AICE Environmental Management Review

Paper 1

-1 hour, 30 minutes
-Starts at 12:45 PM
-Lithosphere and Atmosphere
-Section A: 2 Cambridge questions with multiple parts, answer all. Write responses in test booklet
-Section B: Extended essay. 3 options available (question 3, 4, or 5) but only choose 1. Each question has a part (a) and (b). Answer both parts for whichever question you choose. Write response in separate essay booklet
-Use pen for all answers
-You got this! :D

Section A Free-Response tips

-Answer all, or as many parts as you can
-Spend no more than 45 minutes on questions 1 and 2 to leave 45 minutes for extended essay parts (a) and (b)
-Go through and answer all the definition questions first (easy points!)
-pay special attention to points awarded for each part
-don't forget to mention LEDCs and MEDCs (if appropriate)
-questions 1 and 2 are a total of 40 points

Section B Extended Essay tips

-3 option choices (question 3, 4, or 5), but only pick one of the choices
-answer both (a) and (b). (a) will be one long paragraph about a page long, (b) will be a multi-paragraph essay (5-10 paragraphs), 2-3 pages long
-(a) will be more factual, like describing a graph and using evaluation (important!) to make an argument. (a) is worth 10 points
-(b) will require a combination of specific evidence, management strategies, evaluation, etc. (b) is worth 30 points, so it's better to write a good (b) and a weak (a) than vice versa
-Style and eloquence count, and grading is subjective, so be clear and elegantly coherent
-Planning beforehand is advised
-Case studies are helpful here to be used as evidence
-A conclusion paragraph is not necessary for (b)
-Examples can be local or global as long as they are specific. Try to include reference to LEDCs and MEDCs, and always link them to management principles throughout
-BE SPECIFIC, you plums

Chemical layers of earth

crust, mantle, and core

Physical layers of earth

lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesosphere, outer core, and inner core

Divergent plate boundary

Boundary between tectonic plates in which the two plates move away from each other, and new crust is created between them

Convergent plate boundary

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

Transform plate boundary

Boundary between two plates that are sliding past each other (ex. San Andreas Fault in CA)

Causes of different types of volcanoes

-divergent boundaries (like mid-ocean ridges or continental-continental ridges)
-Convergent boundaries

Cone volcano

A steep, sloping volcano made of layers of ash and lava that builds up from past eruptions. They usually only erupt once, and are the most common type

Stratovolcano

composite volcanoes, are large stratified cones with multiple layers of ash and rock (ex: Mount Rainier)

Supervolcano

Massive volcano that can produce unbelievably enormous, but rare, eruptions (like the one in Yellowstone national park)

Shield volcano

broad, shield-shaped volcanoes, have high-viscosity lava that flows so these are typically not catastrophic

Predicting eruptions

Earthquake activity (magma pressure, temperature changes), Activity patterns (geological measurements, measuring devices), Historical Records

Epicenter

Point on Earth's surface directly above an earthquake's focus

Focus

Point at the depth where the rocks ruptured to produce earthquakes; place where quake waves originate

Earthquake

caused by movement between earth's tectonic plates. The great release of force due to friction causes the quake

Seismic Waves

-either body (earth) or surface (water) waves
-where waves cannot be detected are called "Shadow Zones"
-body waves bounce through earth's interior. They very depending on density, type, and temperature

Primary Waves

compressed, longitudinal, the fastest

Secondary Waves

transverse, cannot travel through liquid or gas, intermediately fast

Love Waves

can ripple along the surface or amplify, are the slowest and most devastating

Ores

concentrated accumulations of minerals from which ecnomically valuable materials can be extracted

Reserve

the known quantity of the resource that can be economically recovered

Strip Mining

the removal of strips of soil and rock to expose ore; used when the ore is relatively close to the Earth's surface and runs parallel to it

Open Pit Mining

the creation of a large pit or hole in the ground that is visible from Earth's surface; is used when the resource is close to the surface but extends beneath the surface both horizontally and vertically

Mountaintop removal

when miners remove the entire top of a mountain with explosives. Large earth-moving equipment removes the resource and deposiits the tailings in lower-elevation regions nearby

Placer Mining

the process of looking for metals and precious stones in river sediments, using the river water to separate heavier items from lighter times

Subsurface Mining

begins with a horizontal tunnel dug into the side of a mountain, and from this tuner vertical shafts are drilled, and elevators are used to bring miners down to the resource and back to the surface

