Review 2: Earth Systems and Global Changes
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Created by:
destinym514 on April 18, 2011
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71 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Convection | the transfer of heat through a fluid (liquid or gas) caused by molecular motion. |
| Crust | solid outer zone of the earth. It consists of oceanic crust and continental crust. |
| Mantle | zone of the earth's interior between its core and its crust. |
| Outer Core | The liquid layer of the Earth's core that lies beneath the mantle and surrounds the inner core. |
| Inner Core | a dense sphere of solid iron and nickel at the center of Earth. |
| Magma | molten rock in the earth's crust. |
| Convection Cells | circular patterns caused by the rising and sinking of air. |
| Hadley Cells | "A large-scale atmospheric convection cell in which air rises at the equator and sinks at medium latitudes, about 30 degrees north or south" |
| Ferrel Cells | develop between 30 and 60 degrees north and south latitudes, descending winds diverge as moist tropical air move toward the poles in winds known as the westerlies, severe winters and cool summers, both tropical and polar air masses, defined seasons, strong annual cycles of temperature, distinct winter seasons, broadleaft deciduous and coniferous evergreen forests |
| Polar Cells | where polar air sinks and flows away from the poles downward meeting the ferrel cells at 60 degrees latitude |
| Coriolis Effect | The way Earth's rotation makes winds in the Northern Hemisphere curve to the right and winds in the Southern Hemisphere curve to the left. |
| Trade Winds | Prevailing winds that blow northeast from 30 degrees north latitude to the equator and that blow southeast from 30 degrees south latitude to the equator |
| Jet Stream | a high-speed high-altitude airstream blowing from west to east near the top of the troposphere |
| Specific Heat | the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1g of a substance 1 degree Celsius |
| Heat of Vaporization | heat absorbed by a unit mass of a material at its boiling point in order to convert the material into a gas at the same temperature |
| Upwelling | Movement of nutrient-rich bottom water to the ocean's surface. This can occur far from shore but usually occurs along certain steep coastal areas where the surface layer of ocean water is pushed away from shore and replaced by cold, nutrient-rich bottom water. |
| Capillary action | a phenomenon associated with surface tension and resulting in the elevation or depression of liquids in capillaries |
| Cohesion | (physics) the intermolecular force that holds together the molecules in a solid or liquid |
| Plate tectonics | the theory that pieces of Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle |
| Continental drift | the hypothesis that states that the continents once formed a single landmass, broke up, and drifted to their present locations |
| Divergent Boundaries | a plate boundary at which plates move apart |
| Constructive Boundary | type of boundary where material is added to the crust |
| Sea floor spreading | the process by which molten material adds new oceanic crust to the ocean floor |
| Rift valleys | The gap that forms as tectonics plates move apart |
| Convergent Boundaries | a plate boundary at which plates come together |
| Destructive Boundary | where plates collide and go under or above each other. Responsible for trenches, mountains, and mt. st helens |
| Subduction zone | the region where an oceanic plate sinks down into the asthenosphere at a convergent boundary, usually between continental and oceanic plates |
| Trench | a long steep-sided depression in the ocean floor |
| Transform boundary | a plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite directions |
| Earthquake | a shaking or sliding of the ground. It is caused by the sudden movement of masses of rock along a fault or by changes in the size and shape of masses of rock far beneath the earth's surface. |
| Focus epicenter | Place inside earth were first movement occured |
| S-waves | A type of seismic wave that moves the ground up and down or side to side |
| P-waves | A type of seismic wave that compresses and expands the ground |
| Richter Scale | a scale that rates an earthquake's magnitude based on the size of its seismic waves |
| Rock cycle | sequence of events in which rocks are formed, destroyed, altered, and reformed by geological processes |
| Igneous Rock | produced by fire, great heat, or the action of a volcano; solidified from a molten state. Igneous rock is formed by the cooling and solidification of magma. |
| Sedimentary Rock | A type of rock that forms when particles from other rocks or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together |
| Metamorphic Rock | A type of rock that forms from an existing rock that is changed by heat, pressure, or chemical reactions |
| Soil | material in the top layer of the surface of the earth in which plants can grow (especially with reference to its quality or use) |
| Clay | A natural, earthly material that retains its shape and hardens when fired. |
| Silt | a mixture of tiny bits of soil and rock carried and deposited by a river |
| Sand | a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral |
| Humus | partially decomposed organic matter |
| Loam | a rich soil consisting of a mixture of sand and clay and decaying organic materials |
| Horizons | A distinct layer of soil, such as topsoil. |
| Soil conservation | protection of soil against erosion or deterioration |
| Tides | the regular rise and fall of the ocean's surface influenced by the moon's gravity pulling on earth |
| Atmosphere | the mass of air surrounding the Earth |
| Troposphere | the layer closest to Earth, where almost all weather occurs; the thinnest layer |
| Tropopause | the region of discontinuity between the troposphere and the stratosphere |
| Stratosphere | the layer of the atmosphere that lies between the troposphere and the mesosphere and in which temperature increases as altitude increases; contains the ozone layer |
| Stratopause | the transition between the stratosphere and the mesosphere |
| Mesophere | coldest layer of the atmosphere that extends upward from the stratosphere to an altitude of about 80 kilometers |
| Mesopause | the transition between the mesosphere and the thermosphere |
| Thermosphere | the uppermost layer of the atmosphere, in which temperature increases as altitude increases |
| Ionoshphere | mosly between the mesosphoere and the thermosphere. northern lights are here. made of charged partices |
| Exosphere | The outer layer of the thermosphere, extending outward into space. |
| Cumulus | Thick, fluffy clouds with flat bases, formed by vertically rising air currents |
| Stratus | Clouds that form in low, horizontal layers, cover all or most of sky |
| Cirrus | a wispy white cloud (usually of fine ice crystals) at a high altitude (4 to 8 miles) |
| Nimbus cloud | a dark gray cloud bearing rain |
| Fronts | the boundary line where air masses meet |
| Cold front | forms when cold air moves under warm air which is less dense and pushes air up (produces thunderstorms heavy rain or snow) |
| Warm front | moving weather front along which a warm air mass slides over a cold air mass, producing stratiform clouds and precipitation |
| Milankovitch Cycle | Variations in eccentricity, axial tilt, and precession of the Earth's orbit determines climactic patterns on Earth |
| Southern Oscillation | a reversal of airflow between normally low atmospheric pressure over the western Pacific; the cause of El Nino |
| Greenhouse effect | natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases |
| Global Warming | an increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere (especially a sustained increase that causes climatic changes) |
| CFC's | Chlorinated Fluorocarbons are chemicals that break down the ozone layer |
| Ozone depletion | thinning of Earth's ozone layer caused by CFC's leaking into the air and reacting chemically with the ozone, breaking the ozone molocules apart |
| ODC's | Ozone-depleting compounds. |
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