GEOG 203 Exam 2

Short-term, day-to-day condition of the atmosphere

a homogenous body of air that has taken on the temperatures and moisture characteristics of its source region

• m-Maritime
• c-Conitinental

• A-Arctic
• P-Polar
• T-Tropical
• E-Equatorial
• AA-Anarctic

• cool, dry, stable, high pressure, clear skies
• Only in the northern hemisphere
• most developed in winter
• in mid and high latitudes
• cold, dense cP air lifts moist, warm air in its path

cool, moist, unstable

• warm, humid
• Gulf/Atlantic-unstable winter to very unstable summer
• Pacific-stable to unconditionally stable, lower avg precipitation

hot, low humidity, only in summer in USA

• convergent lifting
• convectional lifting
• orographic lifting
• frontal lifting

• air flows from different directions into the same low pressure area
• along the ITCZ-cumulonimbus cloud development; high avg annual precipitation

• stimulated by local surface heating
• urbanized area-heat island
• dark soil in a plowed field
• If the conditions are unstable, initial lifting continues and clouds develop.

• air is forced over a barrier ie) mountain range
• lifting air cools by expansion
• enhance convectional activity
• cause additional lifting during the passage of weather fronts
• creates dry regions leward of mountain

formation of a narrow line of showers when enough moisture is present

• created by a fast-advancing cold front and its violent lifting
• wildly changing and turbulent winds patterns
• intense precipitation
• ie) Gulf of Mexico

Temperature inversion-->poor air drainage

• the conflict between contrasting air masses
• migrating lower pressure center with converging, ascending air spirals inward counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere
• results from PGF, Coriolis effect and friction force
• movement controlled by jet streams

• 3 places they develop
• 1. in a warm, moist air mass
• 2. along a cold front or dryline
• 3. orographic lifting (upslope winds)

a boundary that separates a warm, moist air mass from a warm, dry air mass

• 3/4 inch hail or surface gusts of 58 mi/hr winds
• formation-updrafts tilt
• Result--high winds, flash floods, hail, tornadoes, down bursts

• a column of air that, after hitting ground level, spreads out in all directions and is capable of producing damaging straight-line winds of over 150 mph
• damage similar to tornadoes

• severe or super-cell thunderstorm
• 100-600 meter diameter
• winds up to 300 mph

• hurricanes between 5 and 20 degrees of the equator
• too close to equator-no coriolis
• too far from equator-water is too cold

a mild disturbance (Easterly wave) in the tropics

• deep layer of warm water
• limited vertical wind shear
• upper-level divergence

• strong, low pressure (870-990mb)
• inward flow of rising air
• inward spiral of cloud bands
• well-defined eye wall
• weak descending air in the eye

move from east to west in the tropics and curve NE as they move into the midlatitudes

Season- June 1st thru November 30th

• widespread flooding
• high winds
• storm surge
• tornadoes

• large wall or dome of water that rushes into the coastline as a result of a hurricane making landfall
• combo of the wind-driven (more significant) surge and the pressure surge

• an elaborate and global plumbing system
• operated for billions of years from the lower atmosphere to several km beneath earth's surface

• atmosphere
• oceans, lakes, rivers
• soil
• glaciers and snowfields
• ground water

• evaporation
• transpiration
• condensation
• precipitation
• infiltration
• percolation
• runoff

• flow overland
• soaks into soil

when precipiation strikes vegetation or other ground cover

• intercepted rain that drains across plant leaves and down their stems to the ground
• important moisture route to the ground surface

precipitation that falls directly to the ground plus precipitation that drips onto the ground from vegetation (excluding stem flow)

through which water soaks into the subsurface

through which water permeates soil or rock through downward movement

• 3000-10,000 years
• deep ocean circulations, groundwater aquifers, glacial ice-->moderate temperatures and climatic changes
• LONG SYSTEM MEMORY

• about 10 days
• temporary fluctuations in regional weather patterns
• SHORT SYSTEM MEMORY

precipitation = actual evapotranspiration + surplus +/- soil moisture storage

PRECIP = (POTET - DEFIC) + SURPL +/- STRGE

evaporation plus transpiration

• 78% ocean
• 22% land

cooling mechanism in plants through evaporation

• potential evapotranspiration
• the amount of water that would evaporate and transpire under optimum moisture conditions when adequate precipitation and soil-moisture supply occur

