AP Environmental Science Unit 4

Core

Dense mass of solid nickel, iron, and radioactive elements that release massive amounts of heat

Mantle

Liquid layer of magma surrounding core, kept liquified by intense heat from core

Asthenosphere

Solid, flexible, outer layer of mantle, beneath the lithosphere

Lithosphere

Thin, brittle layer of rock floating on top of mantle

Crust

Very outer layer of the lithosphere, earth’s surface

Divergent

Plates move away from each other

Convergent

Plates move towards each other, leads to subduction

Transform

Plates slide past each other in opposite directions

Ring of Fire

Pattern of volcanoes all around pacific plate

Transform faults

Likely location of earthquakes

Hotspots

Areas of especially hot magma rising up to the lithosphere

Soil Horizon O

Organic, grass/leaves/plants, 0-0.1 meters

Soil Horizon A

Topsoil/humus, 0.1 m to 0.3 m

Soil Horizon E

Leaching, loss of organic matter/lighter in color, below A

Soil Horizon B

Subsoil, more clay than topsoil/lower levels of organic matter/blocky, .3 m to 1 m

Soil Horizon C

Weathered rock, 1 m to 1.3 m

Soil Horizon R

Bedrock

Three soil particles

Sand, silt, clay

Soil texture

The % of sand, silt, and clay in soil

Porosity

How much (volume of) water that a soil sample can hold

Permeability

How easily water drains through soil

Too sandy for growth

70%

Too much clay for growth

30%

Ideal soil for most plant growth

40-40-20

Percent of nitrogen in the Earth’s atmosphere

78%

Percent of oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere

21%

Percent of argon in the earth’s atmosphere

0.93%

Percent of water vapor in the earth’s atmosphere

0-4%

Percent of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere

0.04%

Exosphere

Outermost layer of the atmosphere where it merges with space

Thermosphere

Hottest temperature layer of the atmosphere, absorbs harmful radiation, aurora borealis

Mesosphere

Middle layer, 60-80km up

Stratosphere

Thickest O2 layer, 16-60 km

Troposphere

Weather occurs here, most of gas is here, 6-16 km

Coriolis effect

Deflection of the objects traveling through the atmosphere due to the spin of the earth

What direction does wind between 0-30 degrees move

E→W

What direction does wind from 30-60 degrees move

W→E

Hadley cells

Large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns

Watershed

A land area that drains water to a common body of water, such as a river, lake, or wetland

Insolation

Incoming solar radiation reaching a given area, measured in watts/m²

Albedo

Proportion of light

Asphalt has…

Low albedo because it absorbs heat

Windward side of rainshadows

Warm, most air from oceans hits the mountain. Full of greenery

Leeward side

Dry air descends down leeward side of the mountain warming as it sinks

Gyres

Large ocean circulation patterns due to global winds

Upwelling zones

Areas of ocean where winds blow warm surface water away from a land mass, drawing up colder war to replace it

Thermohaline circulation

Connects all the world oceans, mixing salt, nutrients, and transportation throughout

El Nino

Trade winds weaken, then reverse. W→E. Brings heat and precipitation to the Amazons, suppressed upwelling off the South Asian coast

La Nina

Stronger than normal trade winds, W←←←E, increased upwelling of the South Asian coast brings cooler than normal conditions