Earth Systems

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continentality

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seasonal variability in climate

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biosphere subcycle

Back 2

terrestrial & marine realms, inorganic & organic pathways; fast cycling

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lithosphere subcycle

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long term storage and tectonic re-cycling; slow cycling

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nutrients

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substances essential to life

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biosphere

Back 5

the part of the earth that supports life; including the oceans, atmosphere, land surface and soils

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organic carbon

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associated with compounds of biologic systems (C-C & C-H bonds)

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inorganic carbon

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associated with compounds of inorganic systems

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steady state

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no change in state of the system with time

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reservoirs

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temporary repositories for mass that flows through them; size depends on imbalances between inflow and outflow

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residence time

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average time that an element remains in a reservoir at steady state

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oxidation

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a loss of electrons and a gain in valance

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cyanobacteria

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earths earliest photosynthesizer; blue-green algae (3.5 Ga)

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stromatolites

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columnar/conical shaped sedimentary structures with laminations; formed by colonies of cyanobacteria

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branded iron formations (BIF's)

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laminated chemical precipitate of ancient seawater, formed in epicontinental settings when seas were high or rifted basins; alternating layers of Fe & Si rich

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red beds

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reddish coloured sandstones deposited in continental riverine environments; red colour derives from FeO3 (rust)

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isotopes

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have same proton number but different neutron numbers and different masses; serve as fingerprint for the processes that may have acted on those materials

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autotrophs

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aka primary producers; organisms that grow by using a source of energy to reduced CO2

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trophosome

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highly vascularized organ in giant tube worms; contain special cells parked full of chemoautotrophic sulphur bacteria

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heterotrophs

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grow by using organic matter produced by other organisms; secondary producers

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species

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closely related organisms that can potentially interbreed and produce fertile offspring

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population

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all members of a single species that live in a given area

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community

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assemblage of two or more groups of interacting species (plants, animals, fungi, etc.)

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biome

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region with a characteristic plant community

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ecosystem

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a community of plants, animals, fungi and microbes couple with the environment (coral reef, boreal forest, arctic, desert, etc.)

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ecotone

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diffuse boundary between ecosystems; contains an assemblage of species not found in either adjacent ecosystems

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cryovegetation

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microscopic algae that grow in polar regions

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food chain

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charts which organisms feed on which

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food web

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interconnected food chains that can be ordered at trophic levels

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biomass

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the total combined weight of organic material in each trophic level; decreases by 90-99% for each level

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symbiosis

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a relationship where two 2 species benefit from living together

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niche

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describes an animals lifestyle

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succession

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disturbance of an ecosystem generates a predictable sequence of responses

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biodiversity

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the number of species in a given area

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simpsons diversity index

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measures the likelihood that 2 individuals drawn from the same community will be of different species

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time stability hypothesis

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environment stability like that seen in the tropics leads to high diversity

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An Gorta Mor

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implications for low diversity

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monocultures

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famine, disease and social breakdown

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evolution

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the descent with modification (through genetic mutation) of pre existing life forms

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natural selection

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unequal survival & reproduction of organisms; preservation of favourable traits

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adaptations

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characteristics that enhance an organisms survival/ reproductive success

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logistic growth

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population increases rapidly when numbers are low and birth rate decreases, death rate increases until birthrate equals carrying capacity

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taxonomy

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systematic organization of living or fossil organisms into a hierarchy

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cambrian explosion

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most remarkable burst of evolution; all phyla evolved

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mass extinction

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when 25% or more families disappear

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crurotarsi

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(cross ankles) group of archosaurs; crocodiles evolved from these

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conodonts

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appear and disappear all at the same time making it easy to tell what time period it is

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stromatoporids

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similar to stromatolites, made of layers of algae

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hernantian stage

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cold terminal end of the ordovician

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iridium anomaly

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rare metal found only in meteorites and deep down in the earth; found in 75 locations world wide

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deccan basalts

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gases released changed climate; played a role in the extinction of dinosaurs

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comets

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icy balls of water, ammonia, methane, CO2, rocks and metals

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oort cloud

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spherical reservoir of comets that extend more than one light year from the sun; may be disturbed by passing stars

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asteroids

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composed of minerals and metals; orbit between Mars & Jupiter

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sideophile

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"iron loving" elements like iridium are concentrated on the interiors of planets and asteroids; (evidence for the K-T extinction)

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otolith

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ear stones in fish; used for dating temperature in the past

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milankovich forcing

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periodic fluctuations in the earths orbital parameters causing ice sheet oscillations

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fourier transform analysis

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affects how the sun hits the earth at any given time

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ice albedo (+) feedback

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ice sheet growth causes albedo to increase and planetary temperatures to decrease therefore encouraging more ice sheet growth

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photolysis

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occurs high in stratosphere; organic haze that absorbs radiation and re-emits the infrared radiation to space (cools earths surface)

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dropstone

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a rock that has fallen off of a glacier and into mud; best evidence for glaciation

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cosmology

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oldest science we know of; observations of objects in the sky and their behaviour

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red shift

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waves coming at you; high frequency

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blue shift

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waves away from you; low frequency

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planickian

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first period of cosmic time; defined by the time it took light to travel the plank length (1.616x10^-35m)

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gamowian

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ranges from 5.390x10^-44 s and 4.6 billion yrs; longest aeon in cosmic time; universe has been expanding the whole time

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open universe

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universe that will keep expanding forever; increasing or constant rate

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flat universe

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finite radius; decreasing rates decrease to 0 and reverse itself collapsing in a cosmocrunch

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expansion

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continuous creation of space between objects that are not gravitationally bound; space between galactic clusters

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weak force

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stabilizes neutrons

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strong force

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keeps particles together

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visible universe

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what we can see with the hubble telescope

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microwave radiation

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temperature going to be the same no matter where you look, equal distribution of energy and matter throughout our universe

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monopoles

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massive particles consisting of only N or S poles; should have formed in great numbers but not seen today

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black hole

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collapsed star; very dense circle of matter

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Titus-Bode law

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planetary distances from central body are not random; a planet like earth is likely to exist in all planetary systems (0.8x10^21)

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fluctuating stars

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red giant phase when our sun puffs up and engulfs mars, plasma will destroy earth (in about 5 billion years)

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white dwarves

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starts that lose half their mass to space and collapse into carbon cored stars the size of the earth

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supernova explosion

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catastrophic collapse of a massive layered star; materials "crunching" down, creating heat and expanding

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planetismals

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1 km toxic mud balls made of water, methane, and ammonia

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proteins

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composed of one or more chains of amino acids (transport molecules, enzymes, and hormones)

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climate***

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an assemblage of weather statistics/ conditions experienced at a location over some reference time frame (usually 30 years)

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holocene

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whole life; most things we observe today have been around for thousands of years (interval of time since the last glaciation)

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stochastic resonance

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flipper and switch of climate

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uniformitarianism

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the principle that processes operating today also operated in the past; present is the key to the past

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proxy data

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data that cannot be obtained by direct measurement but can be inferred from other evidence

ex) oxygen isotope data for temperature

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palynology

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the study of pollen and organic micro-fossils; materials recovered from lakes and bogs

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dendrochronology

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dating by counting tree rings

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dendroclimatology

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obtaining climate info from isotope values of annual growth rings

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bosporus

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rim of land between the black sea and mediterranean sea

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positive NAO index

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cause for wet winters in Europe and cold, dry winters in Canada & Greenland; shows strong subtropical high pressure center

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negative NAO index

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shows weak subtropical high pressure centre and weak Icelandic low; opposite of (+) NAO