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Environmental5

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soil bacteria _____ and ____ convert ammonia to nitrate, then soil bacterium_______ oxidizes nitrite to nitrate. The nitrification process furnishes these becteria with energy.
Nitrosomonas
Nitrococcus
Nitrobacter
fossil fuels
coal, oil, and natural gas becasue they formed from the remains of ancient organisms, are vast deposits of carbon compounds, and end products of photosynthesis that occurred millions of years ago.
exosphere
outermost layer of atmosphere begins at 500km above earths surface
Gaia hypothesis
a series of hypotheses that Earth's organisms adjust the environment to improve conditions for life, proposed by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis. An example of this would be how temperature remains relatively constant because of living organisms compensated for increased sunlight by "fixing" CO2 into calcium carbonate shells of countless billions of marine phytoplankton
in ______ plant roots absorb either nitrate or ammonia that was formed by nitrogen fixation.
assimilation
combustion
carbon in oil, coal, and natural gas, and wood can be returned to the atmosphere by this process. organic molecules are rapidly oxidized,(combined with oxygen) and converted into carbon dioxide and water with release of light and head.
plate tectonics
movements of crustal plates
heterocysts
oxygen-excluding cells owned by filamentous cyanobactera that function as sites of nitrogen fixation
how do humans affect the nitrogen cycle?
they use fertilizers with nitrogen and amonia and nitrate ..and this can affect the euqlity of water and algae growth. as algae die it robs the water of dissolved oxygen.
nitrogen fixation
the first step...its when gaseous nitrogen is converted into ammonia. it is named this way because nitrogen is fixed into a form that organisms can use.
three locations that volcanoes occur
subduction zones, spreading centers, and above hot spots
carbon cycle
global movement of carbon between the abiotic environment including the atmosphere and organisms
in assimilation plants incorporate nitrogen of molecules into ___ and ___.
nucleic acids and plant proteins
What percent of atmosphere gas does carbon make up and in what form?
.03% as CO2
comprises the average weather conditions that occur in a place over a period of years
climate
what percent of earths atmosphere does nitrogen make up?
78%
The reduction of nitrate to gaseous nitrogen is called _______.
dentrification
why is Earth a closed system?
matter cannot escape from Earth's boundaries, and materials used by organisms cannot be "lost" although they can end up in locations that are outside the reach of organisms, materials are reused and recycled within ecosystems
evaporation exceeds precipitaion in most months
dry
How is carbon present in oceans?
as carbonate(co32-), and bicarbonate(Hco3-)
conversion of ammonia to nitrate is called________?
Nitrification
What contributes to nitrogen fixation?
cyanobacteria(in soil and aquatic envornements), and Rhizobium(which lives inside nodules-special swellings on roots of legumes where its relationship between the host is mutualistic)
magma that reaches the surface
lava
nitrogenase
enzyme by nitrogen fixing bacteria to break up molecular nitrogen and combine it with hydrogen
steps of phorphorus cycle
water wears away surface of rocks containing phosphorus

erosion of phosphorus rocks release phosphorus into soil which is taken up by plant roots in form of inorganic phophates

