AP Environmental Study Session 2 and 3

Tuesday March 22, 2011

Rock Cycle

YouTube Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-h7G0h9Ip0&NR=1

Types of Rock

• Define– Igneous– Sedimentary– Metamorphic

Soil

• The crucial link between biotic and abiotic– What is found in soil?

• 3 constituents in differing percentages (%):– Clay• Smallest particle, <.002mm

– Silt• .002 - .05mm

– Sand• Largest particle, .05 – 2.0mm

pH and Soil

• pH Scale

• Acidic vs. Alkalinity

• Most soils are pH 4 – 8

• Importance of pH?– pH determines the availability of nutrients in the soil

Where does soil come from?• Weathering– Physical / Mechanical• Don’t change chem of the rocks• Wind and water

– Chemical• Do change chem of the rocks• Interactions between atmosphere, water, and rocks

– Biological• Activities by living organisms

Soil Layers

Human Caused Soil Problems

• Farming– Monoculture– Crop Rotation– Green Revolution– Salinization– Erosion – Dust Bowl

• Add nutrients to the soil in the form of fertilizers– What is all in fertilizers?

• To grow food we need arable land– Land we can grow stuff in

Soil Conservation• Recent efforts have been made to naturally

increase the productivity of farms via:– Using natural fertilizer….AKA ________– Modify tilling to not break-up the land as much to

decrease erosion– Create buffer zones using trees to decrease wind

erosion• Legislation– 1977: Soil and Water Conservation Ace– 1985: Food Security Act

Moving from the Lithosphere to the Atmosphere

Atmosphere

• Define• What’s in it?– Oxygen (21%)– Water Vapor– Nitrogen (78%)– Carbon Dioxide (.037%)– Argon (.9%)– Layers

• What layer do we live in?– Troposphere (surface - 20km)

Layers of the Atmosphere

Layers of the Atmosphere• Troposphere– Where all weather occurs– Contains all water vapor and clouds– Well mixed and temp decreases as altitude increases

• Tropopause– Buffer zone between the troposphere and the

stratosphere– Temp begins to increases as altitude increases

• Stratosphere– 20km – 50km– Gases not mixed, arranged according to density– Temp increases as altitude increases – due to Ozone layer

Greenhouse Effect

• Occurs primarily in the Troposphere

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC0VeBPasgQ&feature=related

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxUK2TizQ4g&feature=related

CO2 Trend

• Increasing, Graph

Ozone and why its important

• Found at the top of the stratosphere

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE3y1Gj2dec

• Ozone Depletion– http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=I1wrEvc2URE&feature=related

CFC’s Trend

Layers of the Atmosphere

• Mesosphere– 50km – 80km above the surface– Layer where meteors typically burn up

• Thermosphere / Ionosphere– 80km – 110km above the surface– Layer where auroras occur, space shuttles orbit,

and where radio waves reflect– Energy from the solar winds are absorbed here

Aurora - Ionosphere

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJBrMXSn-hU

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaSFAbATPvk&feature=related

Connecting Atmosphere and Climate

• Climate is created by the atmosphere• Weather is the daily fluctuation of:– Temperature– Sunlight– Air pressure– Winds– humidity

• Then what is climate and who studies it?** The climate and weather is caused by the unequal

heating of the Earth’s atmosphere by the sun**

3 reasons Earth is unevenly heated

• More rays strike the Equator than anywhere else• Tilt of the axis causes regions to receive more of

less sunlight• Surface is rotating faster at the equator than at

the poles– Causes the Coriolis Effect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHrapzHPCSA&feature=related

Coriolis Effect

• Winds in the Northern Hemisphere are deflected to the right

• Winds in the South Hemisphere are deflected to the left

• Caused by the Earth moving faster at the Equator than at the poles