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35 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Chemical Weathering |
Directly related to water. More precipitation (and higher temps help) = more chemical weathering |
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Physical Weathering |
Directly related to average temperature. Colder temperatures = more physical weathering |
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2 million years into the future, what items might one find in order of abundance (1st most abundant) |
Building material - concrete, plastic, glass, brick |
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How to calculate how long something will take to weather ex) Erosion rate of 20cm per 1000 years, cube is 230m tall |
23000cm x (1000yrs/20cm) = 1,150,100 years |
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Give a factor that might cause a cube to weather assymetrically |
Wind, the blowing of sand particles bashing randomly against the surface causing erosion |
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In terms of ENERGY, what's happening in the crust leading up to an earthquake to just after its occurence? |
Energy built up as rocks become stressed -> Stress comes from pulling or compression of rocks (elasticity) -> energy is released in form of seismic waves when stress becomes too much |
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What should my neighbor know? |
- Population growing at high pace - 1st law of thermodynamics: can't create something out of nothing, expensive to clean up pollution - We are disrupting biogeochemical cycles often |
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Mean Residence Time (yr) |
MRT = Reservoir Size/Flux |
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What contains 99.99% of carbon in the carbon cycle? |
Lithosphere (carbonate rocks and cements, organically derived) |
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Why does mass out equal mass in for global flux? |
Because its a cycle -> for the flow of the cycle to be effective, you can't lose net mass. |
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% change calculation |
(New - Old)/New x 100 |
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% change SINCE a certain period |
Current - Specific Period/Specific Period x 100 |
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If fossil fuel emissions stabilized at current levels, would re-forestation offset CO2 in atmosphere? |
No, we would run out of space to plant trees. Fuel emissions are so high we'd literally run out of space to plant trees. |
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What does a car require in terms of resources? |
Aluminum, Petroleum, iron ore (for steel), copper, rubber. |
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Why are the deep ocean and lithosphere similar? |
Because there's a slow turnover in both - longer lifespan for carbon molecules, as they've been residing there for millions of years. |
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What is primarily causing the rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere? |
Anthropogenic sources - Burning of fossil fuels and deforestation |
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How is rising CO2 levels affecting the ocean? |
It's acidifying the ocean -> CO2 is dissolved into the ocean and forms Carbonic Acid near the surface, which is killing marine life. |
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What does fresh water do? |
Quenches our thirst, waters our crops, needed for some marine life, electricity generation |
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Where does fresh water come from? |
Lakes, rivers, streams, aquifers - Who get their water from precipitation, glacier melt, and ground water infiltration |
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How much water is 40% of the bow river's natural flow after evaporation? |
(Total Number - Evaporation) x (0.4) |
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What are some anthropogenic sources that extract fresh water? |
Agriculture, civic use, commercial (golf courses), Oil industry |
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Why is the mining industry so risky? |
Because of the costs to even initiate an investigation - roads to source, powerlines etc, protection for cyanide |
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When assessing an ore body, what are some good assumptions to be made in order to evaluate profit and cost? |
1) Assume thickness of ore in all rocks is the same 2) Density of the ore 3) Price of ore is the same, to assess how much money the company will make at market value |
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Why is the price of coal so much less than the price of oil? |
Scarcity - there's more coal than oil. Oil is also more difficult to acquire (drilling) rather than extracting coal from a coal mine. |
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How can we mitigate fresh water scarcity? |
Dams, irrigation - to capture run-off. Idea is to preserve as much water as possible. Also, desalination plants (although pricey) are good techonological advancements are well |
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Volume of a wire |
(pi) x (r)^2 x (h) |
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What would we find in TFDL? |
Concrete, glass, iron, aluminum, gyprock, ceramic tiles |
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What would we find in Earth Science? |
Concrete, gravel, gyprock, steel, glass, ceramic tiles |
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Why would one find more concrete for building material than glass? |
Because concrete is a local resource in which there is an abundance, whereas glass is not -> made of sand |
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Why would you see more asphalt used to build roads and concrete for sidewalks? |
Cost, durability. |
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Why do tsunamis get stronger in shallower areas? |
Because amplitude increases and wavelength descreases -> creating a tall steep wave with tons of energy |
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What is liquefaction? |
An effect associated with an earthquake: |
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Where would you see a landslide? |
Similar to liquefaction, but on hillsides where earthquake weakens the slope. |
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Other hazards from earthquakes? |
Contamination of water, loss of communication, liquefaction, landslides, tsunamis, fires from broken electrical lines |
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A sudden jolt in the house occurs, what are you experiencing? |
P-Wave, and you can expect R and L waves very soon. |