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MARS 102 > Exam 3 > Flashcards

Exam 3 Flashcards

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1
Q

Who is Gilbert Walker?

A

Gilbert Walker was the first to recognize that an east-west atmospheric pressure see-saw occurred with the Walker Circulation, which is now called Southern Oscillation

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2
Q

What is the Walker Circulation?

A

The Walker Circulation is a conceptual model of the air flow in the tropics the troposphere

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3
Q

How does the Walker Circulation differ from Hadley Circulation?

A

The Hadley cell causes air to rise near the equator, and the Walker cell results in air rising over the western Pacific Ocean

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4
Q

What is the difference in atmosphere (i.e., high and low pressure areas) and oceanic (geographic variability in SST variability) neutral?

A

ALong the west coast of south America, Ekman transport moves water away from shore and causes upwelling, the eastern boundary upwelling off of Peru one of the best fisheries on earth, particularly anchovies

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5
Q

What is the difference in atmosphere (i.e., high and low pressure areas) and oceanic (geographic variability in SST variability) la niña?

A

similar to normal conditions of walker circulation, but more intensified, stronger trade winds, more upwelling, shallow thermocline in the eastern pacific, a band of cool water stretches across pacific, a band of cool water stretches across pacific

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6
Q

What is the difference in atmosphere (i.e., high and low pressure areas) and oceanic (geographic variability in SST variability) el niño?

A

High pressure along the south American coast weakens, reducing east and west differences in the walker cell, trade winds diminish, the pacific warm pool begins to flow back towards south America, warm water begins to move in September, and reaches south America by December/January during strong el Nino events, water, temps, can be 10C higher than normal

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7
Q

what is the combined effects of atmospheric and oceanic effects called

A

El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

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8
Q

Where are the most biologically productive areas in the ocean? Why?

A

Coastal upwelling areas are the most biologically productive areas in the ocean because of all the nutrients brought by the deep water

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9
Q

what is the primary oceanic effect during enso

A

warmer seawater

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10
Q

what is the difference between Nino 3.4, Nino 1, or Nino 2?

A

El Nino 1 and 2 are about the same, and they are the last stage where it’s on the coast of south America. El Nino 3.4 is about 10F warmer than el Nino 1-2 because it has more rising heat into thee atmosphere

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11
Q

what is the Nino 3.4 index

A

El Nino (la Nina) is a phenomenon in the equatorial pacific ocean characterized by a five consecutive 3-month running mean of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the Nino 3.4 region that is above (below) the threshold of +0.5c (-0.5c)

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12
Q

what is the southern oscillation index (soi)

A

the soi is based on observed sea level pressure differences between Tahiti and Darwin, Australia

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13
Q

what does the southern oscillation index measure

A

is one measure of the alrge-scale fluctuations in air pressure occurring between the western and eastern tropical pacific during el Nino and la Nina episodes

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14
Q

what is the impact of ENSO on tropical cyclones in the Atlantic vs pacific oceans

A

el Nino favor stronger hurricane activity in the central and eastern pacific basins and suppresses it in the Atlantic basin

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15
Q

how can scientists learn how ENSO activity has changed through time

A

the tree ring growth. it’s related to climate hence ENSO. correlates with coral sst records

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16
Q

what are surface waves

A

created by the movement of air across ocean surface, occur only in the uppermost part of the ocean

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17
Q

what are internal waves

A

occur within the ocean along the boundary between water masses of different densities (pycnocline)

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18
Q

what are atmospheric waves

A

movement along different air masses

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19
Q

what are the two kinds of body waves

A

longitudinal waves (push-pull) and transverse (side to side)

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20
Q

what are longitudinal waves

A

particles vibrate in the same direction that the wave is traveling

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21
Q

what are transverse waves

A

energy travels at right angles to the vibrating particles

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22
Q

how are orbital waves generated

A

movement of the particles involves both longitudinal and transverse waves; ocean waves are orbital waves

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23
Q

what are crests, troughs, and still water with respect to wave physics

A

crests: high parts of the wave
trough: low parts of a wave
still water: halfway between crests and trough, (zero energy point)

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24
Q

describe wave height (H), wavelength (L), and wave period (T), with respect to wave physics

A

wave height (H): vertical distance between crest and trough
wavelength (L): distance between two crests/troughs
wave period (T): the time it takes a full wave to form and pass a given point

