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85 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Phase Change
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Reorganization of a substance at the atomic or molecular level resulting in a change of the physical state of matter (a change from a solid liquid to a gas)
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Sublimation
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Phase change from a solid state to vapor
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Latent heat
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The amount of energy in the form of heat released or absorbed by a substance during a change of phase
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The _____ is an important determinant of rainfall distribution and temperature moderation
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hydrologic cycle
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Potential Evapotranspiration
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Maximum moisture that could be lost from soil and vegetation if the ground were wet all the time
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Absolute humidity
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A direct measure of water vapor content of air. As air volume changes, absolute humidity changes
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Specific humidity
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The mass of water vapor in a given mass of air. As air volume changes, specific humidity does NOT change.
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Relative humidity
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Amount of water vapor in the air compared with the total amount there could be if the air were saturated.
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_____ has an inverse relationship with temperature.
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Relative humidity
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Dew point
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the air temperature at which saturation is reached
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Fog: what is it and how does it form?
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A cloud whose base is at or very near ground level. No physical difference between a cloud and fog. Formed either when Earth’s surface cools to below its dew point or when enough water vapor saturates the air
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Types of fog: radiation, advection, evaporation
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Radiation fog is when the temperature falls below the dew point, happens in the early morning in the fall or spring or on a clear calm night. Advection fog is when warm moist air moves over a cold surface. Evaporation fog is when warm air moves over cold water, which causes liquid to evaporate and rise into the air.
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Types of fog: upslope, valley
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Upslope fog is the cooling of air as it moves upslope. Valley fog is when cold air drains down the mountain slopes with cold air even if the surface is warm.
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Clouds are classified by...
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form and height
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High clouds
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cirrus, stratus, cirrocumulus
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Middle clouds
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Altostratus, altocumulus
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Low clouds
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Stratocumulus, stratus, nimbostratus
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Vertical development of clouds
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Cumulus, cumulonimbus
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Adiabatic cooling
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large masses of air can be cooled to dew point and expand as they rise
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Adiabatic cooling is what produces _____ and ______.
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clouds and rain
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Wet adiabatic lapse rate
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The rate at which a saturated air parcel will warm or cool
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4 types of atmospheric lifting
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Convective, orographic, frontal, convergent
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Convective
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The unequal heating of different surface areas which warms an air parcel but not the air around it.
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Orographic
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Ascending air cools adiabatically to dew point, water vapor leaves a rainshadow, descending air warms adiabatically
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Rain shadow area
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The area of low rainfall on the leeward side of a topographic barrier
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Frontal
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When unlike air masses meet, air is cooled to the dew point: creation of a zone of discontinuity (a front) causes warm air to rise over cool air.
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Convergent
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Air parcels converge and the crowding forces uplift (air forces move in and up)
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Ice Crystal Formation
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Ice crystals grow faster than the cloud droplets in clouds that contain both, air gets saturated more quickly by ice crystals than liquid droplets (crystals have a smaller equilibrium vapor pressure)
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Collision and coalescence of water droplets
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Rain produced by the collision and merging of water droplets.
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Sleet
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small raindrops that freeze during descent. Formed by the direct conversion of water vapor to ice.
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Glaze
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Rain that turns to ice the instant it collides with a solid object
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Hail
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Rounded or irregular pellets or lumps of ice produced in cumulonimbus clouds as a result of active turbulence and vertical air currents.
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Front
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a transition zone between two air masses of different temperature and moisture content (different densities)
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5 criteria used to locate fronts
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Sharp temperature changes, sharp dew point changes, wind shifts, pressure changes, the presence of clouds and precipitation.
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Cold front
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Clouds of vertical development, short duration, intense precipitation and steep frontal slope.
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Warm front
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Stratiform clouds, long duration, light precipitation, gentle frontal slope
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Stationary front
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Cloud types depends on the atmospheric stability and precipitation intensity depends on the situation.
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Occluded Front
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Clouds and precipitation depend on atmospheric stability
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Midlatitude cyclone, what kind of pressure?
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Low pressure
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Midlatitude anticyclone, what kind of pressure?
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High pressure
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Storms usually travel from ____ to _____ in north America all year.
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From west to east
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Storms shift ______ in the summer and _____ in the winter.
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North in the summer and south in the winter.
