Rocks and Soil
At what boundary type are earthquakes likely to occur due to plates sliding sideways past each other?
Transform
What layer of the atmosphere is the warmest?
Thermosphere
El Nino occurs in the
Tropical Pacific
No.
Flood plains are environmentally important because they create...
fertile/nutrient rich land
Soil that is more prone to water logging includes soil high in what?
Clay
One side of a mountain always receives more rain than the other. Why?
The rain shadow effect causes one city to be drier since the mountain blocks the passage of rain-carrying clouds
El Niño and La Niña are natural phenomena associated with changing water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. The occurrence of these events can result in changes in global weather and ocean circulation patterns.
What a positive effect (In the Atlantic) likely to result from an El Niño event (in the Pacific)?
Fewer Hurricanes
The stratospheric ozone layer benefits life on Earth by...
Blocking UVB and UVC rays
A watershed is...
The area of land that drains into a water system
Deforestation affects many parts of the soil system. The biggest impact on soil is...
soil erosion
The middle of Texas is very desert-like, however temperatures can fluctuate by almost 40 degrees per day. Why?
Lack of oceans regulating temperature
Fisherman report a series of years with lower than average anchovies catch. This likely results from...
Reduced upwelling
Why was there reduction in ozone depletion over the last half of the twentieth century?
Montreal Protocol, Banning CFCs
Our watershed drains into the...
Delaware
Soil low in clay has an inability to hold onto things like sodium, potassium, and magnesium. This is also known as low:
CEC (cation exchange capacity)
Adiabatic cooling occurs when
Air masses cool and expand as they rise
What is the most likely effect of a strong El Niño event on the weather patterns in the United States?
Wetter and cooler than average weather in the SE and warmer temperatures in the pacific northwest
What substance is released by CFC's and catalyzes a chain reaction that breaks down ozone in the upper atmosphere?
Cl
Name services that estuaries and wetlands provide (must name all of them)
Tourism, water filtration, habitat, storm protection
Students want to determine the impact of soil erosion from the development of new housing. They plan to measure the density of a species of algae growing along the bottom of a river that flows through their town. The town is built in a heavily forested area, but a large area of trees along the river was recently clear-cut to allow for the construction of a new housing development, which has caused exposed soil to wash into the river. The river flows north to south through the town and is still forested both up- and downstream of the town.
What would be the best control sample for the study?
A sample of water collected downstream of the northern forest
Global deserts are found almost exclusively at 30 degrees N and S of the Equator. What phenomenon best explains why?
High pressure zones from the converging Hadley and Ferrel cells prevent the creation of cloud systems leading to a lack of rain.
El Niño and La Niña are natural phenomena associated with changing water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. The occurrence of these events can result in changes in global weather and ocean circulation patterns.
Question
What changes in eastern Pacific Ocean food webs is typically associated with La Niña events?
Increased phytoplankton concentration
Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HFCs) are human-made chemicals that have been used as temporary replacements for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in refrigerants because they decompose more readily in the atmosphere and thus pose less of a threat to Earth’s protective ozone layer. Levels of HFCs have been measured in the stratosphere, and the concentrations of many different have been steadily increasing since the mid- to late 1990s. HFCs were originally introduced as a solution to help phase out the use of CFCs. Which of the following most likely contributed to the increased levels of HFCs in the stratosphere over the past 30 years?
Leaking refrigerants and coolants
Increased turbidity, eutrophication, increased stream temperature