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78 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Aquiclude |
Impermeable rock layer that it is so dense as to exclude water |
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Aquifer |
A permeable subsurface rock layer that can store, transmit, and supply water |
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Cryosphere |
Sub sphere of the hydrosphere that encompasses water frozen as snow or ice |
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Hydrosphere |
Water on earth |
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Neap Tide |
Low tide that occurs twice a month as a result of the alignment of the sun and moon at a right angle from one another |
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Spring Tide |
Time of maximum tide that occurs as a result of the alignment of Sun, Moon, and Earth |
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Cause of Ocean Currents |
Surface (wind flow), and other currents result from temperature and salinity. All may be influenced by size and shape of the ocean, configuration and depth of the sea bottom, and the Coriolis Effect |
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Cause of Tides |
The gravitational attraction between the moon and earth, and the sun and earth |
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Swamp |
Has plant growth that is dominantly trees |
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Marsh |
Vegetated primarily with grasses and brushes |
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Distribution of Water on Earth |
Oceans = 97.2% Groundwater = 0.62% Glaciers = 2.15% Freshwater Lakes = 0.009% Saline Lakes = 0.008% Soil Moisture = 0.005% Atmosphere = 0.001% Streams = 0.0001% |
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How much does Glacier Ice cover on Earth? |
10% |
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What are the 4 Oceans? |
Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Artic |
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Pacific |
Largest ocean Ocean surrounded by Volcanoes |
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Aral Sea |
Irrigation projects designed to boost agricultural production in Soviet Central Asia cut off water flowing into the lake |
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3 Largest Lakes |
1. Caspian Sea 2. Lake Superior 3. Lake Victoria |
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3 Longest Rivers |
1. Amazon 2. Congo 3. Ganges-Brahmaputra |
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Water Table |
Top of saturated zone within the ground |
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Zone of Saturation |
2nd hydrologic zone below the surface of the ground. The pore spaces and cracks in the bedrock of the regolith of this zone are fully saturated |
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What is the Apex of the food chain? |
Humans (people) Consumer -> Decomposer |
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Biogeography |
Study of the distribution pattern of plants and animals, and how these patterns change over time |
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Biomagnification |
Chemical pollutants can be concentrated within a food chain |
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DDT |
Quite stable and may become concentrated in the fatty tissues of organisms at higher levels of food chain |
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Biomass |
Total mass of all living organisms in an ecosystem or per unit area |
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Carnivores |
Meat Eaters Secondary consumers/predators |
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Herbivores |
Plant Eaters Primary Consumers |
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Omnivores |
Eats plants and meats |
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Photo Periodism |
Response of an organism to the length of exposure to light in a 24 hour period |
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Primary Consumer |
Animals that eat plants as the first stage in the food pyramid |
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Cause/Effect of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill |
Cause: Explosion Effect: Contamination/Human and Animal Exposure |
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What is the main energy source for the Biosphere? |
The Sun |
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Primary Source of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide |
From when humans extract and burn fossil fuels |
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Process of Nitrogen Fixation |
Once atmospheric nitrogen has been fixed into nitrates, it is assimilated by green plants, some of which are eaten by animals and released as waste. Some goes to gas and then is released into the atmosphere |
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Pros/Cons of Biofuel |
Pros: Offer new markets for farming industry Cons: Takes more energy to produce than it provides Effects of land use change and energy are not taken into account |
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Reason Coconut palm trees are widely dispersed |
Coconuts can float in the oceans for months or years without losing their fertility. They then wash up on beaches and colonize |
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Short Term Effects of Wildfires |
The composition of the biota is changed, and if the fires occur more frequently, the change may be more than temporary |
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Long-Term Effects |
Can be helpful to the seeding or sprouting of certain plants and the maintenance of certain types of forest |
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Endothermic Species |
Mammals and Birds Regardless of the temperature of the air or water, they maintain a constant body temperature |
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Exotic Plants |
Plants introduced from a different country |
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Hygrophytes |
A plant that grows in wet conditions |
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Where do the "Big Game" animals live? |
The Savanna Biome |
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Perrenials |
Plants that can live more than a single year despite seasonal environmental variations |
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Annuals |
Plants that perish during times of environmental stress, but leave seeds behind to germinate during the next favorable period |
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Plant Succession |
Process whereby one type of vegetation is replaced naturally by another |
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Symbiosis |
Relationship in which 2 dissimilar organisms live together |
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Mutualism |
Mutually beneficial relationship |
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Commensalism |
2 dissimilar living together with no injury to either |
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Parasitism |
One organism living on/or in the other |
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Dromedary (one-humped camel) |
Upper Lip - groove to catch any moisture coming from the nose Nostrils - Horizontal slits to be closed tightly to prevent dust and sand Eyes - set beneath shaggy brows and have double set of eyelids to prevent dust and sand |
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What biome is adapted to wildfires? |
Mediterranean Woodland and Shrub |
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Purpose of UNESCO's biosphere reserves |
Preserve biodiversity before its lost to development |
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Tundra |
Cold desert or grassland in which moisture is scarce and summers short, and cools that trees are unable to survive |
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Steppe |
Large flat unforested grassland |
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Two Monotremes (egg-laying mammals) |
Echidna and Duckbill Platypus |
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Uniqueness of the Fauna |
Most distinctive, due to it's lengthy isolation from other principal landmasses (Australian) |
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Distinguishes Mammals |
True Hair |
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Xeriphytes |
Plants that withstand dry conditions (taproots, thorns, and fleshy stems) |
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Extrusive Igneous Rock |
Igneous rock formed on the surface of the Earth |
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Intrusive Igneous Rock |
Igneous rock formed below ground from the cooling and solidification of magma (plutonic rock) |
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Igneous Rock |
Rock formed by solidification of molten magma |
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Metamorphic Rock |
Rock that was originall something else but has been drastically changed by massive forces of heat, pressure, and/or hydrothermal fluids working on it from within the Earth |
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Sedimentary Rock |
Rock formed of sediment that is consolidated by the combination of pressure and cemendation |
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Magma |
Molten material below Earth's surface |
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Lava |
Molten magma that is extruded onto the surface of the Earth where it cools and solidifies |
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Obtaining Knowledge about Earth's interior |
1. Studying seismic waves 2. Studying Earth's magnetism 3. Digging Mines 4. Drilling Wells |
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Strata |
Distinct layers of sediment or layers in sedimentary rock |
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Foliation |
Repetitive layering in metamorphic rocks |
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Tetonic Activity |
Plates are pulling apart, colliding, and sliding past each other |
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Effects of Fracking |
Fracking fluid uses large volumes of water Fluid can leak and pollute Can cause small earthquakes |
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Crust |
Outermost shell (thinnest layer) |
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Moho |
Base of crust = change in mineral composition |
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Mantle |
Largest of all layers |
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Outer Core |
Beneath the mantle (thought to be liquid) |
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Inner Core |
Solid (because of high pressure) and very dense |
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Silicates |
Largest and most important Combines 2 most abundant chemical elements Oxygen and Silicon |
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Origin of Limestone |
Through chemical reaction (CaCO3) and skeletal remains of coral and other animals |
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Topographic relief |
Altitudinal difference between highest and lowest points |
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Uniformitarianism |
"The present is the key to the past" Processes that are shaping today, are the same processes used in the past and will be used in the future |
