SCIENCE - GEOLOGY Flashcards
(91 cards)
1
Q
What are the Earth’s major spheres?
A
The hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere
2
Q
Where does the idea of interconnectedness come from?
A
It comes from the First Peoples.
-Ideas as such have been developing since 1970
NOTE: First Earth Day considered to be April 22, 1970
3
Q
What are the main ideas of each major sphere?
A
Matter occupies each of these four spheres:
Geosphere: Land
Hydrosphere: Water
Biosphere: Living things
Atmosphere: Air
They all affect each other in different ways
4
Q
Tell me about the hydrosphere
A
- encompasses ALL forms of water in the Earth’s environment
Includes:
-oceans
-lakes
-rivers
-snow
-glaciers
-water under the Earth’s surface
-water vapour found in the atmosphere - Water continuously cucles through ecosystems by 3 processes:
- evaporation, condensation, and precipitation
5
Q
Tell me about the lithosphere
A
- contains all the solid, rocky land of the planet’s surface (crust)
- contains the semi-solid land underneath the crust (mantle)
- contains the liquid land near the centre of the planet (core)
Contains various landforms like: - mountains
- valleys
- rocks
- minerals
- soil
Lithosphere = constantly being shaped by external forces like: - sun
- wind
- ice
- water
- chemical changes
6
Q
What is the atmosphere and what are the layers of the atmosphere?
A
Atmosphere: the gaseous part of Earth
The upper portion of the atmosphere protects the organisms of the biosphere from the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation. It also absorbs and emits heat.
7
Q
What is the role of Sun’s energy in Earth’s spheres?
A
- Solar energy that reaches Earth is absorbed and reflected by Earth’s atmosphere and surface
- Solar energy heats Earth’s surfface unevenly and global winds help redistribute thermal energy around Earth
- Ocean currents ALSO redistribute thermal energy around Earth
- Solar energy enters the BIOSPHERE through photosynthesis* and cellular respiration*
8
Q
Why does the Sun’s energy distribute heat unevenly?
A
- Earth is spherical
- Solar energy strikes the Earth at DIFFERENT angles
- Receives more direct solar energy at LOWER LATITUDES (Ex. Mexico)
- Therefore, atmosphere heats up unevenly
- Lower latitudes become warmer
9
Q
What is the greenhouse effect?
A
The natural process that warms the Earth’s surface
The process:
1. Solar energy passes through the clear atmosphere
2. Most solar energy is absorbed by Earth’s surface and warms it
3. Some solar energy is reflected by the Earth and the atmosphere
4. Energy is emitted from Earth’s surface
5. Some of the energy passes through the atmosphere, and some is absorbed and re-emitted in all directions by greenhouse gas molecules. The effect of this is to warm Earth’s surface and the lower atmosphere.
10
Q
How do global wind systems redistribute thermal energy around the Earth?
A
- Convection currents
- Warm air near Earth’s surface rises and cools
- Cool air is denser and sinks, creating wind that moves warm and cool air around Earth
- Coriolis effect: a CHANGE in the direction of moving air, water, or other objects due to Earth’s rotation
NOTE*
When air temperature changes, weather occurs.
Solar energy enters the BIOSPHERE through photosynthesis* and cellular respiration.*
11
Q
How do ocean currents also redistribute thermal energy around the Earth?
A
- Surface currents are created by wind
- Five major sets of surface currents (one in each major ocean basin)
- Warm currents: move heat (warm water from the equator) towards the poles (higher, colder latitudes)
Cold currents: bring cold water from colder, higher latitudes to trophical regions
12
Q
What are the five major sets of surface currents?
A
- The North Pacific Ocean
- The South Pacific Ocean
- The North Atlantic Ocean
- The South Atlantic Ocean
- The Indian Ocean
13
Q
What is a trophic level?
A
A step or level of the food chain in the ecosystem
14
Q
What are the biotic components of the environment?
A
Include:
- all microorganisms
- plants
- animals
- all above or under the Earth
All life exists in the biosphere.
Biodiversity - large variety of organisms - is often an indicator of the health of the ecosystem
15
Q
What can the biosphere not survive without?