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25
describe frequency (f) and wave base with respect to wave physics
frequency (f): the number of waveforms passing in a given time wave base: depth below the surface where wave orbits become so small that movement is negligible
26
what is stokes drift
the net slight forward traveling of objects and surface water in direction of wave propagation
27
describe deep water waves
circular orbits decrease in size with increasing depth, water depth is greater than wave base, submarines dive below
28
describe transitional waves
intermediate between deep and shallow water wave, wavelength are 2-20x the water depth, wave speed is a function of depth
29
describe shallow water (long) waves
ocean floor interferes with circular orbit, said to touch the bottom of feel bottom
30
what are sea trains
locally-generated waves created by wind blowing on the sea surface, asymmetrical, with steep crests
31
what are swell trains?
smooth, sinusoidal waves that have a long wavelength, symmetrical shape, and long period, cause waves at the shoreline even with no wind
32
what is a wave train
groups of waves
33
how do white caps develop? what is the critical steepness ratio?
it starts at the capillary waves, then gravity waves grow, then white caps critical steepness ration 1:7
34
what are the two primary variables impacting a fully developed sea state?
duration and fetch
35
define the duration and the units
time of wind blowing across surface, hrs
36
define fetch and the units
the length of uninterrupted ocean over which the wind blows, km
37
what is spilling breaker
the turbulent mass of air and water that runs down the front slope of the wave as it breaks. Longer life, but less fun to surf
38
what is a plunging breaker
curling crest over an air pocket, steeply sloping beaches and fun surfing
39
what is the surging breaker
when the ocean bottom has an abrupt slope, the wave energy is compressed into a short distance
40
how do tsunamis form?
very large sea waves from the sudden upward or downward motion of the sea floor during a submarine earthquake, landslide, or submarine explosion
41
where is the greatest tsunami risk
pacific ocean
42
what is the tsunami risk in the Atlantic Ocean
the risk is low due to the lack of subduction zones
43
what are the two primary tide-generating forces
the gravitational attraction between earth and the moon and sun, and the centripetal force tethers the earth and moon to each other, centripetal force is equal on parts of the earth
44
how long is lunar vs solar day? tides?
the lunar day is 24 hrs and 50 mins the solar day is 24 hrs tides are the large-scale motion of water and are the largest of all ocean waves in terms of wavelengths
45
what creates a tidal bulge
the moon (lunar cycle)
46
what is the Amphidromic point
the point in ocean basins or bay where there is no change in water level related to tidal action
47
what are the three primary types of tidal patterns
diurnal tides, semidiurnal tides, and mixed tidal patterns
48
what tidal pattern characterizes the Gulf of Mexico
the diurnal tide pattern characterizes the Gulf of Mexico
49
where is the water 'stored' in the hydrologic cycle
surface storage in oceans, lakes, reservoirs, and glaciers; underground storage occurs in the soil, in aquifers, and in the crevices of rock formations
50
what is a stream
a body of running water, confined to a channel, that runs downhill under the influence of gravity
51
what are headwaters
the upper part of stream near its source in the mountains
52
what is a channel
a long, narrow depression eroded by a stream into a rock or sediment
53
what is a floodplain
a flat valley floor composed of sediment deposited by the stream
54
what is a tributary
a small stream flowing into a larger one
55
what kinds of topographic features act as continental divides
a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, either feeds into a different ocean and the other end feeds into a different ocean or sea, or nothing at all
56
what are the 4 patterns of stream drainage patterns
dendritic, radial, rectangular, and trellis
57
what primarily controls the stream patterns
their pattern develops in response to the local topography and surface geology
58
describe the dendritic stream pattern
drainage pattern resembling the branches of a tree
59
describe the radial stream pattern
streams diverge outward like the spokes of a wheel, such as on conical mountains
60
describe the rectangular stream pattern
tributaries have a frequent 90 bends and join other streams at right angles
61
describe the trellis stream pattern
parallel streams with short tributaries meeting at right angles
62
what is a thalweg? where does more erosion happen?
the location of maximum velocity cutbank
63
how does an oxbow lake form
meander neck becomes narrower until the neck cut off occurs and forms an oxbow lake
64
how do streams carry sediment
bed loading, large or heavy rocks travel by traction (rolling/sliding) or saltation (bouncing) suspended load dissolved load with ions
65
how do aeolian environments carry sediment
uses air instead of water to lift heavy rocks
66
where do streams deposit sediment along the stream flow path? at the stream mouth?
they are deposited at alluvial fans or deltas which are at the mouth
67
what is a v-shaped valley
they form from downcutting (the process of deepening a valley by erosion of the stream) combined with mass wasting massive downhill of bedrock, rock debris, or soil under gravitational forcing) and sheet erosion
68
what happens when a v-shaped valley is flooded by a transgression
it fills up with sea water
69
what kind of coastal environment is created when a stream gets to the ocean
it turns into a coast
70
what is headward erosion
is the backward erosion by river in the source region
71
