environmental science unit 1

What is an ecosystem?

All living and nonliving things that coexist in the same area

What do ecosystems provide?

Soil formation, water purification, air purification, breakdown of pollutants, nutrient cycling, pollination

What do humans depend on?

Ecosystems

What is a feedback loop?

Loops that happen in nature

What is a negative feedback loop

A process where a change fixes itself to keep things balanced

What is a positive feedback loop?

A process where a change grows bigger and bigger instead of balancing

What's the difference between positive and negative feedback loops?

The difference is negative feedback loops balance things out, while positive feedback loops amplify things

What is an example of a negative feedback loop?

Body temperature

What is an example of a positive feedback?

Melting of sea ice

What is a closed system?

Energy can enter and leave, but matter can't

What is an open system?

Energy and matter can both enter and leave

What is an example of a closed system?

The Earth

What is an example of an open system?

The ocean

What is the lithosphere?

The solid, rocky outer layer

What is the asthenosphere?

The hot, soft layer of rock under the lithosphere

What is the upper mantle?

Thick layer of rock below Earth's crust

What is the lower mantle?

Hot layer of solid rock that's between the upper mantle and Earth's core

What is the outer core?

Hot layer of iron and nickel that surrounds the inner core

What is the inner core?

Very center of the Earth

What is oceanic crust?

Crust that is under the ocean

What is Continental crust?

Thick, buoyant crust that makes up the continents

What is the difference between oceanic and continental crust?

Oceanic crust is thin and dense, while continental crust is thick and buoyant

What is a tectonic plate made of?

Made up of the lithosphere

What are divergent plates?

Plates that move apart

What are convergent plates?

Plates that move towards each other

Why do divergent boundaries happen?

Hot rocks rise towards the surface and it pulls the tectonic plates apart

Where do the divergent boundaries mostly happen?

The Atlantic Ocean

What is a continent to continent convergent boundary?

Less dense continental crust crashes together

What is a continent to Ocean conversion boundary?

Less dense continental crust crashes into Ocean crust

What is an ocean to Ocean convergent boundary?

Ocean crust crashing into other ocean crust

What causes mountains to form?

Continent to continent convergent boundaries

What causes trenches and volcanoes to form?

Continent to oceanic convergent boundaries

What causes trenches to form?

Ocean to Ocean convergent boundaries

What are transform boundaries?

Plates that slide past each other

What do fault boundary plates cause?

Earthquakes