• sits on the surface in ponds, puddles, and lakes
• flow across the surface toward stream channels-overland flow
• percolate through the soil underground

the volume of water stored in the soil that is accesible to plant roots

a molecule-thin layer tightly bound to each soil particle by the hydrogen bonding soil molecules

to plant roots, held against the pull of gravity

• important part of the hydrologic cycle
• lies beneath the surface-beyond the soil-moisture zone
• the largest potential (available) freshwater source
• Threats: pollution-related water quality, overconsumption
• NOT an independent source of water; relies on surfaec supplies for recharge

• 97.22% Ocean
• 2.78% Fresh

top of ground water layer

pores are completely filled with water

soil and rock is less than saturated

rock layer that readily holds water

a body of rock that does not conduct water-->impermeable

groundwater that is confined under pressure

the pressure level to which water can rise on its own

29%

solid iron-under tremendous pressure

molten, metallic iron with a lighter density than inner core

uppermost mantle-the crust

• the plastic layer-dynamic pockets of increased heat from radioactive decay
• susceptible to slow convective currents

• irregular, brittle layer that resides restlessly on a dynamic and diverse interior
• the weak nature of the rock allows for motion in earth's rigid outer shell

• thinnest
• Basalt
• high in density
• SIMA-silica and magnesium

• thickest
• granite
• SIAL-silica and aluminum
• low in density

crust is constantly rising and sinking

• internal
• building landforms

• external
• tearing down landforms

• brings the heat energy and new materials to the surface and recycles old materials to mantle depths
• creates movement and deformation of the crust

convection currents

how we understand most geomorphic processes today

• upwelling of magma
• plate movements
• folding (warping)
• faulting (shearing)
• earthquake activity
• volcanic activity

• where plates move apart
• spreading center
• zones of tension
• creates fractures as the plates move apart
• filled with molten rock
• producing new slices of crust
• results in rift valleys and seafloor spreading

• where plates move towards each other
• collision zones, compression and crustal loss
• causing one of the plates to sink into the asthonesphere by descending beneath the other

• Cascada Range
• The Andes

• subduction zone and deep ocean trench
• subducting oceanic plate melts and rises; volcano forms on ocean floor
• can lead to island arcs-chain of volcanic islands
• ie) the Alaskan Peninsula, Philippines, and Japan

• when two continental plates converge
• none will subduct (due to their low density)
• collision between the plates
• ie) Himalayas, Urals, Alps, Appalachians

• when the plates slide past each other
• neither convergance or divergence
• no volcanic eruptions
• primarily earthquake activity

• hot spots
• ie) Hawaiian chain of volcanoes, Yellowstone, Kaual (oldest)

• composition
• deformation-ductile or brittle
• gentle, slow, ductile-->folding (bending)
• violent, abrupt, brittle-->faulting (tearing)

• anticline: upholding, arching
• syncline: downfolding, trough

• rocks of different strength will break down at different rates
• over time the resistant rocks become highs and softer rocks become lows

fractures in the crust along which appreciable crustal movement has occurred

• normal-tension
• reverse-compression

• movement along the fault plane is horizontal
• ie) San Andreas, North Anatolian Fault System

• a roughly parallel series of faulted mountains and valleys
• ie) Great Rift Valley of East Asia, Death Valley, Rhine Garden

vibrations in earth from sudden release of energy, radiates through the crust and diminishes with distance

sub-surface area along a fault plane where motion is initiated

area at the surface directly above the focus

shock that occurs after (before) the main shock

• push-pull motion
• travel through any material

• up-down/side-side motion
• travel only through solids
• shake the ground surface and can do severe damage

• travel slower than S and P waves
• cause much of the damage near the epicenter
• rolling motion-cracks the walls and foundations

• modified version of the Richter scale
• each increase of 1 represents a 10-fold increase in wave amplitude and 31.5-fold increase in the total amount of energy released

intense shaking can cause a near surface layer of water-saturated sand to change rapidly from a solid to a liquid