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79 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Define Environmental Science |
the study of the environment and the solutions to environmental problems |
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Define System |
something that energy goes into and out of. A network of relationships |
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Describe the inner core of the Earth |
Solid due to pressure. |
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Which is thicker; oceanic or continental crust? |
Oceanic |
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Describe the mantle |
most of Earth's volume and mass, inner mantle = solid, high in metals. Outer mantle = 'soft solid', can flow very slowly like a highly viscous liquid |
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What is the lithosphere? |
transitional zone between the upper mantle and the crust |
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What creates earthquakes? |
stresses in the lithosphere |
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Label the diagram. |
1. Inner core 2. Outer core 3. Inner mantle 4. Outer mantle 5. Lithosphere 6. Crust |
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What 3 things is the crust made up of? |
Sedimentary, Igneous, and Metamorphic rock |
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Describe Oceanic Crust |
Basalt, denser then continental crust, less then 10km thick
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Describe Continental Crust |
Basement rock is granite, much thicker than oceanic crust |
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Define rock |
solid aggregates of minerals |
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Describe Igneous rocks |
Solidification of magma. plutonic rock = magma cooled within Earth volcanic rock = magma cooled at surface |
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Describe Sedimentary rocks |
formed at surface from accumulation of sediment |
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Describe metamorphic rocks |
subjecting rocks to greater pressure and temperature changes in chemistry and physical properties |
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what two things shape the Earth? |
Tectonic forces and erosion.
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Explain tectonic forces |
movements of the Earth's crust and volcanism |
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Explain erosional processes |
wind, water, gravity, glaciers etc. moving sediment |
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Where are mountains formed? |
on the edge of plates |
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List all the plates |
pacific plate, australian plate, philippine plate, eurasian plate, north american plate, south american plate, nazca plate, Caribbean plate, african plate, indian plate. |
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How are volcanoes formed? |
when molten magma forced through rupture in the crust |
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Where are volcanoes generally formed? |
along edges of the plates |
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Where is most volcanic activity found? |
Ocean floor |
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Define Glaciers |
persistent ice sheets (100% of land mass) |
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Where are glaciers found? |
high altitudes and high latitudes |
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From most to least, list the water distribution in the hydrosphere |
oceans, glaciers, groundwater, lakes/rivers, atmosphere |
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What is the atmosphere? |
layer of gas surrounding the planet. held in space by gravity |
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Does the density of the atmosphere increase or decrease with altitude? Why?
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Decrease, because of gravity |
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Most of the mass in the atmosphere is where? |
troposphere |
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Which layer in the atmosphere contains ozone? |
Stratosphere |
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Label the diagram starting from Earth |
Earth, troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere |
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What are isotops? |
alternate versions of elements, which differ in mass by having a different number of neutrons. |
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What are ions? |
Atoms electrically charged, due to gain or loss of electrons. |
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What are molecules? |
combinations of two or more atoms |
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What are compounds? |
molecules consisting of multiple elements |
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How are atoms held together? |
by bonds |
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What is a covalent bond? |
uncharged atoms sharing electrons |
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What is an ionic bond? |
charged atoms held together by electrical attraction |
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What are organic compounds? |
consists of carbon atoms and, generally, hydrogen atoms |
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Explain chinook winds |
Warm air moves from the ocean towards the land. it pushes up against the mountains and is forced upwards where it also loses heat. as the air comes over the top of the mountains it gains heat on its way down. |
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What are autotrophs? |
Organisms that create their own food using, generally, energy from the sun |
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What are Chemoautotrophs and where are they found? |
a type of autotroph that creates its own food from energy that comes from deep sea vents. They synthesize organic molecules from CO2 |
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What are heterotrophs? |
gets energy directly or indirectly from autotrophs. (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores) |
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Leslie Holdridge defined "life zones" of plants based on what? |
average temperature total precipitation radio of evapotranspiration : total precipitation (also included: humidity, latitude, altitude) |
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What is a biome? |
continuous area with similar climate conditions, and sharing similar communities of plants, animals and microbes |
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What is the difference between habitat and ecosystem? |
habitat is the environment that is inhabited by a given species where ecosystem is the organisms and the non-living components of their environment interacting as a system. |
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What are the 9 basic biome types? (on land) |
Tundra, Boreal forest, Temperate forest, Temperate rain forest, Temperate grasslands, Chaparral, Desert, Savanna/tropical grasslands, Tropical rainforest |
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What is a lentic biome? |
Freshwater biome with still water. |
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What is a logic biome? |
fresh water biome with running water |
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What is a wetland? |
shallow water, can be weak flowing |
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What are the 6 basic types of marine biomes? |
open ocean, continental shelves, upwelling regions, estuaries, sea shores, coral reefs |
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What is the difference between a pond and a lake?
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ponds are fresh water habitats sufficiently shallow that light penetrates to the bottom, and lakes are deep lentil habitats where light does not the reach the bottom. |
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Label the diagram |
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Describe the Litoral Zone |
near shore areas with sufficient light penetration that allows plants to grow |
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Describe the Photic zone |
depths to which sufficient light penetrates for plant growth |
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Describe the Aphotic zone |
below photic zone |
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describe the limnetic zone |
well lit, surface volume of a lake. away from shore with sufficient light. |
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Describe the Pelagic zone |
open water regions away from shore |
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Describe the benthic zone |
lowest level of a lake. includes the region associated with the bottom. |
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What is the largest lake by volume? |
Lake Baikal in Russia |
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What is the river continuum concept? |
predictable changes int he biological, physical, and ecological aspects of rivers as they move downstream from first order channels. |
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What is a swamp? |
fresh water or saline forested wetlands, often in basins along large rivers. |
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What are marshes? |
Fresh water or saline wetlands with open water, dominated by herbaceous plants. |
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What are bogs? |
acidic wetlands that accumulate organic matter, dominated by mosses. |
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What are fens? |
basic wetlands fed by groundwater, often dominated by grasses, sedges, and mosses. |
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What is an anthropogenic biome? |
Human built, modified or engineered biomes such as parks and farmlands. |
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What did Niko Tinkergen do? |
examined the relative roles of learned and instinctive behaviours. |
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What are the 4 ways to ask why? |
1. What is the proximal cause of behavior? 2. Does the behavior change with age? 3. What is the function of the behavior? 4. Is the behavior similar to other closely related animals? (phylogeny) |
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What is a niche? |
An organisms functional role in a community |
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What is "caring capacity"? |
the maximum population size of a given species the environment can sustain |
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Describe R-strategists? |
- many offspring - fast growing - no parental care |
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Describe K-strategist? |
- few offspring - slow growing - parental care |
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What is the 10% rule? |
Material lost during transfer, lost in respiration, or incomplete digestion = about 10% |
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Whats the difference between food chains and food webs? |
food chains are simple linear diagrams of who eats who, and food webs are complex network of who eats who. |
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What is a keystone species? |
Those which produce large effects on the environment and/or community structure that are disproportionate to their abundance of biomass |
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What is a a genetic bottleneck? |
sharp reduction in the population size, reducing genetic variations. |
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Biodiversity hotspots must have what? |
1. at least 0.5% OR 1500 species of endemic plants 2. Lost at least 70% of primary vegetation |
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What is endemism?
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1. a species that was originally widespread but is now restricted to a limited area. 2. a species that has diverged and become reproductively isolated |
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From most inclusive to least inclusive list the taxonomic classifications. |
Life Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species |