A
- cannot survive without all the elements from all the other spheres
1. Plants and animals need WATER -> Hydrosphere, MINERALS -> Lithosphere, GASES -> Atmosphere
2. Air, water and land provide homes for all the various forms of life
NOTE*
All living things are dependent on non-living things for energy, water, and space; living things use nutrients and decomposers recycle nutrients into inorganic material that can form part of the soil
16
Q
What is the environment?
A
contains all the factors that surround and influence the biotic and abiotic things within it
- The environment is our surroundings
- Each living thing within the biosphere inhabits and interacts with the things that surround them.
17
Q
What is the ecosystem?
A
a smaller function within the environment. It is the unique interaction between the living and non-living elements. An ecosystem is a community functioning together as one unit.
Abiotic components of an ecosystem support the life functions of the biotic components of an ecosystem.
18
Q
What are biotic parts?
A
Living parts of an environment
19
Q
What are abiotic parts?
A
Non-living parts of an environment
20
Q
What are biotic and abiotic interactions?
A
Organisms within communities constantly interact to obtain resources such as food, water, sunlight or habitat.
Every organism has a special role within an ecosystem.
Natural processes move matter in cycles from the biotic and abiotic parts of the environment
21
Q
List some abiotic and biotic interactions
A
- oxygen for cellular respiration
- water for survival
- nutrients are chemicals that are required for plants and animal growth (ex. nitrogen, phosphorus)
- Light is required for photosynthesis
- Soil anchors plants, absorbs and holds water, provides nutrients for plants and supports many small organisms
22
Q
What is a food chain?
A
A model that describes how food energy is passed from one living thing to another
23
Q
What are the trophic levels?
A
Energy flows from producers (plants) to (1) PRIMARY consumers (herbivores) to (2) SECONDARY and (3) TERTIARY consumers (carnivores)
- Each step in a food chain is called a trophic level
24
Q
What are energy pyramids?
A
Models that show how energy is lost at each trophic level of a food chain - food energy is lost to obtain food/digest food, repair tissues, move, heat, etc.
- only 10% of food energy can be passed from consumer to consumer
25
What are producers?
Living things that make their own food to get energy they need to live (becomes energy source)
- This happens usually through photosynthesis by plants and single-celled organisms
1. Decomposition: breaking down of dead organic material (by DECOMPOSERS, ex. bacteria and fungi)
2. Living things that break down dead material to get energy they need
26
What is a food web?
A model of feeding relationships that shows a network of interacting and overlapping food chains.
27
What can affect a food web?
- A change in the number of one organisms, could affect several food chains in the food web
*All organisms in an ecosystem are connected and depend on each other for survival
28
What are the limits to the length of a food chain?
1. Most of the energy transferred from one organism to another is lost to the environment as unusable heat
2. Some energy has already been used to support life functions (growth, cellular respiration)
3. Some energy is stored in waste that are excreted
4. Less and less energy is available to each organism in the food chain
29
What are consumers?
Living things that eat producers or other consumers to get energy they need
30
What are the types of consumers?
1. Herbivores - PRIMARY consumers that eat plants
2. Carnivores - SECONDARY consumers that eat PRIMARY consumers
3. Omnivores - eat both plants and animals - interconnected food chains form a food web
4. Detrivores - eat bodies of small dead organisms/plant matter, and animal wastes. (weirdoes)
31
Do photosynthesis and cellular respiration balance each other out? If so, how?
Yes, they balance each other out.
- Each process makes the raw materials that the other processes needs to store or release energy.
Concept: PHOTOSYNTHESIS stores energy; CELLULAR RESPIRATION releases energy
- Photosynthesis uses CARBON DIOXIDE and WATER, and produces GLUCOSE and OXYGEN
- CELLULAR RESPIRATION uses GLUCOSE and OXYGEN, and produces CARBON DIOXIDE and WATER
32
What is the hydrosphere?
The water cycle (water moving through Earth's Spheres)
33
What does the water on Earth do and what are the three main processes in the water cycle?
All water on earth continuously cycles through ecosystems by the interaction of three main processes in the water cycle:
1. Evaporation: Heat from the Sun causes water at Earth's surface to evaporate
2. Condensation: As warm air rises, it cools and condenses, forming clouds
3. Precipitation: Water falls back to Earth's surface when its rains or snows
MAIN IDEA: Water moves over Earth's surface ("run-off") and moves downhill back into the ocean water due to gravity
34
What is transpiration?
Transpiration causes water to move through the biosphere.
