APES Unit 4 vocab

albedo

Ability of a surface to reflect light

El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

El Niño is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters, more rainfall, and less upwelling in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. (West coast of South America and USA) Opposite occurs in the Western Pacific (Australia and SE Asia)

La Nina

A very strong "normal" year; La Niña is a climate pattern characterized by the cooling of surface waters, a drier climate, and good levels of upwelling in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. (West coast of South America and USA). Opposite occurs in the Western Pacific (Australia and SE Asia)

Upwelling

The movement of deep, cold, and nutrient-rich water to the surface

Eluviation

the transport of soil material from upper layers of soil to lower levels by downward precipitation of water across soil horizons

Erosion

Processes by which rock, sand, and soil are broken down

Hadley Cell

Convection Currents that cycle between the equator, 30 degrees North and South.

hot spot volcanism

the creation of volcanoes on a planet's surface caused by a reservoir of hot magma in the planet's mantle under a thin part of the crust. Created Hawaii

Humus

material formed from decaying leaves and other organic matter

solar insolation

A measure of the quantity of solar radiation received on the surface of the earth in a particular region or space in a particular period of time.

Milkankovitch cycles

shifts from glacial to interglacial conditions caused by variation in earths orbital characteristics.

Permeability

Ability of rock or soil to allow water to flow through it

Porosity

Percentage of open spaces between grains in a rock.

rain shadow effect

Precipitation falls on the windward (west) side of a mountain range, resulting in lush vegetation & a warm, moist climate on one side, but a desert area on the leeward (east) side.

Stratosphere

The second-lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere. Contains the ozone layer.

Troposphere

The lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere. Where weather occurs.

Thermosphere

The uppermost layer of the atmosphere. Where auroras are found

Mesosphere

3rd layer of the atmosphere

Exosphere

The outer layer of the thermosphere, extending outward into space.

Watershed

Where all water runoff drains into a single body of water

Coriolis effect

The effect of Earth's rotation on the direction of winds and currents.

convergent plate boundary

A tectonic plate boundary where two plates collide, come together, or crash into each other.

divergent plate boundary

Boundary between tectonic plates in which the two plates move away from each other

transform plate boundary

Boundary between two plates that are sliding past each other.

sea-floor spreading

the process by which new oceanic lithosphere forms as magma rises toward the surface and solidifies. Occurs at a divergent boundary

Lithosphere

A rigid outside layer of the earth which make up the tectonic plates

Ring of Fire

A major belt of volcanoes that rims the Pacific Ocean

trade winds

Prevailing winds that blow from 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south to the equator

Tropic of Cancer

23.5 degrees north latitude

Tropic of Capricorn

23.5 degrees south latitude

Equator

0 degrees latitude

O soil horizon

organic matter

-The lower portion is composed of humus

-This horizon includes bacteria, fungi, algae, and insects

A soil horizon

topsoil

B soil horizon

subsoil made of broken-down rocks and other inorganic sediment that has been transported there

C horizon

weathered parent material

R horizon

The bedrock, which lies below all of the other layers of soil.

subduction zone

the region where an oceanic plate sinks down beneath a continental plate at a convergent boundary

Oceanic Plate

Thin plates that form the ocean floor; more dense than continental plates.

Continental Plate

tectonic plate that lies under a continent; less dense than oceanic plates

Tsunami

A giant wave usually caused by an earthquake beneath the ocean floor.

Topography

the arrangement of the natural and physical features of an area.

tilling

Turning-over of soil

sand

Largest soil particle with high permeability

Clay

Smallest soil particle with low permeability

Silt

Middle sized particle with medium permeability

Loam

Rich, fertile soil that is made up of about equal parts of the three soil particles: clay, sand, and silt.

Nitrogen Gas (N2)

Most abundant gas in the atmosphere

Summer Solstice

occurs on June 21; Highest amount of sunlight in Northern Hemisphere (opposite in Southern hemisphere)

Winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere)

occurs on December 21; Least amount of sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere (opposite in Southern hemisphere)

Autumn equinox

Earth's position around September 21, at which both hemispheres have equal lengths of day and night hours (roughly 12 hours of each)

Spring Equinox

March 20th or 21st in the Northern Hemisphere, when both hemispheres receive roughly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness