Earth Science Final Review Ch. 9-11
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Created by:
mchapman143 on May 13, 2012
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35 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 atmosphere | the envelope of the gaseous mixture surrounding Earth |
| oxygen | a colorless, tasteless, odorless, gas that forms approximately 21% of the earth's atmosphere and is the essential element for respiration. It is the most abundant element in the Earth's crust |
| nitrogen | a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that forms approximately 78% of the earth's atmosphere (by volume) |
| homosphere | one of the zones of the atmosphere when it is subdivided by composition; the layer of the atmosphere nearest the earth's surface consisting of a homogenous mixture of gases |
| heterosphere | one of the zones of the atmosphere defined by composition. It is the collection of gas layers aboce the homosphere consisting of separate layers of oxygen, helium, and hydrogen. |
| troposphere | the lowest of the four layers of the earth's atmosphere defined by the temperature profile. it is the location of all weather that affects the earth's surface. |
| stratosphere | a region of the earth's atmosphere defined by temperature profile located between the troposphere and the mesosphere. |
| jet stream | a high-speed meandering wind current usually flowing from west to east at altitudes of 15 to 25 km. its speed often exceeds 400 km/h. |
| mesosphere | one of the layers of the atmosphere defined by temperature profile. The zone of the earth's atmosphere between about 50-80 km above sea level, characterized by decreasing temperature with increasing altitude. |
| thermosphere | the highest and alrgest of the four atmospheric layers defined by temperature profile, randing from about 80 km-500km above sea level. It is characterized by the highest daily temperatures in the atmosphere. |
| exosphere | the outermost zone of the earth's atmosphere that extends into space itself |
| ozone layer | a layer of concentrated ozone located 20-50km aboce the earth's surface that shields the earth from the harmful forms of ultraviolet light. |
| ionosphere | the portion of earth's upper atmosphere where solar ultraviolet radiation breaks down the gas molecules into individual atoms and ions. It reflects shortwave radio signals. The bottome of the zone starts about 70-80 km about the earth and extends to the edge of the atmosphere. |
| greenhouse effect | the warming off lower atmosphere by infrared radiation that is radiated by the earth's surface after it absorbs visible radiation from the sun. |
| absolute humidity | the amount of water a certain volume of air holds |
| relative humidity | a ration of the amount of water the air is actually holding to the amount it could hold at that same temperature, expressed as a percentage |
| precipitation | moisture falling from the atmosphere as rain, hail, snow, or sleet. |
| evaporation | the process of vaporization when a liquid's temperature is below its boiling point |
| condensation | the change of a gaseous vapor into the liquid state as a result of a decreasing temperature. Occurs in cloud and dew formation. |
| sublimation | a change of state directly from the solid to the gaseous state or from the gaseous state to the solid to the solid state without passing through the liquid state. |
| freeze | the change from the liquid state to the solid state by lowering a liquid's temperature. |
| melt | the change of state from solid to liquid by the application of heat. |
| dew point | the temperature at which air, by cooling becomes saturated with water vapor and the vapor begins to condense around condensation nuclei. |
| cloud | a mass of fine water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air |
| Adiabatic cooling | cooling of an air mass by a reuction in atmospheric pressure and/or an increase in volume |
| fog | a stratus cloud in contact with the ground |
| drizzle | small slowly falling droplets of rain |
| dew | water that condenses on a cool surface when air in contact with the surface cools to below its dew point |
| frost | the ice crystals that sublimate on a cold surface when a film of air in contact with the surface is cooled to a dew point below freezing |
| coalescence | smaller pieces joining together to form a single larger mass. Raindrops grow in size through this process. |
| convection | the indirect transfer of thermal energy from one place to another by the movement of currents of cooler, more dense matter into regions of warmer, less dense matter. It occurs in liquids and gases because their particles are mobile |
| orographic | the lifting of an air mass and resulting precipitation as it flows over a mountain |
| front | the boundary surface between two dissimilar air masses |
| frontal wedging | vertical movement of a warm air mass due to a wedge of cold air moving under it |
| freezing rain | supercooled water that falls as rain and then freezes on the surface it contacts. |
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