AP®︎ Environmental Science: Unit 4 Flashcards

The model explaining how movement of Earth’s outer solid shell produces major geological features and events

The rigid lithosphere is divided into tectonic plates that move over the hot, deformable asthenosphere beneath it

A boundary where plates move toward one another, causing compression, deformation, earthquakes, and mountain building

Convergence in which denser oceanic lithosphere subducts beneath continental lithosphere, forming an offshore trench, earthquakes, and a continental volcanic mountain chain

Convergence in which one oceanic plate subducts beneath another, forming a deep-ocean trench, earthquakes, and a volcanic island arc

Collision of two buoyant continental masses that compresses, folds, thickens, and uplifts crust into large mountain ranges and causes strong earthquakes

The process in which one plate bends and descends beneath another into the mantle

A long, deep seafloor depression formed where an oceanic plate bends downward into a subduction zone

A curved chain of volcanic islands formed on the overriding plate at an oceanic–oceanic subduction boundary

A boundary where plates move apart and rising magma forms new crust, with volcanism, faulting, and earthquakes

The production of new oceanic crust at a mid-ocean ridge and its outward movement away from the ridge

An underwater mountain system at an oceanic divergent boundary where rising magma creates new oceanic crust

An elongated depression formed when stretching continental crust causes blocks to drop along faults

A boundary where plates slide horizontally past one another without creating or destroying substantial lithosphere, commonly producing earthquakes

A fracture or zone of fractures in rock along which movement has occurred

Stress deforms rocks around a locked fault until it overcomes friction or rock strength, causing sudden slip and release of stored elastic energy

The focus is the point within Earth where an earthquake rupture begins, and the epicenter is the point on the surface directly above it

A localized area where unusually hot mantle material rises and produces magma beneath a plate, potentially forming a volcanic chain as the plate moves

A broad belt of frequent earthquakes and volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean that largely follows plate boundaries, especially convergent subduction boundaries

The underlying rock or transported sediment from which a soil’s mineral material develops

Weathering breaks down or chemically alters material in place, while erosion detaches and transports it by water, wind, ice, or gravity

The breakdown of rock into smaller pieces without changing its chemical composition

The alteration of rock’s mineral composition through chemical reactions, especially reactions involving water

Physical or chemical weathering caused by organisms, such as roots, burrowing animals, lichens, fungi, and microbes

Parent material, climate, organisms, topography or relief, and time

A vertical section showing soil horizons from the surface to parent material or bedrock, ideally O-A-E-B-C-R.

The surface organic horizon containing litter, dead organisms, decomposing material, and humus

The upper mineral horizon mixed with organic matter and rich in roots and biological activity

A pale, depleted horizon from which clay, iron, aluminum, and organic compounds have been removed by eluviation

A mineral horizon where clay and iron- or aluminum-bearing compounds transported from above often accumulate

Partly weathered parent material with little organic matter or biological alteration

Consolidated, relatively unweathered bedrock beneath the soil and parent material

Dark, relatively stable, partly decomposed and chemically altered organic matter in soil

Water erosion detaches soil with raindrops and transports it in runoff, while wind erosion detaches and carries dry, loose soil

Soil can improve water quality by trapping particles and pollutants as water infiltrates, though highly permeable or contaminated soil may allow pollutants to reach groundwater

Sand particles are 0.05–2.0 millimeters, silt particles are 0.002–0.05 millimeters, and clay particles are smaller than 0.002 millimeters

The percentage of total soil volume occupied by pore space: pore-space volume ÷ total soil volume × 100

The ability of soil to transmit water through connected pore spaces

The total amount of water a soil can retain in its pores and on particle surfaces

A diagram that classifies mineral soil from sand, silt, and clay percentages summing to 100%; plot the three percentage lines and identify their textural region

A textural class containing a balanced mixture of sand, silt, and clay that commonly provides both water retention and drainage; it is not necessarily equal thirds

The ability of soil to supply nutrients and other conditions needed for plant growth

Physical tests measure traits such as texture and permeability; chemical tests measure pH, nutrients, salinity, or CEC; biological tests measure organisms and their activity

A logarithmic measure of soil acidity or basicity that affects nutrient availability, microbial activity, and plant growth

Atmospheric air with variable water vapor excluded; its standard composition is about 78% N₂, 21% O₂, 0.93% Ar, and 0.04% CO₂ by volume

The lowest layer, extending to about 10–12 km, where temperature decreases with altitude and nearly all weather occurs

The layer from about 10–12 km to 50 km where temperature increases with altitude because ozone absorbs ultraviolet radiation

The ozone-rich region of the stratosphere, mainly about 15–35 km high, that absorbs most UV-C and much UV-B radiation

The layer from about 50 km to 80–85 km where temperature decreases with altitude and many small meteoroids burn up