Definition: A process by which water is absorbed by the roots of plants, carried through plants, and lost as water vapour through small pores in the leaves
35
What is the percentage of water that is fresh?
A small portion - less than 1%
Ex. Precipitation, rivers, streams, groundwater, frozen glaciers
36
What is the percentage of water that is salty?
Most - 97%
Ex. Oceans
NOTE*
Ocean currents also redistribute thermal energy and nutrients around Earth
37
What are warm and cold ocean currents?
Warm and cold ocean currents help distribute the Sun's uneven heat energy (and nutrients) on Earth.
1. Warm currents: move heat (warm water from the equator) towards the poles (higher, colder latitudes)
2. Cold currents: bring cold water from colder, higher latitudes to tropical regions
38
What is the Great Ocean Conveyer Belt and how does it move water?
A massive system of deep-water currents that moves deep water, thermal energy, and nutrients around Earth.
These currents' movement depends on the differences between the temperature and salt content of water:
1. Cold water is MORE DENSE than warm water -> Cold water sinks and displaces the warm water
2. Saltier water is MORE DENSE than less salty water -> Saltier water sinks and displaces less salty water
39
How does the great ocean conveyor belt move nutrients?
It moves nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, around the ocean.
Surface water that sinks does not have many nutrients
After the water sinks, the bacteria in deep water breaks down organic material and returns nutrients to the water.
When the deep water returns to the surface, it has a high concentration of nutrients.
40
What is water pollution?
Any physical, biological, or chemical change in water quality that has a negative effect on organisms or that makes water unsuitable.
41
How is water polluted?
Synthetic chemicals and pollutants enter the environment via air, water, and soil.
Then, decomposers cannot break them down through the biodegradation process, so they stay in the environment for a long time.
42
What does synthetic mean?
Human-made
43
What are examples point sources and non-point sources of water pollution?
Point sources: factories, power plants, sewage treatment plants, oil wells
Non-point sources: run-off from farms, lawns, construction sites, logging areas, roads, parking lots
44
What are point sources and non-point sources of water pollution?
Point sources: easily identifiable sources of pollution
Non-point sources: not easily traceable sources of pollution
45
What is bioaccumulation?
The gradual build-up of these chemicals/pollutants in cells and tissues of organisms.
Accumulation = chemical taken up and stored faster than it is broken down and excreted
- via food intake, skin contact, or respiration
46
What do these chemicals harm? (regarding bioaccumulation)
These chemicals can harm organisms:
- birth defects and affect body systems
ex. red tide (algae toxins taken in by clams, human shellfish PCBS and orcas, raptors)
47
What is biomagnification?
The increase in concentration of pollutants in tissues of organisms that are at successively higher levels in a food chain or food web
48
What is a nutrient cycle?
The continuous movement/exchange of nutrients between living organisms
49
What is the process of a nutrient cycle?
Nutrients are needed for growth and other life processes
Such as:
- Carbon
- Oxygen
- Hydrogen
- Nitrogen
- Phosphorus
There are sources, stores, and sinks for each nutrient.
Nutrients flow in and out of stores in nutrient cycles.
Without interference, generally the amount of nutrients flowing in to a store equals the amount of nutrients flowing out.
50
What is the carbon cycle?
Where carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, atmosphere, and the geosphere
51
What is the process of the carbon cycle?
Carbon is cycled through interactions between living AND nonliving things
Process:
1. Carbon dioxide gas moves from the atmosphere into the biosphere through photosynthesis and cellular respiration
2. Carbon dioxide also moves back to the atmosphere when organisms die and decompose
3. Carbon enters the geosphere when the remains of organisms are trapped under sediment layers
52
What are carbon stores and what are some examples of them?
storage for Carbon
Short-term storage examples:
- aquatic and terrestrial organisms
- CO2 in the atmosphere
- top layers of the ocean
Long-term storage examples:
- middle and lower ocean layers
- coal, oil, and gas deposits in land and ocean sediments
53
How can human activities upset the natural balance of the nutrient cycle?
- Land clearing
- agriculture
- urbanization
- mining industry
- motorized transportation
- burning fossil fuels
These practices increase the levels of nutrients by reintroducing carbon from stores and from reducing plants that can absorb and convert CO2
(Extra carbon dioxide in the air traps heat in the atmosphere leading to global warming and global climate change)
54
What is carbon dioxide?