Fossil Fuels

a fuel drive from biological material that became fossilized millions of years ago

Nuclear Fuels

Fuel derived from radioactive materials that give off energy

Coal

solid fuel formed primarily from the remains of trees, ferns, and other plants materials preserved 280 million to 360 million years ago. 280-360 million years old. Four tiers of aged coal:
•Lignite
•Sub-bituminous
•Bituminous
•Anthracite
•"Peat" is a precursor often extracted from bogs.
•Coal is relatively cheap, until it becomes expensive and challenging to
extract

Petroleum

a fossil fuel that occurs in underground deposits, composed of a liquid mixture of hydrocarbons, water, and sulfur

Crude Oil

liquid petroleum that is removed from the ground

Natural Gas

is ~85% methane and 5 to 20% ethane, propane, and butane. It is lighter than oil, and extracted in association with petroleum

Oil Sands

slow-flowing, viscous deposits of bitumen mixed with sand, water, and clay

Energy Intensity

energy use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP)

Fission

a nuclear reaction in which a neutron strikes a relatively large atomic nucleus, which then splits into two or more parts. This process releases additional neutrons and energy in the form of heat. The additional neutrons can, in turn, promote additional fission reactions, which leads to a chain reaction of nuclear fission that gives off an immense amount of heat energy

Fuel Rods

Cylindrical tubes which contains nuclear fuel

Control Rods

cylindrical devices that can be inserted between the fuel rods to absorb excess neutron, thus slowing or stopping the fission reaction

Radioactive Waste

radioactivity emitted from nuclear fuel no longer useful to a power plant; is extremely harmful to living organisms

Nuclear Fusion

the reaction that occurs when lighter nuclei are forced together to produce heavier nuclei. in the process, a great deal of heat is generated

Passive Solar design

a technique that takes advantage of solar radiation to maintain a comfortable temperature in the building

Quarrying

a type of open- pit mine primarily for building materials

Sustainability

managing earth's resources in such a way that they won't be depleted for future generations

Pedogenesis

the creation of soils from parent materials. The factors that affect it are climate, topology, flora, fauna, and type of parent material

O Horizon

the organic layer made of humus, leaf litter, etc.

A Horizon

the topsoil, which is most important for plant growth and most harmed by humans

B Horizon

subsoil, is less organic

C Horizon

weathered rock, leached nutrients

R Horizon

solid rock

Soil Texture

the percentage breakdown for particle sizes in soil. It determines the type of soil each soil sample is (if it's loam, silt, sand, etc.)

Erosion

the removal of soil from a given area while Degradation is when the soil remains in the same place but becomes poorer in quality because of nutrient imbalances, salinization, etc.

Mass Movement

any displacement of large amounts of soil down slopes over a (typically) short period of time. It is primarily caused by gravity and human causes, and the general classes are landslides, rockfalls, earth slumps, or mudslides

Causes of Mass Movement

-deforestation
-poor agricultural practices
-building of infrastructure

Rock Weathering

the breakdown of parent material (rocks, minerals, wood, etc.) into soils by earth's atmosphere, waters, or biological organisms, which will eventually be removed. Is important for soil creation, nutrient cycling, topographic changes

Factors that affect soil formation

climate, type of parent material, relief/topology, fauna, and flora

Soil characteristics

•Texture
•Biotic components
•Fertility
•Percolation rate: how fast water passes through
•Moisture Content: water retention
•Porosity: spaces between particles

Soil particles size

Sand: largest, at 0.05
-2.0mm in diameter
(graded within this size
range from "very fine" to
"very coarse")
Silt: midsized soil particles, 0.002-0.05mm in diameter
Clay: smallest soil particles, Less than 0.002mm in
diameter, Incredible water retention

Background Soil Erosion

natural erosion that occurs at roughly the same rate as soil formation

Accelerated Soil Erosion

faster than soil replacement, often caused by humans

Salinzation

addition of too much salt. salt is good in small
amounts but irrigation can oversalinate and make soils toxic

Soil compaction

reduced porosity makes is harder for plants to
grow and take root

Earth slump

earth shears from a failure plane as in
landslides, but the resulting scar is more of a cliff or scarp than an open gash. Often formed by removal of soil at base of the cliff.

