Chapter 4: Earth Systems and Resources (copy) Revised

In 1915, ______ proposed that all present-day continents originally formed one landmass he called Pangaea.

Alfred Wegener

Subduction zones

These are areas on Earth where two tectonic plates meet and move toward each other, with one sliding underneath the other and moving down into the mantle.

Convergent Boundaries

These occur where two plates slide toward each other.

Divergent Boundaries

These occur when two plates slide apart from each other.

Transform boundaries

These occur where plates slide past each other in opposite directions.

Zone of leaching

Dissolved and suspended materials move downward.

Subsoil

Tends to be yellowish in color due to the accumulation of iron, aluminum, humic compounds, and clay leached from A and E horizons.

Weathered Parent Material

Partially broken-down inorganic materials.

Parent material

Refers to the rock and minerals from which the soil derives. The nature of the parent rock, which can be either native to the area or transported to the area by wind, water, or glacier, has a direct effect on the ultimate soil profile.

Extrusive igneous rocks

Solidify on or near the surface, cool quickly, and have a fine-grained smooth texture.

Metamorphic Rocks

These are formed by intense heat and pressure, high quartz content.

Sedimentary

These are formed by the piling and cementing of various materials over time in low-lying areas.

Gravel

* Coarse particles.
* Consists of rock fragments.

Sand

* Sedimentary material coarser than silt.
* Water flows through too quickly for most crops.
* Good for crops and plants requiring low amounts of water.

Loam

* About equal mixtures of clay, sand, silt, and humus. Rich in nutrients.
* Holds water but does not become waterlogged. Particle size can vary.

Silt

* Sedimentary material consisting of very fine particles between the sizes of sand and clay.
* Easily transported by water.

Clay

* Very fine particles.
* Compacts easily.
* Forms large, dense clumps when wet.

Humus

It is the dark organic material that forms in soil when plant and animal matter decays.

Aeration

Refers to how well a soil is able to absorb oxygen, water, and nutrients.

Degree of Soil Compaction

It is measured by dry unit weight and depends on the water content and compaction effort.

Nutrient-Holding Capacity

The ability of soil to absorb and retain nutrients so they will be available to the roots of plants.

Pore Size

Describes the space between soil particles.

Size of soil and particles

It determines the amount of moisture, nutrients, and oxygen that the soil can hold along with the capacity for water to infiltrate.

Water holding capacity

It is controlled primarily by the soil texture and the soil organic matter content.

Soil texture

A reflection of the particle size distribution of soil.

Water holding capacity formula

Troposphere

The lowest portion of Earth’s atmosphere, 0–6 miles (0–10 km) above Earth’s surface.

Stratosphere

It is located 6–30 miles (10–50 km) above Earth’s surface.

Stratosphere

Ozone (O3) absorbs high-energy ultraviolet radiation from the sun and is broken down into atomic oxygen (O) and diatomic oxygen.

Convection

It is the primary way energy is transferred from hotter to colder regions in Earth’s atmosphere and is the primary determinant of weather patterns.

Air Mass

A large body of air that has similar temperature and moisture content.

Albedo

An expression of the ability of surfaces to reflect sunlight.

Cold Front

The leading edge of an advancing mass of cold air and is associated with thunderhead clouds, high surface winds, and thunderstorms.

Warm Front

The boundary between an advancing warm air mass and the cooler one it is replacing.

Stationary Front

A pair of air masses, neither of which is strong enough to replace the other, that tend to remain in essentially the same area for extended periods of time.

Latitude

The measurement of the distance of a location on Earth from the equator.

Moisture Content of Air

It is a primary determinant of plant growth and distribution and is a major determinant of biome type.

High-pressure weather systems

They have higher pressure at their center than around them, so winds blow away from them.

Trade Winds

These are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics near Earth’s equator, within the troposphere or lower portion of Earth’s atmosphere.

Coriolis Effect

A phenomenon wherein earth’s rotation on its axis causes winds to not travel straight, which causes prevailing winds in the Northern Hemisphere to spiral clockwise out from high-pressure areas and spiral counterclockwise toward low-pressure areas.

Hadley Air Circulation

* Air heated near the equator rises and spreads out north and south.
* After cooling in the upper atmosphere, the air sinks back to Earth’s surface within the subtropical climate zone.

Ferrel Air Circulation Cells

* Develop between 30° and 60° north and south latitudes.
* The descending winds of the Hadley cells diverge as moist tropical air moves toward the poles in winds known as the westerlies.

Polar cells

These cells originate as icy-cold, dry, dense air that descends from the troposphere to the ground.

Polar Vortex

A low-pressure zone embedded in a large mass of very cold air that lies atop both poles.

Hurricanes

Term used in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific.

Cyclones

Term used in South Pacific and Indian Ocean.

Typhoons

Term used in Northwest Pacific.

Hurricanes

* _____ begin over warm oceans in areas where the trade winds converge.
* A subtropical high-pressure zone creates hot daytime temperatures with low humidity that allow for large amounts of evaporation, with the Coriolis effect initiating the cyclonic flow.

Storm Surge

A rise in sea level that occurs during tropical cyclones, typhoons, or hurricanes.

Watershed management

It reduces pesticides and fertilizers that wash off farm fields and into nearby waterbodies by using land, forest, and water resources in ways that don't harm plants and animals.

Latitude

A measure of distance either north or south from the equator.

Tropic of Cancer

The northernmost latitude reached by the overhead sun.

Tropic of Capricorn

The southernmost latitude reached by the overhead sun.

The mountain range's _____ side is drier than the windward side because air on this side has less moisture.

leeward

Rain Shadow Effect

The drier situation which is directly responsible for the plants that grow there, which in turn affects the animals that live there.

Upwelling

It occurs when prevailing winds, produced through the Coriolis effect and moving clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, push warmer, nutrient-poor surface waters away from the coastline

El Niño

* Air pressure patterns reverse direction, causing trade winds to decrease in strength.
* This causes the normal flow of water away from western South America to decrease “pile up.”

El Niño

La Niña

* Trade winds that blow west across the tropical Pacific are stronger than normal.
* This then results in an increase in the upwelling off of South America.
* This then results in cooler-than-normal sea surface temperatures off of South America.

La Niña

Land Breeze

Sea Breeze

\

Coriolis Effect

Rain Shadow Effect