Key Words Flashcards
Finite Systems
A perception shift- the idea existed that the planet was too big for us to ever have an effect - this is not true
Positive Feedback Systems
a sequence of event that work to further the system
Negative Feedback Systems
dampens / slows down / stops changed within the system
Axial Tilt
Axial tilt is the angle between the planet’s rotational axis and its orbital axis. A planet’s orbital axis is perpendicular to to the ecliptic or orbital plane, the thin disk surrounding the sun and extending to the edge of the solar system
Political Dimensions to Feedback Loops
each society and political movements effect feedbacks and therefore each group effects the system differently.
Abiogenesis
the natural process by which life arises from non-living matter-life forms the self replication of molecules based on a chemistry based on carbon and water. 4 key : lipids (fatty cell walls), carbohydrates, amino acids (protein), nucleic asids (DNA and RNA)
Ba
Bilion Amon = bilion years
What is Abiotic Oxygen ?
Oxygen from non biological sources .
Oxygen is considered a biosignature, but there are chemical processes that can generate oxygen gas without the presence of living organisms, e.g., chemical reactions that break down water.
What are Prokaryotes?
Prokaryotes are organisms whose cells lack a nucleus and other organelles. Prokaryotes are divided into two distinct groups: the bacteria and the archaea, which scientists believe have unique evolutionary lineages. Most prokaryotes are small, single-celled organisms that have a relatively simple structure.
What are Eukaryotes?
any cell or organism that possesses a clearly defined nucleus. The eukaryotic cell has a nuclear membrane that surrounds the nucleus, in which the well-defined chromosomes (bodies containing the hereditary material) are located
What are Stromatolites?
layered mounds, columns, and sheet like sedimentary rocks formed by the incremental growth of layer upon layer of cyanobacteria, a single-celled photosynthesizing microbe
aka the living rock
What are multicellular organisms (Metazoa)?
All multicellular organisms, from fungi to humans, started out life as single cell organisms. These cells were able to survive on their own for billions of years before aggregating together to form multicellular groups.
What is the Principle of Uniformitarianism?
the operations of nature are consistent, slow and not goal-directed (anthropocentric).
Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity or the Uniformitarian Principle, is the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in our present-day scientific observations have always operated in the universe in the past and apply everywhere in the universe.
What is Phylogeny?
a family tree of species
Gradualistic vs. punctuated equilibrium models of evolution
Natural selection vs human breeding species
What is the equation for Silicate Rock Weathering?
2CO2(s) +3H2(s)0 + CaSiO3(s)= Ca2(+) +2HCO3(s)(-) + H4(s)SiO4
Lithsophere
lithos = rocks
dynamic of tectonics
Cryosphere
comprises all the solid ice which is frozen water but it’s so important in the earth system it’s considered separate from the hydropshere
Atmosphere
Oxygen and Nitrogen account for 99% if the volume of the atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Water
97% of the water on earth is in the ocean.
Biosphere
plant and life on top of the lithosphere.
Outer Boundry
Outside of the earth e.g. the sun
provides the earth w energy that drives the earth but is not effected by the systems. Large amounts of energy are exchanged across the top of the atmosphere but relatively little matter. Some hydrogen atoms can escape Earth’s gravity into space, and some meteoric material crosses into the Earth system (~44 tonnes per day on average)
Transfers of energy and sometimes transfer of Mass
Inner Boudry
The whole earth interior
The Earth has its own internal heat source (fueled by radioactive decay and heat remaining from the accretion of the planet) that drives plate tectonics: geothermal heat.
There are parts of the inner earth that are fundamental to life on earth
Open Systems
the earth itself is an open system, inputs of mass and energy e.e. meteorites. Subsystems are also open systems. Nested in a hierarchy of systems.
Glaciers and ice sheets are natural open systems- inputs: precipitation, rock detritus, gravity, insolation, geothermal heat. Outputs: water vapor, water, ice, rock detritus, heat. Throughputs: precipitation and transfer of energy (stuff that moves through the system)
Closed Systems
ice sheets build up over millions of years, in the antartica the ice Is over a million years old, in the ice are bubbles of ice that are trapped , if you melt the ice and release the air you get samples of the earths atmosphere from millions of years ago. At the top of the ice sheet is snow as the snow compacts into ice more air traps and creates more bubbles which does not exchange with the atmosphere creating a closed system.
Dynamic Equilibrium
A reversible process is said to be in dynamic equilibrium when the forward and reverse processes occur at the same rate, resulting in no observable change in the system. Once dynamic equilibrium is established, the concentrations or partial pressures of all species involved in the process remain constant.
Homeostatic Adjustment
Adjustment of physiological systems within the body is called homeostatic regulation, which involves three parts or mechanisms: (1) the receptor, (2) the control center, and (3) the effector. The receptor receives information that something in the environment is changin
What is the name of the place that has evidence of a snowball earth?
Nambia
the isotopic ratio suggests thar carbon was removed from the ocean through half chemical and half biological processes-as the icea spread the earth the carbon capture by biological processes began to decrease- the glacial deposit itself doesn’t preserve a faithful isotopic record. But an overlying carbonate layer suggests that biological productivity had dropped all the way to zero, and recovered only slowly.
