Environment and Humanity Exam 1

What is a scientific revolution?

A scientific revolution is when a scientific theory is refuted by the scientific community.

Steps of scientific method

1. Theory/ model

2. Hypothesis/ predictions

3. experiment/ observations

4. conclusions

Cumulative Science

Cumulative science refers to the process by which scientific knowledge builds upon previous discoveries and theories, leading to a gradual accumulation of understanding over time.

Samos

Heliocentric model— a theory that places the Sun at the center of the solar system, originally proposed by Samos

Who developed the heliocentric model 2000 years later than Samos?

Copernicus

Scientific Theory

Defined by making quantitative predictions

Karl Popper

“Normal Science” using research and falsifying theories

• No Ad Hoc Modifications

• Scientific method and scientific theory

Thompson

Proposed that zoea are the larval stages of Crustaceans rather than separate species, as believed at the time.

• His work was consistently rejected by the scientific community.

• Other people got awards for refuting his work!

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Thomas Kuhn

Scientific revolutions, science is not linear

“Non-cumulative” science

Non normal science

Darwin Evolution

Natural selection— only the strongest survive

Lamark Evolution

Proposes that organisms can pass on physical traits acquired during their lifetime to their offspring

• Think: Giraffe example

  • Necks stretch out

Sciences have “only model, but not facts or laws”

Can never prove a theory is true, can only prove it to be false

• Exploration is not a science because there is no theory

Marshall discovery

Ulcer research!

• Tested on himself

• Demonstration of how science is both cumulative (building step-by-step on existing historical knowledge) and progressive (moving forward to correct outdated dogmas and improve real-world applications).

Wenner and bees

• Odor search theory

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Bee dance theory

Proposed originally by Frisch

• Example of non-progressive science

Wenner 1970

• Alternate explanation for bee dance

The bee dance heat up the bee and volatizes floral odors which the attending bee then uses to search for the flower patch. Bees have a sense of smell better than a dog and follow the odor plum from flowers that exists in the air.

• Bees can’t see well in the dark, so there had to be another explanation

Sutton and chromosomes

• Discovered that chromosomes are stable structures and came in pairs

• Example of non-progressive science

Lysenko

• Agriculture and genetics

• Rejected that genetics

• Example of non-progressive science

• Soviet Union

Progressive Science

Models progressively becoming closer to reality

Four layers of the Earth

• Crust

• Mantle

• Outer core

• Inner core

Superman: The Movie and environment

Illustrates geological hazards and artificial environmental disruptions by detonating nuclear weapons along the San Andreas Fault to submerge coastal California.

• Illustrates our vulnerability to natural disasters

• Will California fall into the sea?

Latest era

Cenozoic

Second latest era

Mesozoic

Cenozoic epochs

Holocene, pliestocene

What are convection currents?

Circulating movements within fluids (liquids or gases) or semi-fluid mantle rick driven by heat and density differences

• They occur within Earth’s mantle

Half-life of Carbon 14 and decay product

• Half life= 5,700 years

• Decay product= Nitrogen 14

Half-life of Uranium and decay product

• 4 billion years

• Decay product= lead

What is a La Nina condition and what climate conditions does it form?

• East-to-west trade winds

  • These winds push warm surface waters westward to the South Pacific, which creates the tropical climate for the region and monsoon rains in the summer

  • Cold water from deep in the ocean near South America rises to replace the warm water pushed west by the Trade Winds, which is called an upwelling, and creates a surprisingly cool dry climate near the equator for western South America

Ocean-ocean plate collision

• Always a subduction zone, which is where one oceanic plate slides under another

• The bending of the subducted plate causes a deep ocean trench

• Older plate subducts

Ocean-Continental plate collision

• Always a subduction zone

• Since Continental plate is much thicker, the Oceanic plate slides under

• Oceanic plate bends and in doing so produces an oceanic trench

• Subducted plate slides deep into mantle where it melts

  • Parallel volcanic mountain range in the Continental Plate

Continental-Continental Collision

No subduction zone

• Plates push up and create mountains

Divergent Plates

• Occur magma rise zones are moving apart and new crust is created by magma rising deep in the mantle