used in variety of biological molecules and nucleic acids

is released by decomposers and can be used by plants
biogeochemical cycles
matter (material of which organisms are composed) moves in numerous cycles from one part of an ecosystem to another, from one organisms to another and from living organisms to the abiotic environment back again.
molten rock that is formed when rock reaches melting point
magma
nitrogen cycle
nitrogen cycles between abiotic environment and organisms through nitrogen fixation, nitrification, assimilation, ammonification, and dentrification
the order of the nitrogen cycle is ....
nitrogen fixation nitrification assimilation ammonification and dentrification
polar easterlies
blow from the northeast near the North pole or from the southeast near the south pole
The conversion of biological nitrogen compounds into ammonia is _________.
ammonification
currents
persistent pervailing winds that blow over the ocean to produce mass movements of surface ocean waters
phosphorus cycle in aquatic communities
dissolved phosphorus enters through absorbtion by algae and plants which are then consumed by plankton and larger organisms and these in turn are eaten by fish. decomposers that break down waste release phosphorus into water where it is available to be used by aquatic producers again
distinct winter and summer seasons, winters are mild, mean temperature in coldest month is above -3c
mild
phosophorus cycle
phosphorus does not exist in a gaseous state and does not enter the atmosphere cycles from the land to sediments in the ocean and back to the land. as water runs over the rocks containing phosphorus it gradually wears away the surface and caries offf inorganic phosphate
continental climate zone
distinct winter and summer seasons, winters are cold and mean temperature in coldest month is below -3c
how can phosphorus be lost in biological cycles?
it can be carried from land by streams and rivers to the ocean where it can be deposited on the sea floor
seismic waves
energy that builds up because of the push and stretch of rocks and result in vibrations that spread through the rocks rapidly in all directions
suns energy is a product of ______ and is emitted inot space in the form of ___ especially ___ which are not visible to the human eye
nuclear fision, electromagnetic radiation, infrared and ultraviolet radiation
climate changes as elevation increases and from one side of the mountain to the other, characteristic of high plateaus and mountains
high elevation climate zone
volume of water entering the atmosphere each year is estimated to be_______
389500 cubic kilometers, 95000cubic miles
pervailing winds that generate circular ocean currents ___
gyres, ex. north atlantic
movement of water from land to ocean
runoff
upwelling
deep water from coming to the surface off the west coast of South America... upwelling is pervented by high temperatures and ocean circulation patters
what amount of the total energy released by the sun strikes our atmosphere and a small part operates the ecosphere
1/billion
distinct winter and summer seasons, winters are long and exteremely cold, mean temperature in the warmest month is below 10c
polar climate zone
transpiration
the loss of water vapor from land plants adds water to the atmposhpere and roughly 97 percent of water absorbed from the soil by a plant is trasnported to the leaves where it is lost by transpiration
tropical winds that blow from the northeast in the northern hemisphere or the southeast in the southern Hemisphere
trade winds
water percolates, seeps, downward through the soil and rock to become____and may reside in the ground for hunderds or thousands of years but eventually supplies water to the soil to vegetation to streams and rivers and to the ocean.
groundwater
El Nino- southern oscilation
interaction between ocean and atmosphere when periodic warming of surface waters of the tropical East Pacific that alters both ocean and atmopsheric circulation pattern and results in aunusual weather in areas far from the tropical Pacific.
where freshwater meets the ocean
estuaries
mesosphere
45-80 km temperatures drop lowest
hydrologic cycle
a balance between water in the ocean on the land and in the atmosphere,
Earth rotates from __ to __ which causes moving air to be deflected from its path and swerve to the right of the direction which it is traveling in the ___ hemisphere and to the left if it is traveling in the ___ hemisphere...this is known as the _____ e
west fo east
north to south
Corniolis effect
what contributes to the earths variation of exposure of surface to energy delivered by sunlight?
roughly spherical shape and tilt of axis
two factors that determine an area's climate are__
temperacture ,and percipitation, others include winde, humidity, fog, and cloud, and lightning
the sun powers the ___ cycle and the ___ cycles and it is the primary determinant of ___
hydrologic, biogeochemical, climate
every month is warm, mean temperature is over 18c
tropical
how do humans affect the phosphorus cycle?
they accelerate its loss from the land by growing corn which roots absorb phosphate and is used to feed beef and ends up in waste and then is used to feed humans and ends up in sweres. also clearcutting timber by erocion of agricultural and residential lands
winds that blow in mid-latitudes from southwest in the Northern Hemisphere or from the northwest in the southern hemisphere
westerlies
during _____ the Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the sun, and during the other half_____ it tilts away from the sun.
march21-sep22, sep22-march21
hot spot
a rising plume of magma that flowed from an opening in the crust
Seasons are primarily determined by ______ and is always the same___degrees
the Earths inclination on the axis, 23
trophosphere
layer of atmosphere closest to earths surface extending about 10hm, and temperature decreases with increasing of altitude, Weather occurs here and storms and clouds
area of land being drained by runoff is called a ____
watershed
winds
horizontal movemnts in the atmosphere with gusts eddies and lulls, a result from atmopsherica pressure and from rotation of Earth
without the sun what temperature would the earth be?
0k, -273*c
what important ecological functions does the atmosphere perform
it protects the Earth's surface from most of the sun's ultraviolet radiation and xrays and from lethal amounts of cosmic rays from space, it protects the earth from high energy radiation and allows visible light and some infared radiation to penetrate and they warm the surface and low atmosphere.
the atmopshere which is invisible layer of gases is
____percent oxygen
____ percent nitrogen
____ percent argon carbon dioxide, neon and helium
21, 78, 1
rain shadow
the dry land on the side of mountains away from prevailing winds where it is a desert
prevailing winds
three major surface winds that blow more or less continually
whater are the 5 layers of the atmopshere
troposphere, stratosphere mesosphere, thermosphere and ecosphere
stratosphere
steady wind but no turbulence 10-45 km and comercial jets fly here and contains ozone layer , temperature increases with increasing latitude because ozone layer ultraviolet radiation which heats the air
thermosphere
80-500km steadily rising temperatures , gases absorb xrays and short wave ultraviolet radiation and molecules raise temperature to 1000degrees c and aurora occurs which is a colorful display of lights in dark polar skies because of charged particles from the sun hiting oxygen or nitrogen molecules in the thermosphere, radio waves occur here too
___ refers to conditions in the atmopshere at a given place and time, including temperature, atmpospherica pressure, precipitation, cloudiness , humidity, and wind
weather
winds tend to blow from areas of __ atmospheric pressure to areas of __pressure and greater difference between the two causes stronger wind
high to low

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