A greenhouse gas that absorbs solar energy in Earth's atmosphere.
55
What is global warming?
An increase in the average temperature of Earth's surface
56
What is global climate change?
A long-term change in Earth's climate
57
How can global climate change happen?
Can be caused by natural factors of human activity:
1. Natural: natural variations in greenhouse gases, changes in ocean and atmospheric circulation, changes in Earth;s orbit
2. Human activity: increase in greenhouse gases due to burning of fossil fuels
58
What does extra carbon dioxide in the air do?
It traps heat in the atmosphere leading to global warming and global climate change
59
What are the effects on temperature due to excess carbon in the Carbon cycle?
1. Earth's surface temperature: Increased by between 0.56 C and 0.92 C in the past 100 years
Warmer temp affects:
- Land and sea ice melts
- Warmer seawater absorbs more CO 2
- Extreme weather events increase
- Sea level rises
- Seawater = more acidic
- Most frequent heat waves
- coral reefs & other ecosystems are harmed
- human illness and fatalities occur
60
What are the effects on melting sea and land ice due to excess carbon in the Carbon cycle?
Melting sea and land ice has led to destruction of habitats for polar organisms, increased local flooding, and release of methane gas (a greenhouse gas) from melting permafrost
61
What are the effects on rising sea levels and changing ocean chemistry due to excess carbon in the Carbon cycle?
1. Rising sea level
- some islands have gone underwater
- salt water gets into the drinking water supply
- coastal flooding and destruction of wetlands
2. Changing ocean chemistry
- ocean becomes more acidic because it absorbs more carbon dioxide from the air
- an acidic and warming ocean can destroy coral reefs and corals themselves (acidity dissolves the organisms' shells)
62
What are naturally occuring greenhouse gases?
water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide
63
What is water vapour and its sources?
What is it?
- The most abundant greenhouse gas
- Produced during cellular respiration and certain plant processes
Sources:
- evaporation from water
- given off by plants, animals, and other organisms
64
What is carbon dioxide and its sources?
What is it?
- second most abundant greenhouse gas
- produced in and by the cells of most living organisms through cellular respiration
Sources:
- living organisms
- volcanoes, forest fires, decaying organisms, release from oceans
65
What is methane and its sources?
What is it?
- a by-product of cellular processes used by some micro-organisms to extract energy from food in the absence of oxygen
Sources:
- certain species of bacteria and other micro-organisms that live in and around bogs, wetlands, melting permafrost
- certain species of bacteria that live in the gut of animals such as cows and termites
- vents and other openings in Earth's crust on land and the ocean floor
66
What is nitrous oxide and its sources?
What is it ?
- produced when certain species of bacteria break down nitrogen-rich compounds for food
Sources:
- bacteria that live in oceans and wet, warm soils such as those in the tropics
67
What are human activities that enable greenhouse gases to be released into the atmosphere?
1. Carbon dioxide: released when fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal) are burned
2. Nitrous oxide: enters the atmosphere when fertilizer is applied to crops
3. Methane: released in large amounts by herds of cattle
68
What is the process of the nitrogen cycle?
- Nitrogen is very important in the structure of DNA and proteins
- Nitrogen = stored in oceans, lakes, marshes, and soil
- Largest store of nitrogen is in the atmosphere in the form N2 (unusable form)
Nitrogen fixation: processes that make this nitrogen available to plants (part of nitrogen cycle)
Nitrogen is cycled through interactions between living and nonliving things
NOTE* Nitrogen is a nutrient that cells need to build proteins
69
What is nitrogen fixation?
Nitrogen fixation is the conversion of N2 gas into compounds usable by plants
--------------------------------------------
- makes up 78% of air, but organisms cannot use this form of nitrogen
- nitrogen-fixing bacteria in soil and water change nitrogen into forms that plants can use
- Lightning (in the atmosphere) provides the energy for N2 gas to react with O2 gas to form nitrogen-containing compounds that enters through rain
70
What is nitrification?
When certain nitrifying bacteria convert ammonium into nitrate.
71
What are the two stages of nitrification?
1) Ammonium -> Nitrite
2) Nitrite -> Nitrate
Nitrates enter plant roots through the process of uptake:
- Herbivores then eat plants and use nitrogen
72
What is uptake?
