PHS test 3

Anticyclone

High pressure

Continental polar

One of the four types of air masses

Continental tropical

One of the four types of air masses

Maritime polar

One of the four types of air masses

Maritime tropical

One of the four types of air masses

Cooling by expansion

Describes what happens to a parcel of air as it rises

Instability in air parcel

A parcel of air that is shoved upward into atmospheric air will expand and become cooler, but not as cool as the surrounding air

Warm front formation

Occurs when a warm air mass advances over a mass of cooler air

Stratus clouds

Cloud type usually associated with longer periods of drizzle, rain, or snow

Temperature extremes in North Dakota

Greater than in Washington due to the absence of ocean nearby

Largest freshwater reservoir

Found in glaciers and ice caps

Fujita Scale

Scale used to classify a tornado

Saffir Simpson

Scale used to classify a hurricane

High pressure system

Weather event characterized by sinking air that is warmed adiabatically

Cyclone air movement

Air moves into a low in a counterclockwise direction

Hurricanes on land

Generally do not continue onto land because tropical storms need warm water to operate

Thunder

Caused by the heat of lightning causing quick movements of air

Cold Front

Type of front stretching across Montana

Wind direction in Montgomery

Expected from the North

Wind direction in Iowa

Blowing Southeast

Occluded Front

Type of front stretching across Iowa

Great deserts location

Most located at 30 degrees north and south latitude

Surface ocean currents

Generally driven by the prevailing winds

Gulf Stream

The greatest volume of water moved by a current

Watershed

The land area drained by a stream

Causes of seasons on Earth

The tilt of the Earth on its axis causing unequal heating.

Cloud type associated with cold front

Towering cumulus

Common rock type for sinkholes and caves

Limestone

Artesian aquifer

Groundwater that is under pressure and flows up as high as the water table.

Location of most great deserts

30° north or south latitude.

Air parcel rising

A parcel of air that rises undergoes cooling by expansion.

Cyclone

A cyclone is centered about a region of low pressure.

Cloud formation

When water vapor in the atmosphere condenses to liquid water, a cloud forms.

Cooling rate for expanding dry air

The cooling rate for expanding dry air is about 10°C cooling for each km gain in altitude.

Cooling rate when water vapor condenses

The cooling rate observed when water vapor in the air condenses is generally less.

Average daily water consumption in the US

The average daily water consumption in the United States is roughly 5700 liters/day.

Heavy clay after rain

A layer of heavy clay after a rain would be neither porous nor permeable.

Cloud type for brief showers

Brief periods of showers are usually associated with cumulus clouds.

El Niño phenomenon

The phenomenon known as El Niño is believed to be related to worldwide changes in weather.

Air parcel in stability

A parcel of air shoved upward into atmospheric air in a state of stability will expand and become cooler than the surrounding air.

Influences on ocean wave characteristics

The characteristics of ocean waves are influenced by wind speed and length of time the wind blows.

Groundwater vs surface water

Compared to the amount of surface water, the amount of water stored in groundwater is roughly 25 times as great.

Average salt concentration in oceans

About 3.5%.

Weather associated with high pressure

Clear, fair weather is associated with a high.

Cloud type for long winter storms

Status clouds will usually produce a long, cold winter storm with drizzle, rain, ice, and snow.

Air parcel in instability

A parcel of air that is shoved upward into atmospheric air in a state of instability will expand and become cooler but not as cool as the surrounding air.

Eastern side of mountains in Oregon and Washington

The air tends to be warm and dry.

Object floating on the surface when a wave passes

Moves up and forward, then down and backward.

Greatest volume of water moved by

The Gulf Stream.

Features of ocean basins

Ridges, trenches, seamounts.

Boundary between air masses

Called a front.

Basic form of cloud that usually produces brief periods of showers

Cumulus.

Cumulus clouds indicate

An atmospheric state of instability.

Amount of total water supply available for human consumption and agriculture

Less than 1%.

Two most common ions in seawater

Sodium and chloride.

Most abundant plant life should be found in

A cool, relatively shallow ocean.

Continental shelf

Part of the continent covered with an average depth of 130 m of seawater, probably above water during major ice ages, and on average about 75 km wide.

Gulf of Mexico

A shallow sea of the Atlantic Ocean.

Seamounts

Steep volcanic peaks in ocean basins, most common in the Pacific Ocean, and islands are seamounts that are higher than sea level.

Current that moves parallel to the shore in the surf zone

Called a longshore current.

Water that runs in permanent streams

Comes from groundwater that has seeped into the stream channel.

Forms of precipitation

Rain, snow, hail.

Warm front

Forms when a warm air mass advances over a mass of cooler air.

Condition that lifts a parcel of air to form cumulus clouds

Differential heating, mountain barriers, or a cold front.

Comparison of average amount of water returning to the oceans by precipitation to water leaving by evaporation

Evaporation is greater than precipitation.