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52 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Tundra |
frozen biome in far north latitudes Soil is permafrost very short growing season |
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Taiga / Boreal Forest |
coniferous forest - trees with needles Canada and Siberia Largest source of wood for timber companies |
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Temperate Deciduous forest |
deciduous trees - lose their leaves in winter leaf litter makes soil rich |
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Tropical Rainforest |
equitorial forests with lots of rain nutrient poor soil most diverse biome |
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Savanna |
African grassland biome Fire maintains soil fertility wet and dry seasons |
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Chapparal |
Shrubland near the coast dry plant leaves contain flamable oils depends on fire to burn away competition |
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Littoral zone |
shallow area near the shore emergent plants grow here most life is here |
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Limnetic zone |
shallow area far from shore phytoplankton and zooplankton are base of food chain here |
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Benthic zone |
the bottom of a river / lake / pond decomposers live here |
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Wetlands |
Very valuable biome, but most have been destroyed Important ecosystem services - spawning + nesting habitat for fish/birds - filter pollution out of water - source of crops like cranberries - control stormwater runoff |
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Mangrove swamp |
Trees with roots that can grow in salt water roots provide important habitat for many fish prevent coastal erosion |
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Coral reefs |
most diverse marine biome mutualistic relationship between coral polyp and bacteria inside corals bleach and die when stressed |
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Independent variable |
the thing which is changed or altered in the experimental group |
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dependent variable |
the variable that is measured in an experiment |
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experimental group(s) |
group or groups in an experiment which are altered in some way |
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control group |
a group in an experiment which is LEFT ALONE, it is not changed as part of the experiment |
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hypothesis |
a testable if ...then statement describing a directional change in the dependent variable in response to the independent variable. |
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constants |
variables in an experiment which are kept the same between the experimental and control groups |
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positive feedback loops |
result in amplified change... change happens more and more, faster and faster |
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negative feedback loops |
dampen change return the system to back to its normal state |
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igneous rocks |
form from the cooling and hardening of magma and lava make up most of the Earth's crust |
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metamorphic rocks |
form from existing rocks that have been altered by intense heat and pressure |
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sedimentary rocks |
form from pieces of other rocks cementing together make up most of earth's surface rocks |
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lithosphere |
the Earth's crust outer most layer broken into plates |
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asthenosphere |
layer beneath the crust plastic flowing magma driven by convection currents |
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stiffer mantle |
3rd layer down in the Earth Mostly superheated rigid magma |
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outer core |
liquid iron and nickle |
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inner core |
solid iron and nickle most dense layer |
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evidence for plate tectonics |
coastlines of S America and Africa match earthquakes and volcanoes occur most frequently at plate boundaries same fossils on distant continents age and magnetic orientation of rocks at spreading centers |
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diverging boundary |
forms where 2 plates are separating occurs in middle of oceans creates a ridge and rift valleys |
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transform boundary |
occur where 2 plates slide along side each other faults frequent earthquakes |
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collision boundary |
occurs where 2 continents coverge forms mountains |
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subduction boundary |
occurs where oceanic plates and continental plates converge oceanic plate sinks many earthquakes and volcanoes tsunamis generated when plate movement displaces water |
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troposphere |
lowest layer of the atmosphere where we live where weather occurs contains most of the air contains all water va[pr |
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stratosphere |
second layer of the atmosphere ozone (O3) layer is here |
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ozone layer |
absorbs UV radiation that causes skin cancer in the stratosphere |
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atmosphere |
thin layer of gasses surrounding Earth 79% Nitrogen (N2) 29% Oxygen (O2) 2% mix of other stuff like CO2 and H2O |
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weather |
condition of the atmosphere at one point, and for one moment of time |
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climate |
average weather conditions for a region over a period of decades |
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insolation |
incoming solar radiation (aka sunlight) source of all energy on earth angle that it hits Earth's surface effects temp low angle at poles = cold always high angle at equator = hot always |
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albedo |
ability of a surface to REFLECT light light smooth surfaces = high albedo dark rough surfaces = low albedo |
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infrared energy |
aka heat Earth gives off energy as insolation Absorbed and refelcted back to earth by greenhouse gases |
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adiabatic cooling |
warm air near Earths surface rises as it rises air pressure decreases allowing it to expand and cool |
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adiabatic heating |
cool air high in the atmosphere sinks as it sinks pressure increases causing it to contract and warm |
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latent heat release |
as air rises and cools water vapor condenses this release energy causing air to cool further |
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Earth's tilt and revolution effect climate |
Tilted 23.5 degrees when N Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun we have summer when S Hemisphere is tilted towards Sun we have winter |
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Earth's rotation effects climate |
Coriolis effect causes winds and currents to be deflected cause by rotation |
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gyres |
looping surface currents on the ocean driven by differences in temperature distribute heat from equator to higher latitudes |
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thermohaline conveyor |
global super current that connects all oceans as well as the surface and deep parts of the ocean driven by differences in salinity cold high salinity water sinks off the coast of greenland |
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upwelling |
cold nutrient rich water rises to the surface off the WEST COAST of continents major source of nutrients for fish populations |
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windward side of mountain |
side being hit by wind always receives more precipitation |
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El Nino |
cyclically occurring reversal of ocean currents in the tropical Pacific Warm waters reverse, and move towards Central and South America |