Ring of Fire

• Volcanoes occur at plate boundaries

• Pacific Plate meets many surrounding tectonic plates

• A direct result of plate subduction

Pacific and North American Plates

• Pacific Plate heading North

• North American Plate heading West

Geography in California

• Pacific traveling North

• North America traveling West

  • Creates a subduction zone because the Pacific Plate is sliding under the North American Plate

  • Creates the Sierra Nevada mountains

  • Coast Mountains created by a rise zone

  • Valley between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Mountains

• San Andreas Fault that divides the Coast Mountains from the North American Plate

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Isostacy and Sweden

• Isostacy: the equilibrium that exists between parts of the Earth’s crust which behaves as if it consists of blocks floating on the underlying mantle

  • Because of this, Sweden is rising upwards

Poles and Equator

• Has to do with the angle of the sun

  • Energy hits equator directly, while at a severe angle at the poles

  • Seasons have to do with Earth’s axis tilt

Milankovitch Cycles

• Drive Ice Age cycles

Rain shadows and deserts

• A3 dry area on the side of a mountain facing away from the wind, and it creates deserts by stripping moisture from the air before it can reach the other side.

Hadley Cells

• Form right around the equator

• Hot air at the equator cools high in the troposphere and falls around 30 degrees north and south

• Deserts are at 30 degrees north and south

  • Major deserts are found at 30 degrees north and south where mountain ranges create a rain shadow

Coriolis Force

• Causes moving objects to appear to curve because they are on a rotating surface like the Earth.

El Nino

Trade winds reverse over the equatorial Pacific Ocean

• Sends the warm water to South America and warm surface water flows eastward

  • Causes droughts and flooding

Indonesia and El Nino

Caused extreme fire and drought, leading to high amounts of air pollution

• Produces drought and thus crop failure

Peru and El Nino

Coastal waters warm

• Cold-water fish have less nutrients and leave

Lateralization

• Chemical weathering

• Occurs in hot, tropical regions

• Results in iron-rich soils

• Rock becomes laterite

  • High temperature areas where dirt turns into rock and chemical layers mix with rock underneath

Salinization

Salinization is the process where the

salt content of a soil increases. Salts occur naturally within soils and in water. Salinization can be caused by natural processes such as the gradual withdrawal of a shallow sea. It can also occur in agriculture from irrigation of crops in arid regions. It occurs in Deserts in conjunction with agriculture.

• Hot, arid regions that are used for agriculture

• Result is often salinization of lakes and seas (Salton Sea)

Podsolization

Soil formation process that occurs in Coniferous forests

• needles and sap are acidic

• sandy soil (low water capacity, low cation capacity)

• makes soil more low nutrient

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Half-life of Carbon 14

Half-life: 5,700 years

Decay product of carbon: Nitrogen

• Why Carbon 14 dating?

  • Once dead organisms no longer gain carbon, so carbon 14 will decay over time

  • Thus, the amount of C14 in everything is known

3 Big extinction events

1. Snowball earth

   1. 780 to 630 mya

2. PT Extinction (Permian Trassic)

   1. Earth got too hot

   2. Killed more than 96% of earth’s marine species

   3. Known as “The Great Dying”

   4. Caused by massive volcanic eruptions that spewed lava over Siberia and Russia

3. KT Extinction (Cretacious Tertiary) 65 mya, divides Cenozoic and Mesozoic

   1. Asteroid 6 miles in diameter hit Earth in the reigon of yucatan, Mexico

   2. Earth got cold due to reflection of heat in the massive amounts of dust in the air

Four Causes of Ice Ages

1. Asteroid or Comet hits earth

2. Volcanic Activity

3. Milankovitch Cycles

4. Fluctuations in the Sun’s Energy Release

Importance of Phosphorus

Forms building blocks of genetic material

Holds all the information needed to build the organism in each cell

Confined vs Unconfined Aquifer

• Confined is under pressure and forced between two layers of rock

• Unconfined aquifers do not have a rock layer on top

How do glaciers move?