Paleolatitude (and it’s climate?)
o ice sheets during the Jurassic period (different periods have different ice coverage)-back in the cryogen era the entire earth was covered in ice = snowball earth (marinoan and the Strution in the Neoproterzoic period)
What is the Kirchvink Mechanism 1992?
Extended cold means that oceans start freezing= lowered reflectivity (aka more albedo) means the earth freezes further=Co2 cycles in the ocean stops = outgassed volcanoes builds up (co2 can’t be absorbed back into the ocean as the snowball stops it)= strong greenhouse gasses get released melting the snowball earth leading to a “hothouse earth”-Co2 cycle restarts and starts pulling it back into the ocean and the planet starts to go cold again. - negative feedback on the back of a positive feedback due to the greehouse effect
The Claw Hypothesis
The Claw Hypothesis- provides a mechanism by which plankton may modify climate through the atmospheric sulfur cycle via the provision of sulfate cloud condensation nuclei. The CLAW hypothesis was published over 20 years ago and has stimulated a great deal of research.
atmospheric sulfur cycle?
Sulfur is emitted into the atmosphere in a more or less reduced state as hydrogen sulfide, organic sulfides, or as sulfur dioxide. Much of it is then oxidized into sulfuric acid or its salts and removed mainly by precipitation
DMS = dimethyl sulphide
part of the claw hypothesis
H3C,S,CH3-s a gas produced by marine phytoplankton which is a major source of cloud condensation nuclei (diatoms)- comes from the ocean surface where it brakes down into sulfate irons = forms CCS
CCS-Cloud Condensation Nucliai (clouds reflect solar radtiation too)
Eocene Optimum
where the temperatures gradually went back to how they were
Zachos curve
a compilation of earth history over the years from different sources
reaction =response =relaxation time
Perturbation or an event at T1- so the biomass or mass is no longer in equilibrium – so it stays the same for a while but slowly we see a change in distribution – if there’s no change in the first variable then it reaches a new equilibrium (T2) (Response time, relaxation time, reaction time, or lag time)
All species will have different lag times but there will always be one
e.g the Brown Argus , they move more northward due to the anthropogenic climate warming
Name three examples of reaction = response = relaxation time
Atmosphere = days/months/years
Forest Vegetation = centuries
Plate Tectonics = Tens millions of years
The Brethan Diagram
‘ gives a view of the earth as a set of system operating a wide range of spatial and temporal scales rather than a collection of individual components’
Accretion
In planetary science, accretion is the process in which solids agglomerate to form larger and larger objects and eventually planets are produced. The initial conditions are a disc of gas and microscopic solid particles, with a total mass of about 1% of the gas mass= drives tectonic processes – not all planets have tectonic processes- ‘outisde’ of the og system as it’s an array of its own systems that co-incide with the main system process
Convection cells
the movement of magma and heat
Continental crust
low density allows it to float creating land.
acoustic techniques
The technique used to find out about oceanic crust
the sound waves after a tectonic event (e.g an earthquake) travel at different speeds through the rocks allowing us to know what rock and density is where
Destructive plate margin
where the plate melts
Atlantic center
spreading center
Crud forming
lighter material that forms on the surface – doesn’t go back down- forms bigger lumps = land= silica rich
Lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB)
compare the matter and durability between the two
The boundary between Earth’s rigid lithosphere and the underlying, ductile asthenosphere is marked by a distinct seismic discontinuity. A decrease in seismic-wave velocity and increase in attenuation at this boundary is thought to be caused by partial melt.
Ductility
measures a solid materials ability to deform.
radioactive heating
Broken into tectonic plates which are moved by slow currents powered by radioactive heating believed to cause lateral movements
Moves about 2.5-5 centimeters a year
Alfred Wegener
He believed that all the continents were once connected as different fosils from different areas matched e.g South America and Affrican Coastlines
He came up with the idea that during the Paleozoic Era (which ended about 252 million years ago) all of today continents were one super continent = Pangea
Pangaea
Pangea existed between about 299 million years ago (at the start of the Permian Period of geological time) to about 180 million years ago (during the Jurassic Period). It remained in its fully assembled state for some 100 million years before it began to break up
what is a continent super cycle?
-Continents combine to form supercontinents like Pangea every 300 to 500 million years before splitting apart again= super cycle
What did Harry Hess do?
created a complete map of ocean floors which helped prove tectonic theory.
Sound waves from the ship were used if there’s a submarine the sound waves bounce back and have a positive result
= two-way travel time, if it hits the ocean floor it has a diffused return (negative for submarine sound waves)
What did Fred Vine and Drummond Mathews discover? 1963
They found that the crust surrounding the midocean ridges showed alternating bands – each band magnetized with a polarity opposite the surrounding bands.