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4 Steps of hurricane development
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1. Surface air spirals into the center of a low pressure system to create convergence. (Air cools and moisture condenses which releases latent heat into the air.) 2. Warm air is less dense than cooler air. 3. When the surface pressure decreases, a larger pressure gradient is formed and more air converges toward the center of the storm. (warm moist air rises above the surface and as it cools condenses into clouds) 4. Enhance convection.
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Wind speed of a tropical depression
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Winds near the center are constantly between 20 and 34 knots
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Wind speed of a tropical storm
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Winds are between 35 - 64 knots
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Wind speed of a hurricane
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Speeds reach 64 knots, and a pronounced rotation develops around the central core.
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Ingredients for hurricane formation (there are 7)
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Warm sea surface temperatures, depth of 50m or more, light winds, convergence, ITCZ, easterly wave, 5-20 degrees latitude,
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Hurricanes are not formed on the equator because
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There is no coriolis effect
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Hurricanes typically go from east to west because of the
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Trade winds
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Thunderstorm formation (3 conditions)
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Warm, moist, unstable air
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Thunderstorms are encouraged to form by
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diverging air aloft
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Thunderstorm life cycle
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1. Cumulus stage (air rises to the freezing level due to adiabatic cooling and unequal heating) 2. Mature stage (air rises then falls back down) 3. Dissipating stage (air falls down)
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Where are thunderstorms most frequently located?
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Closer to the equator where the air is warm and moist
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What is the role of lightning?
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To equalize differences in electrical potential that occur from cloud separation
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Tornadoes have ______ ____ pressure cells
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Cyclonic low pressure cells
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Wind shear
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A change in direction or strength of winds from the top and bottom of a storm. Friction starts the spin.
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_____ in biomes depend on precipitation and temperature
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Vegetation
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The hydrologic cycle is the....
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Endless circulation of water from the atmosphere to the earth and back to the atmosphere through condensation, precipitation, evaporation and transpiration.
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The Cyrosphere
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Second only to the oceans as a place to store water. It is land ice (alpine glaciers, ice sheets, ice caps, and ocean ice)
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How much surface water is there?
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Only .25% of the world's total moisture supply
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NPP is the
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difference between photosynthesis and respiration
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Hydrogen cycle
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watery solutions dissolve nutrients and carry them to all parts of the organism....it is the medium of all life processes.
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the most abundant single substance in the biosphere is
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water
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Carbon cycle
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photosynthesis pulls atmospheric carbon into the biosphere then carbon moves constantly from the living system to organic reservoirs and back. The main component of transfer or carbon from CO2 to living matter and then back to CO2.
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What is a byproduct of photosynthesis and how does it happen?
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Oxygen through the Oxygen Cycle
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Nitrogen Cycle
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conversion of the gaseous form to of nitrogen to nitrates, primarily done by soil microorganisms and plants and then by lightning and cosmic radiation / marine organisms.
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Autotrophs
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Self-feeders that fix carbon-storing energy (animals)
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Heterotrophs
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Primary consumers (herbivores) and secondary consumers (carnivores)
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What is an ecosystem?
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All of the interactions among organisms and their environment in any area
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What is a biome?
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A large, recognizable assemblage of plants and animals in functional interaction with their environment
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_____ moves constantly from the living system to organic reservoirs and back
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Carbon
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O2 is a byproduct of
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photosynthesis
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Photoperiodism
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how much light an organism receieves in a 24 hour period
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Xerophytes have roots that are modified for
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a very little precipitation environment
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Hydgrophytes
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extensive roots and pliable stems (swamp land)
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Floristic terminology is based upon
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reproduction (spore or seed), stem or trunk composition (woody vs. herbaceous), leaf retention (deciduous vs. evergreen), leaf shape, supposed structure (hardwood vs. softwood)
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The plants in shrublands are
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short and woody
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The plants in woodlands are
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tree-dominated but far apart
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Adret slope
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direct angle of sun's rays
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Ubac slope
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low angle, less heating and evaporation (more vegetation occurs here)
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Vertical zonation of plants
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is the horizontal layering of different plants on a mountainside or hillside and is caused by a variety of local environmental conditions
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Soil layers are known as
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horizons
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Eluviation
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the downward transport of fine soil particles, removing them from the upper soil horizon
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Illuviation
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accumulation in a lower soil horizon of materials eluviated from higher horizons
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5 Factors in Soil formation
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parent material (composition has a direct impact on soil chemistry and fertility), climate, vegetation, topography, time
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