The extremely thin layer above about 80–85 km where temperature increases as particles absorb high-energy ultraviolet radiation and X-rays

The outermost, extremely low-density layer, where particles are far apart and the atmosphere gradually merges with space

Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude because less air remains above to exert weight and the air becomes less dense

Unequal solar heating caused by differences in sun angle, latitude, surface properties, and season creates temperature and pressure differences that drive atmospheric circulation

A large circulation loop of rising, sinking, and horizontally moving air that transports heat through the atmosphere

The apparent deflection of moving air to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and left in the Southern Hemisphere due to Earth’s rotation

Circulation from 0° to about 30° latitude, with air rising at the equator, sinking near 30°, and returning equatorward as trade winds

Midlatitude circulation from about 30° to 60°, with surface air moving poleward as prevailing westerlies, rising near 60°, and returning aloft

Circulation from about 60° to 90°, with cold air sinking at the poles, moving equatorward as polar easterlies, and rising near 60°.

The warm, wet equatorial low-pressure zone where Northern and Southern Hemisphere trade winds converge and air rises

East-to-west surface winds from about 30° toward the equator: northeast trades in the Northern Hemisphere and southeast trades in the Southern Hemisphere

West-to-east surface winds between about 30° and 60° latitude that blow from subtropical highs toward subpolar lows

East-to-west surface winds between about 60° and the poles that blow from polar highs toward subpolar lows

Alternating pressure zones created by circulation: low at 0°, high near 30°, low near 60°, and high at 90°.

The entire land area from which surface water drains to a common outlet, including the channels and surrounding runoff-contributing land

A ridge or other high ground separating adjoining watersheds, with runoff on opposite sides flowing toward different outlets

Important watershed characteristics include its drainage area, length from headwaters to outlet, and slope, which influence runoff volume, speed, erosion, and discharge timing

Runoff is affected by precipitation intensity and duration, watershed size and slope, soil permeability, vegetation, land cover, saturation, and impervious surfaces

Infiltration is water entering soil, while surface runoff is water flowing over land when precipitation exceeds infiltration or the ground is saturated or impermeable

Solar energy received by Earth, the principal external energy source driving surface warming and most atmospheric processes

Direct, high-angle rays concentrate more solar energy per unit area, while oblique, low-angle rays spread the same energy over a larger area

Solar intensity generally decreases with increasing latitude because sunlight strikes at a more oblique angle and spreads over a larger area

Earth’s rotational axis is tilted about 23.5° from perpendicular to its orbital plane, causing seasonal changes in sun angle and day length

Around June 20–22, the Northern Hemisphere has its longest day, the Southern Hemisphere its shortest, and the subsolar point is at 23.5° N.

Around December 20–22, the Southern Hemisphere has its longest day, the Northern Hemisphere its shortest, and the subsolar point is at 23.5° S.

The March and September equinoxes occur when the subsolar point is at the equator and day and night are approximately equal, beginning spring or autumn in opposite hemispheres

The location where sunlight strikes Earth perpendicularly and the Sun is directly overhead at solar noon

Weather is the short-term state of the atmosphere at a place and time, while climate is a region’s long-term pattern and range of weather

Higher elevations generally have lower temperatures because rising air expands and cools as atmospheric pressure decreases

Water can absorb or release substantial thermal energy with relatively little temperature change, moderating nearby coastal temperatures

Movements of ocean water that redistribute heat; warm currents tend to warm nearby coasts, while cold currents tend to cool them

Locations near large bodies of water usually have milder maritime climates, while inland locations have continental climates with greater daily and seasonal temperature variation

The forced rise of an air mass over a mountain or other elevated terrain, causing expansion and cooling that may produce precipitation

The windward side faces incoming air that rises, cools, and produces precipitation, while the leeward side receives descending, warming, drier air

A relatively dry leeward region formed when air rises, cools, and loses moisture on a mountain’s windward side, then descends and warms

Rising air expands and cools as pressure decreases, while descending air compresses and warms as pressure increases, without exchanging heat with its surroundings

Recurring coupled changes in the tropical Pacific Ocean and atmosphere, with neutral, El Niño, and La Niña states that alter global weather and ocean circulation

The usual Pacific pattern: easterly trade winds, warm water and rainfall in the west, and cool, nutrient-rich upwelling in the east

ENSO’s warm phase: weakened trade winds shift warm water and rainfall eastward, deepen the eastern thermocline, and reduce nutrient-rich upwelling near South America

ENSO’s cool phase: strengthened trade winds push warm water westward, make the eastern thermocline shallower, and enhance cold, nutrient-rich upwelling near South America

The ocean layer where temperature decreases rapidly with depth; its eastern Pacific depth controls how readily cold deep water reaches the surface

The rise of cold, nutrient-rich deep water to replace surface water moved away, supporting high primary productivity and productive fisheries