than coastal regions?
Specific heat of land causes faster heating and cooling compared to ocean water.
the two main contributions of life to the chemical evolution of earths atmosphere were
The addition of oxygen and the removal of carbon dioxide
how is wavelength and frequency of an electromagnetic wave related
The longer the wavelength the lower of frequency
list the main types of air pollutants in the US
Toxic volatiles carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, Nitrogen oxide, particulate matter
list the four layers if earths atmosphere
Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere
how do warming temperatures raise the level?
When water is warm it expands, thermal expansion Release of glacial meltwater
A glacier that forms in mountainous terrain and covers and area of less than 50,000 square kilometers is a(n) ____ glacier.
alpine
Chlorofluorocarbons are compounds that react with
and destroy ozone
Due to the Coriolis effect, currents in the Northern Hemisphere ____.
are reflected to the right
The process of smog formation occurs when incompletely burned gasoline reacts with nitrogen oxide and sunlight to form ozone, which in turn reacts with
automobile exhaust
Locations at the same latitude that receive the same amount of solar radiation
can have different climates
Completely burned hydrocarbons produce
carbon dioxide and water
what in the atmosphere is the major contributer to earths albedo
clouds
The primary source of sulfur dioxide pollution is
coal-fired electric generators
Samples of sediment can be collected from the seafloor using ____.
coring devices
In an El Niño year, the trade winds will
decrease
Oceanic crust is ____ than continental crust and therefore ____ isostatically.
denser, sinks
Deep-sea currents are driven by ____.
differences in water density
he Coriolis effect will alter a wind's ____.
direction
A portion of the atmosphere that becomes warmer than surrounding air will ____.
expand and rise
Although many of Earth's alpine glaciers have been rapidly shrinking in recent years, the Antarctic Ice Sheet has remained stable, losing no ice mass.
false
Granite is more dense than basalt.
false
In the Southern Hemisphere, the Coriolis effect deflects wind to the right and creates a clock- wise spiral.
false
Oceanic crust is thicker than continental crust.
false
Snowfields and glaciers have relatively low albedo.
false
Temperature decreases continuously with altitude in all atmospheric layers.
false
The Clean Air Act and its amendments have done little to decrease total emissions of air pollutants.
false
incoming solar radiation is absorbed by Earth's surface as long-wave radiation and reemitted as short-wave radiation.
false
The region of the globe directly beneath the Sun is warmer because it
receives direct sunlight
what are some techniques used to map the ocean floor?
remote sensing, direct sampling
removing carbon from the atmosphere requires the interaction of life processes with mainly two of the earths cycles
rock and tectonic cycle
A spring tide is a ____ tide that occurs when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are ____.
small, aligned
The two most common ions dissolved in seawater are ____.
sodium and chloride
Wind speed is determined by the magnitude of the pressure difference over distance.
true
During an interval of 24 hours and 53 minutes, most coastlines experience ____ high tide(s) and ____ low tide(s).
two and two
What causes a monsoon?
uneven heating of land and adjacent sea
Cycles identified by Milutin Milankovic´ are caused by
variations in Earth's orbit and spin axis
glaciers play a major role in two of the earths cycles
water cycle and rock cycle
The most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are
water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane
In the ____, temperature increases with altitude, because ozone absorbs ultraviolet radiation.
stratosphere
Acidic precipitation is produced by
sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides dissolving in moist air
Ocean water density depends on ____.
temperature and salinity
What property of sea water determines water's vertical position in the ocean?
temperature and salinity
The wavelength (color) of emitted electromagnetic radiation is determined by the ____ of the source.
tempurature
Most of the water that fills Earth's oceans came from ____.
the outer regions of the solar systems
at any given altitude, air pressure is caused by
the weight of the air above
The layer of ocean water in which temperature drops rapidly with depth is called the ____.
thermocline
The largest source of air pollutants in the United States come from
transportation
Which of the following shows the correct order of the atmospheric layers, from the lowest layer to the highest layer?
troposphere ® stratosphere ® mesosphere ® thermosphere
All of Earth's oceans are connected and water flows from one to another.
true
An echo sounder determines water depth by measuring the time it takes a sound signal to bounce off the seafloor and travel back to the instrument.
true
An ocean wave moves along the sea surface, but the water in the wave travels in circular paths.
true
Conduction is the transport of heat by direct collision among atoms or molecules.
true
Currently, Earth has only two ice sheets.
true
Donora-type incidents in the United States have not been repeated.
true
Frontal weather patterns are determined by the types of air masses that collide and their relative speeds and directions.
true
Glaciers form U-shaped valleys.
true
If Earth had no atmosphere, radiant heat loss would be so rapid that Earth's surface would cool drastically at night.
true
Incomplete combustion of fossil fuels releases carbon monoxide (CO), which is colorless, odorless, and toxic.
true
Ocean currents play a major role in determining average temperature of a given region on Earth.
true
Oceans are commonly warmer than adjacent land in the winter and cooler in the summer.
true
Ozone is both a pollutant and a beneficial component of the atmosphere, depending on elevation.
true
Pressure from the weight of overlying ice favors melting at the base.
true
Sea levels has risen and fallen repeatedly in the geologic past, and coastlines have emerged and submerged throughout Earth's history.
true
Some coastlines are rising isostatically because the lithosphere was depressed by thick ice sheets during the Pleistocene glaciation that have since melted away.
true
The Mid-Oceanic Ridge system is Earth's largest mountain chain.
true
The ozone in the upper atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing much of the high-energy ultraviolet light before it reaches Earth's surface.
true
The salinity of the oceans has been relatively constant throughout much of geologic time because salt has been removed from seawater at roughly the same rate at which it has been added.
true
The three mechanisms that cause air to rise are orographic lifting, frontal wedging, and convection-convergence.
true
When a substance changes from one state to another, ____ heat is absorbed or released.
latent
James Lovelock used the term ____ to refer to Earth, comparing it to a living creature due to the interconnectivity of all of its systems.
Gaia
list 3 factors with which climate changes
latitude, seasons bc of earth's tilt, the geography, wind direction, clouds, and albedo
A first rapid increase of oxygen in the atmosphere (the First Great Oxidation Event) occurred about ____ years ago.
2.4 billion
The ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica contain ____ percent of the world's ice.
99
what is a photon
A single particle or pulse of electromagnetic radiation
what are the two influences on atmospheric pressure
Altitude, weather (temperature)
Which statement describes the process of photosynthesis?
Chlorophyll-bearing plants convert carbon dioxide and water to organic sugars and release oxygen.
3 mechanisms heat energy can be transferred
Convection radiation and conduction
list some of the effects of the ice age glaciers
Erosional features, great lakes Depositional features, loess Sea level drop Great lakes Rebound of the continents
Describe ways that oceans affect earth's climate.
Evaporation Currents and accompanying winds El nino events The capacity of sea level water to absorb Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
why are the atmospheric gases concentrated near the surface of the earth
gravity
what are the two environments where glaciers exist
high latitudes and high altitudes
Sinking air exerts a downward force to form ____ regions.
high-pressure
The Mid-Oceanic Ridge rises high above the surrounding sea floor because new lithosphere forming at the ridge axis is ____ and of relatively ____ density.
hot, low
why is the mid oceanic ridge elevated above the adjacent deep-ocean basins?
newly created lithosphere is hot and therefore less dense than the cooler rocks of the deep ocean basin
When two oceanic plates converge, the sinking plate pulls the sea floor down to create ____.
oceanic trench
Solar energy breaks oxygen molecules apart in the stratosphere, releasing ____, that then combine with additional oxygen molecules to form ____.
oxygen atoms and ozone