Soil creep

a type of mass wasting involving the imperceptibly slow down slope movement of soil and rock fragments. Soils move due to expansion and contraction, with frozen soils expanding and warming soils contracting

Solifluction

flowage of water saturated soils over impermeable ground

Rotational slumping

Slumping in which the main section of displaced
Earth slumps into several smaller blocks

Causes of volcanoes

-divergent boundaries (like mid-ocean ridges or continental-continental ridges)
-Convergent boundaries

Hot Spots

the hypothesis is that some parts of the mantle are natural upwellings of very hot molten rock. Hot spots are fixed, so as plates move the formed volcanoes become dormant

Magma

A molten mixture of rock-forming substances, gases, and water from the mantle (found BELOW the earth's surface)

Lava

Liquid magma that reaches the surface; also the rock formed when liquid lava hardens

Felsic lava

is high in silicates, has a high viscosity (so flows slowly), and found on continental plates

Mafic lava

~45% silicates, with higher magnesium and iron levels, is much less viscous so flows faster, also called Basaltic lava (igneous rock)

Volcanic eruption sequence

1. Stream explosions (phreatic)
2. Explosive eruption of magma
3. Eruption cloud
4. Pyroclastic flows
5. Lava flows
6. Lava fountains
7. Volcanic debris and mudflows (lahars)

Seismometers

measure waves that affect earthquakes

Seismograph

a graph that show the seismic waves

Richter scale

measures ground movement to determine strength

Moment Magnitude Scale

measures strength based on area size, average distance, an rigidity. The greater the number, the stronger the value of E

Modified Mercalli scale

based on intensity and effect felt/damage to structure (on a roman numeral scale of I - XII)

Shallow focus earthquakes

less than 70 km in depth (so in the lithosphere)

Intermediate focus earthquakes

between 70 and 300 km in depth (in and below the asthenosphere)

Deep focus earthquakes

between 300 to 700 km in depth (in the mesosphere)

Tsunamis

located at a convergent, thrust fault boundary; caused by earthquakes at an epicenter located on the ocean floor, or by an underwater landslide activated by an earthquake

Convection currents

Circular currents in the mantle/asthenosphere caused by the magma being heated by the core off the Earth.

Heat source of the earth

radioactive decay in the core

Crust

-5 - 70 km thick
-solid
-brittle and lightweight compared to mantle

Mantle

-2900 km thick
-between crust and core
-made primarily of dense iron-rich materials
-is fluid and moving due to convection currents

Core

-3428 km in radius
-incredibly hot (7000 - 10,000 °C) sphere of very dense nickel and iron
-is the center of the earth
-likely composer of giant crystals of metal running North to South
-convection currents likely gives rise to Earth's magnetic field

Lithosphere

-15-300 km thick
-is the crust and outer rigid mantle
-divided into 7 major and many minor tectonic plates which float on the asthenosphere
-composed of continental and oceanic crust

Asthenosphere

-250-600 km thick
-below lithosphere and the upper mantle
-very hot --\> fluid, but high pressure keeps it plastic
-convection cells from flowing cause movement of tectonic plates
-movements can cause the brittle lithosphere to crack (faults)

Mesosphere

-2550 km thick
-the middle sphere, lower mantle below asthenosphere and above the core
-high temperatures and pressure means different physical characteristics from asthenosphere (denser and more rigid)
-outer boundary has high levels of seismic activity

Outer Core

-2200 km thick
-liquid layer below the mantle
-all of core is nickel and iron alloys, but in the outer core temperature are high enough to melt these compounds
-very low viscosity fluid (10x less than liquid metals on the surface)

Earth's magnetic field is most likely caused by...

Convection in the outer core and eddy currents

Inner Core

-1228 km thick
-solid innermost layer of the earth comprised of iron and nickel alloys
-incredibly high pressure from layers above

Plate Tectonics

the theory that earth's lithosphere is made of giant plates that move on the plastic asthenosphere below. It was first described by Alfred Wegener in 1912 (who also had the very false hypothesis of continental drift)

Evidence that supports Plate Tectonics

-Fossil evidence
-Rock formations
-Climatic evidence
-Geographic evidence

Mid Ocean Ridges

oceanic mountain ranges formed by divergent oceanic/oceanic plates pulling apart. they also cause the highest mountains on earth (found in the atlantic ocean)

Paleomagnetism

the study of the earth's past magnetic field as it is recorded in the rocks

Boundary Types

Convergent (destructive), Divergent (constructive), and Transform (conservative)

Rift Valley

formed by divergent continental/continental plates, has lots of seismicity (ex: West African Rift Valley)

Volcanic mountain ranges

formed by the subduction of an oceanic plate against a continental plate (ex: Nazca plate in South America)