-As the magma comes out of the ridge and solidifies the rock aligns itself with the magnetic field- it was striped = it was completely different at different points in the past= it flips
the Jaramillo Event
Based off of Fred Vine and Drummond Mathews discovery
The wholesale reversal of Earth’s magnetic fields some 900,000 years ago. This confirmed the theory that Earth’s magnetic field had flip-flopped through the planet’s life, and it made Matthews and Vine’s 1963 finding quite clear. They realized that the pattern of reversals matched perfectly the magnetic profile they had compiled of the sea floor
Dan McKenzie, Cambridge, 1967
He suggested there are two layers in the mantle, each of which are in motion, controlling the movement and behavior of the tectonic plates above. ‘The viscosity of the lower mantle’ was published in 1966
= tectonics and sea floor spreadin
= convection cells = the hot magma rises and the dense cold magma sinks creating a cycle
Divergent Boundaries
When the plates move away from each other
Leads to earthquakes, and magma rising (molten rock ) to create new crust
The Mid Atlantic Ridge is an example of this plate boundary
Convergent Boundaries
or known as a destructive boundary
Where plates move towards each other
This can be divided into two types, subduction or collision depending on the density of the plates
Transform Boundaries
When two plates move side by side
broad zone forming as the Pacific Plate slides northwestward past the North American Plate, including many lesser faults in addition to the San Andreas Fault
Columnar basalt, Iceland Case Study
Basalt is a volcanic rock formed from the superheated magma that emerges as lava during an eruption. The iron and magnesium-rich basalt lava cools and contracts very quickly once exposed to the surface air and hardens as it solidifies.
Iceland basalt columns are the result of this rapid cooling process that changes the chemical makeup and appearance of the lava. Basalt volcanic rock has a special geometrical shape due to this change in composition.
These basalt pillars and hexagonal rock formations you see have a special feature called columnar jointing. This is what gives each basalt column their unmistakable hexagonal shape and makes them so neat to look at.
Mantle convection ?
Mantle convection describes the movement of the mantle as it transfers heat from the white-hot core to the brittle lithosphere. The mantle is heated from below, cooled from above, and its overall temperature decreases over long periods of time. All these elements contribute to mantle convection
As magma goes to the top it cools, becomes more dense and sinks. Once it sinks moving towards the heat it becomes less dense and rises again
Benioff Zone ?
Benioff Zone - a The top of the descending plate, or slab, is recognised from seismic activity as the Benioff Zone, a zone of intense earthquake activity.
Basaltic lava
low viscosity, flows readily, and builds low relief shield volcanoes in spreading centres and oceanic hotspots such as Hawaii and Iceland
Basalt
a dark-coloured basic (mafic) alkaline extrusive (volcanic) rock of low viscosity extruded along mid-ocean ridges and spreading centres
Rhyolite
a light-coloured silicic acidic extrusive (volcanic) rock of high viscosity extruded along subducting margins generating highly explosive high-relief stratovolcanoes.
Mount St Helens
Helens sparked the advances in cutting-edge volcano science and monitoring that exist today. Mount St. Helens turned out to be the ideal laboratory to study volcanic activity. The 1980 eruption was the first large explosive eruption studied by scientists and observers using modern volcanology
The May 18, 1980, eruption left a seared and smoldering landscape around Mount St. Helens. Entire forests were toppled by the hot blast. Most plants and animals perished, meadows were destroyed, and numerous new ponds and lakes were created.
Earths radiation definition quote
“The energy entering, reflected, absorbed, and emitted by the Earth system are the components of the Earth’s radiation budget. Based on the physics principle of conservation of energy, this radiation budget represents the accounting of the balance between incoming radiation, which is almost entirely solar radiation, and outgoing radiation, which is partly reflected solar radiation and partly radiation emitted from the Earth system, including the atmosphere. A budget that’s out of balance can cause the temperature of the atmosphere to increase or decrease and eventually affect our climate. The units of energy employed in measuring this incoming and outgoing radiation are watts per square meter (W/m2)”
Watt (unit of power)
= one joule per second
Ultraviolet
comes into the system (aka shortwave radiation) = helps drive the earths climate, some is reflected back up by clouds and some is absorbed by the earth. Some of the larger aerosol particles react with oxygen , further heating the earth.
Solar Constant
solar radiation that’s avareged over a long period of time
Short Wave Inolation
aka radiation that reaches the earths surface
Albedo
When the waves are reflected
Absorbed
when the energy is absorbed
LONG WAVE COUNTER RADIATION
Energy arriving from the Sun = Energy re-radiated by the Earth or directly reflected
Equilibrium temperature WITHOUT ATMOSPHERE = between -18°C and -30°C
The Stefan Bolzeman Constant
The Stefan-Boltzmann constant, symbolized by the lowercase Greek letter sigma (σ), is a physical constant expressing the relationship between the heat radiation emitted by a black body and its absolute temperature. (Thermos dynamic temperature)
Evaporation
the process of turning from liquid into vapour
Precipitation
Precipitation is any liquid or frozen water that forms in the atmosphere and falls back to the Earth. It comes in many forms, like rain, sleet, and snow. Along with evaporation and condensation, precipitation is one of the three major parts of the global water cycle
