APES unit 4: earth ecosystems/resources

  • resource: any substance, capability, or other asset that is available in a supply and can be accessed and drawn on, natural resources as an example

  • the five spheres of planet earth (more on these later):

    • solid earth (outer shell)

    • pedosphere (soil)

    • atmosphere (gasses)

    • hydrosphere (water)

    • biosphere (see page 157 for pic)

welcome to planet earth

  • table on pg 158

  • current epoch: holocene

  • most recent geologic periods: quaternary and tertiary

  • non-flying dinosaurs are from the: mezozoic era

  • most of the geologic time scale fell under the precambrian eons

  • next epoch: Anthropocene (recognizes human effect on nature)

the solid earth

  • three zones of rocks in the earth: (pg 159/160)

    • innermost is called the core

      • comprised of inner and outer core

    • next is the mantle

      • near the top of the mantle is slow moving rock called the asthenosphere

    • then the lithosphere

      • rigid rock

      • contains the crust (solid surface of the earth)

  • tectonic plates

    • Pangaea was supercontinent that broke apart and separated

    • tectonic plates are several large pieces of lithosphere that move slowly around the earth’s mantle

  • plate boundaries (places where plates meet):

    • convergent: two plates pushed together, one going under the other

      • often results in subduction

    • divergent: two plates moving away, new crust forming in the process

    • transform: plates sliding against each other in opp. directions

volcanoes and earthquakes

  • active volcanoes=erupted recently, dormant=have not, extinct=won’t erupt again

  • how volcanoes form:

    • subduction zones: subducting plate becomes new magma, which rises to form volcanoes

    • rift valleys: magma cooling at divergent boundaries

    • hot spots: found in the middle of tectonic plates where hot magma melts through the mantle and weakens the earth’s crust

  • four types of volcanoes: shield, composite, cinder, lava domes; just find picture online

  • earthquakes: result of vibrations (often from sudden plate movements) deep in the earth that release stored energy, often cause tsunamis

    • focus: location where an earthquake begins within the earth

    • epicenter: surface location of the earthquake

    • seismograph: measures size of earthquakes

    • Richter scale: measuring earthquakes on scale of 0 to 9.5

rock cycle (photo pg. 164)

  • rock cycle: rocks forming from other rocks. three types of rocks form:

  • igneous: rock that melts and cools, magma coming to the surface of the earth and cooling

  • sedimentary: sediment (eroded rocks, remains of plants and animals) is compressed together

  • metamorphic: pressure and heat create physical or chemical changes in existing rock

soil (pedosphere)

  • three classes: clay (small), silt (medium) and sand (biggest) (pg 165)

  • composition: mixture of these^ particles in a soil

  • porosity: number of holes it has

  • permeability: how things move through it

  • fertility: how things grow in it

  • loam: a soil is ideal for growth

  • water holding capacity: total amount of water a given soil can hold

  • soil pH: how acidic or basic soil is (affects what can grow in it)

    • acidic soil=damaging some plants and marine life

  • soil comes from weathering of organic material and rock (the process by which rock and other material decomposes, not to be confused with erosion)

    • physical weathering/mechanical weathering: rocks breaking down without chemically changing

    • chemical weathering: rock chemically reacting with water, air, etc.

    • biological weathering: weathering from physical organisms (like roots enlarging cracks in rock as they grow)

  • soil layers (pg 168)

    • horizons: soil comprises distinct layers called horizons

    • O horizon: organic matter

      • humus: residue left from decomposed dark

    • A horizon: top soil with the most minerals

      • for soils without an E horizon this also may be the zone of leaching

    • E horizon: light in color, course in texture, found in forests, eluviation zone

    • B: illuviation zone, accumulating products of the upper horizons

    • C: parent material, hard

    • R: consolidated (cemented) rock, surface rock

  • soil development

    • four processes of soil development

      • additions of material from off-site

      • losses of material through erosion, leaching, etc.

      • vertical translocations (movement from one soil horizon to the other)

      • transformations of materials by weathering or chemical act.

  • 6 soil-forming factors (Cl O R P T H)

    • Climate

    • Organisms (biological activity)

    • Relief (topography) which affects where water is moving and its depth

    • Parent material

    • Time

    • Human influence (fertilizer, pollution, etc.)

atmosphere

  • atmosphere: layer of gases held close to the earth by gravity (pg 170)

  • troposphere: closest layer to us, all of the weather we experience

    • tropopause: layer that buffers for the next layer (stratosphere)

  • stratosphere: above tropopause, gases are not well mixed

    • temperature increases traveling up because of the ozone layer which traps the sun’s radiation

  • mesosphere: cold temps, where meteors burn up

  • thermosphere: northern lights

  • exosphere: furthest layer for satelites

  • ionosphere: layer dispered in mesophere, thermosphere, and exosphere where ions are

  • greenhouse effect: warming effect on our earth through greenhouse gases (pg 171 for pic)

  • weather: day to day patterns, climate: patterns over time

  • air circulation:

    • sun’s rays strike earth at equator, tilt of earth’s axis determines where light goes

    • coriolis effect (already learned this) creates resulting wind paterns called prevailing winds (pg 173)

    • convection currents: warmed gases expand, become less dense, and rise, while cooler air replaces their spots

      • creates horizontal airflow patterns, which form surface winds

      • when the air rises, it cools to the dew point, which is where it becomes liquid water. the liquid then falls which restarts the pattern (convection cell rotation) see pg 174

      • this phenomenon also creates hadley cells (pg 174)

  • seasons: see pg 175

  • albedo: percentage of insolation (incoming solar radiation) reflected by a surface, which determines climate

    • albedo of zero: absorbes all radiation, albedo of 1: reflects all radiation

  • wind types (pg 177)

    • wind: air that’s moving as a result of unequal heating of earth’s atmosphere

    • trade winds: strong winds

    • westerlies and polar easterlies: types of winds blowing due to coriolis effect

    • horse latitudes: areas bt 30-35 degrees north and south w weak winds

    • doldrums: area on either side of equator with weak winds

    • jet stream: high-speed wind occurring in the tropopause

  • weather formed by wind

    • monsoons (see pic pg 178)

    • lake effect: small scale monsoons

    • rain shadow effect: pg 179

    • hurricanes/typhoons/cyclones: high wind speeds that rotate and remove water vapor from earth’s surfaces, which then releases heat, which speeds up the winds even more

    • el nino: normal trade winds are weakened/reversed, called the Southern Oscilllation

      • pg 180 for pic

      • this stops the normal upwelling (cold water coming to the surface)

      • warmer winters in the US and Canda, less hurricanes

    • la nina:

      • contributed to by the coriolis effect

      • colder waters near equator

      • allowing upwelling

hydrosphere

  • freshwater: comes to earth through precipitation

    • watershed: land area that drains into a particular stream

    • deltas: areas where rivers meet the ocean and dump sediment off

  • ocean currents:

    • gulf stream: warm water through the u.s. to GB

    • ocean conveyor belt: pg 182