The process of which cells or organisms absorb substances, like nutrients, oxygen, or drugs
73
What are two examples of bioaccumulation?
DDTs with Raptors and PCBs with Orcas
74
What are DDTs, specifically with raptors?
DDTs: pesticides used to control disease-carrying mosquitoes that are now banned
- birds lay infertile or thin-shelled eggs that were broken before the young could hatch
75
What are PCBs, specifically with orcas?
PCBs: synthetic chemicals in plastic that were used in industrial products that are now banned
- stay in orca's blubber for a long time
- interfere with the orca's immune function
- orcas are more susceptible to disease
76
What is the nitrogen cycle?
The cycle of nitrogen through interactions between living and nonliving things.
77
How does the nitrogen cycle?
Through something called DENITRIFICATION: nitrates are converted back to nitrogen by denitrifying bacteria (released into the atmosphere)
Through:
- Volcanic eruptions
- Nitrogen dissolves in water, enters waterways, and washes into lakes and oceans, settling in sediments
- nitrogen is then trapped into rocks
78
What are human influences on the nitrogen cycle?
1) Using fertilizer (contain nitrates) in agricultural practices increases the concentration of nitrogen in soil
- Excess nitrogen is washed away, or leaches, into the waterways
- This promotes huge growth in aquatic algae called ALGAE BLOOMS
- Algae blooms use up all CO2 and O2 and BLOCK sunlight, killing many aquatic organisms
- Algae blooms can also produce neurotoxins that poison animals
2) Burning fossil fuels (factories and vehicles) releases gaseous nitrogen oxides
3) Clearing forests by burning releases trapped nitrogen into atmosphere which increases acid precipitation
79
What is an algal bloom?
Too much of a nutrient entering an aquatic ecosystem
80
What is the process of an algal bloom?
a) Rain carries nitrogen from farms, gardens, and lawns into aquatic ecosystems
b) Algae and plants at the water's surface grow quickly. This block sunlight from reaching deeper water.
c) Deep-water plants get no sunlight. They cannot carry out photosynthesis, so they no longer give off oxygen, and they soon starve to death.
d) When the plants die, decomposers have lots of food. The number of decomposers increases quickly. They use up the oxygen in the water as they carry out cellular respiration.
e) As oxygen in the water is used up, aquatic organisms that need the oxygen suffocate and die
81
What is the phosphorus cycle?
When phosphorus is cycled through interactions between living and nonliving things.
82
What is phosphorus?
A nutrient essential for the growth and development of organisms
83
What is weathering?
the breakdown and alteration of rocks, soils and minerals at or near the Earth's surface
84
How does weathering correlate with phosphorus?
Natural weathering processes release phosphorus from rocks.
a) Chemical weathering, via acid precipitation
b) Physical weathering, including wind, water and freezing
Phosphorus is then absorbed by soil and plants, which are then eaten by animals
Decomposers break down animal waste and dead organisms which returns phosphorus to the soil and water
85
What are human impacts on phosphorus?
1) Fertilizer use (run-off can lead to algal blooms that block the sunlight from reaching organisms in the deep waters (organisms die)
2) Mining
3) Household cleaners/detergents
All produce excess phosphorus that leaches and runs-off into different systems
86
What are significant changes to any of these nutrients (C, N, or P) that can greatly affect biodiversity?
- slight temp changes caused by global warming and changes in water levels = drastically changes ecosystems
- decrease in resources for EVERY species in the food webs due to increased levels of nitrogen in other plant species that then out compete other species
87
What is sustainability?
The ability of an ecosystem to continue to exist indefinitely by recycling their materials. This ensures balanced systems for the present and future
88
True/False: Natural ecosystems are sustainable as long as they have a continued and constant source of energy.
True!
89
What are ecosystem services?
The benefits that organisms receive from the environment and its resources
Examples include:
- food production
- water supply
- raw supply
- climate regulations
- gas supply
90
How can individuals make a difference?
-volunteer
-public transit
-recycle
-utilise solar power
-vote for parties that promote a healthy Earth
-join science-minded advocacy groups
91
What is smart growth?
A strategy for sustainability that is focused on concentrating growth in the centre of a city, rather than in outlying areas
Includes:
- homes and businesses are intermixed
- green spaces are preserved
- enhances public transportation