• Basil slip and internal flow

  • Divided into a region of accumulation and ablation

Armageddon and Environmental Science

• Features portrayal of an asteroid hitting Earth

• Shows asteroid that began PT Extinction Event

What determines an Ion?

• When the number of protons does not equal the electrons, the atom has a charge and is said to be an ion

  • Cations: more protons and positively charged

  • Anions: more electrons than protons

What determines an Isotope?

When atoms of a particular element have different numbers of neutrons they are called Isotopes

• The isotopes of an atom have the same physical and chemical properties but different weights

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What determines the water capacity of soil?

• Grain size

• Clay: high water capacity

• Sand: low water capacity

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What determines the cation capacity for soil?

Clay soil has a high cation capacity

Sandy soil has a low cation capacity

Three main classes of rock

Igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic

Subclasses of Igneous rock

Intrusive: cool underground

Extrusive: cool above ground

Subclasses of Metamorphic rocks

• Foliated metamorphic rocks: parallel mineral grains

  • Foliation occurs when pressure squeezes the flat or elongate

  • Non-foliated: do not have aligned mineral crystals

    • Marble is an example

Subclasses of sedimentary rocks

• Clastic sedimentary rocks are made up of pieces of pre-existing rocks

  • These pieces form by weathering of rock and then transported to a basin where the sediment is trapped

• Chemical sedimentary rocks form from processes that can be living or non-living

  • Limestone is an example, which is typically formed from coral and shell remains

Chemical composition that defines Carbonate Minerals

C03 and limesotne is a carbonate rock

• Calcium carbonate

• Dissolve relatively easy

• Think: ozarks and caves

Sulfides/Sulfate minerals

• Sulfides are based on the sulfide ion

• Sulfides are mined as sources of metals such as zinc, lead, copper and tin

• Burning off the sulfur produces acid rain

Chemical composition that defines silicate minerals

• Silicon and oxygen, SiO2 and SiO4.

• Granite, clay, quartz, and sand

Mineral group of Diamond

Native earth elements

Mineral group of cubic-zirconium

Oxides— based on the oxygen anion, O2.

Examples include iron oxide

Issues with carbonate soils

Cities built on carbonate soils are prone to water pollution problems because limestone dissolves so easily in acidic water.

• Any pipe put in the ground will leak

Shroud of Turin

Shows how material can be dated using DNA

Where was Napoleon exiled?

St. Helena

Wegener

Famous for his theory of continental drift and Pangea

Pointillism painting

Atoms don’t blend together; they paint one beautiful picture

What is the Little Ice Age?

• Mini-ice age in Europe between 1500 and 1800

  • caused economic and political crisis in Europe

Salton Sea

• waters never discharge to the ocean; they either seep into the gorund or evaporate

• this has resulted in water with an extremely high salinity level— more than half of the Pacific Ocean— that continues to rise with time

Nitrogen Fixation

When nitrates or nitrites are turned into nitrogen gas, the process is called Denitrification

• Converting nitrogen gas into nitrates is called Nitrogen Fixation

Organism that converts nitrogen gas in the air to nitrates

• Pea and Bean plants where the plant provides a home for the bacteria and the bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen for the plant

  • When farmers rotate crops they switch between a pea/ bean crop to something else becuase the pea/ bean crop puts nitrogen into the air

Denitrification

Nitrates or nitrites are turned into nitrogen gas

Cars and nitrogen

• Cars burn some nitrogen in the air making nitrous oxides

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Milankovitch role

Change the eliptical tilt of the earth

• contribute to ice age cycles