what is lateral erosion
is the erosion that occurs on the sides of valleys of a river or glacier
72
what is a stream terrace
step like landforms found above a stream and its flood plain
73
what kind of sediments do you expect to find if you dug a trench in the stream terrace
suspended sediments
74
define porosity
the measurement of the rocks open space to hold water
75
describe permeability
the capacity of a rock to transmit fluid through those opening spaces
76
what divides the vadose and phreatic layer
water table seperates
77
define vadose zone
the subsurface region above the water table that is unsaturated
78
describe phreatic zone
the subsurface zone in which all rock openings are filled with water
79
what is the unconfiened aquifer?
has a water table and is only partly filled with water
80
what is a confined aquifer
completely filled with water under pressure, separated from the surface by impermeable confining layer
81
what is an example of a geological material that would function as a confining layer dividing-up an aquifer
schists and granites are generally impermeable
82
what is a well
a deep hole dug or drilled into the ground to obtain water from a aquifer
83
how can wells use their cause a cone of depression to develop
drawdown causes cone of depression
84
what is an artesian well
when groundwater from an artesian aquifer reaches the ground state
85
what happens to the water in gaining stream vs losing stream
gaining stream: receive water from saturated zone losing stream: loses water
86
in the coastal zone, what is the meteoric lens, and its salinity
upper fresh to brackish groundwater, salinity about 1.00 to 1.02
87
what is the saline groundwater
lower groundwater of seawater
88
what is the halocline zone
a sharp boundary between the fresh and sane groundwater, more inland
89
what is the mixing zone
often near the coast from mixing between the fresh and saline groundwater, can be single of multiple zones of brackish water several meters thick
90
where does the water come from that undergoes submarine groundwater discharge
heated by nearby magma bodies or circulating deep in the crust
91
how does the water warm that is flooding natural hot springs
nearby magma bodies heat them
92
what is the difference between autogenic and allogenic aquifer recharge
autogenic: sourced from rainfall allogenic: run off
93
what is conduit flow through an aquifer
gravity with a free surfaced open to atmospheric pressure
94
what is diffuse flow through an aquifer
low temp liquid, slow
95
what is a fissure flow through an aquifer
volcano
96
what is an ice shelf
permanent floating ice connected to a landmass mainland
97
what are ice sheets
a mass of glacial land ice extending more than 50,000 km2
98
what are glaciers
a large, long-lasting mass of ice, formed on land that moves under its own weight
99
what is sea ice
is frozen ocean that forms in the water
100
where do the ice shelf, ice sheet, glacier, and sea ice form
sea ice strictly forms on land just as glaciers only form on land. As ice sheets extend to the coast and over the ocean, they become ice shelves
101
what is a spring
a place where waters flows naturally from rocks and sediments onto the ground surface
102
what are the kinds of glaciated terrains on earth
alpine glaciation: mountain regions continental glaciation: large part of a continent is covered by ice
103
what are the 3 types of glaciers
cirque, horn, and arête glaciers
104
glacial budgets: describe the zone of accumulations
area with perennial snow cover
105
glacial budgets: describe the zone of ablation
the area of ice loss by melting, evaporation and calving
106
glacial budgets: describe the equilibrium line
the boundary where winter snow is lost, and doesn't contribute to glacial growth
107
how does glacial ice form
snow converts to glacial ice, overtime compaction pushes air out and recrystallized flakes to granules
108
what is firn
granules cemented together by ice
109
can glaciers grow from the bottom-up, top-down, or both
both
110
what is the plastic zone in a glacier
lower zone of glacier that is the primary location of movement
111
what is the rigid zone in a glacier?
the upper pattern that is passive, 'riding along': due to friction, glacier flow is fastest at the top center of the glacier and slowest along the margins
112
what is crevasse and how do they form
fractures formed in the upper rigid zone during glacier flow, most often around curves
113
what are icebergs and how do they form
a large mass of glacial ice calved into water, 90% of iceberg below water
114
what is a u-shaped valley? how does it form?
glaciers characteristically erode u-shaped valley from former v-shaped river valley
115
what is a horn
the sharp peak that reminds after cirques have cut back a mountain on several sides
116
what is arete
sharp ridges separating adjacent glacial valleys
117
what is rouche moutonèe
the smoothing of small hills of bedrock by glacial erosion
118
what is a fjord? how do they form?
a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier
119
what is a glacial till
poorly sorted angular rock fragments transported and then deposited by a glacier
120
what is the sedimentary rock produced when glacial till lithifies
tillite
121
what is moraine
glacial till that occurs as a body of unsorted sediment on or left behind by a glacier
122
what is esker
long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel
123
what is drumlin
oval or elongated hill formed from streamlined movement
124
what is the definition of SLE
the change in global averaged sea level that would occur of a given amount of water or ice were added
125
what is the SLE for earth's two current ice sheets
greenland: 7.2 m antarctic: 58.3m
126
what is the SLE for the Laurentide ice sheet
120m

MARS 102 (1 decks)

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