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29 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is a gyre?
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large circular pattern, whirls of water (north atlantic gyre)
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What kind of currents are on the east coast? West coast?
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East coast current is moving away from the equator: warm current (off coast of Virginia); current along west coast is moving toward equator:cold current (cold water off coast of California)
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Define thermohaline.
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movements of ocean water caused by density differences brought about by variations in temperature and salinity
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What is an upwelling?
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where cold current follows a coast, helps cool tropical oceans (Peru, California)
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What is a semidiurnal tide?
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Two high and two low tides per day, not necessarily in equal in size
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What is a spring tide?
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When the Sun, Moon and Earth all are aligned the tides are highest
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What is 1.0 atm equivalent to in other measurements?
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760 mmHg or Torr; 1013 mb
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What are two important parts of the atmosphere?
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Troposphere-"mixing" layer: clouds, weather (surface layer) 0-40,000 ft; and the Stratosphere- doesn't mix, contains ozone layer and absorbs UV
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What is the Environmental lapse rate?
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temperature decreases with altitude; temp. profile of atmosphere
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What does solar heating depend on?
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depends on angle and length of day
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What creates weather?
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uneven heating of earth's suface creates pressure, wind, humidity differences
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What increases uneven heating?
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Albedo (reflectance) the fraction of the total radiation that is reflected
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What are the four ways heat can be transferred and how?
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Conduction: through a material, important for warming of ground and surface air; Radiation: visible light from Sun passes through atmosphere, infrared goes out from surface and from clouds; Convection: vertical mixing of heated air; Advection: lateral motion of heated air
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Define climate.
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Aggregate of weather, affecting vegetation, habitability, and development
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What does climate depend on?
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average temperature and precipitation, temp/precipitation extremes, length of season
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What are some factors affecting Climate?
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latitude, elevation, oceans, large lakes
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What is latent heat?
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energy stored during a phase change
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What is specific heat?
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energy needed to warm up a substance
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What is vapor pressure?
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the maximum amount of water that air can hold
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What is specific humidity?
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the actual amount of water in the air
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What is relative humidity?
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ratio of actual to maximum amount, varies with time of day and temperature
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What is dew point?
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temperature at which cooled air would start to condense, related to specific humidity, a specific amount of moisture corresponds to a certain condensation temperature.
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What are the dfiferent types of clouds?
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Stratus-layer of clouds; Cumulus-clumpy or puffy; Nimbus-raining cloud; Alto-medium elevation; cirrus-frozen, thin wispy
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What are some common cloud combination names?
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cumulus-nimbus, alto-cumulus, cirro-stratus-very thin, very high
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What is adiabatic cooling?
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Air expands as it rises, air cools when it expands
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What does unstable air do?
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the adiabatic rate is lower than the lapse rate, thus a pocket of warm air continues to be warmer than the surroundings as it rises.
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What is the main difference between a cold front and a warm front?
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Cold fronts move faster and have much more precipitation, and are much more steeper than warm fronts
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What kind of air rises as it blows over a mountain?
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orografic lifting
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Why do warm fronts moe a lot slower?
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warm air is less dense
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