GEO 303 - Study Guide FOR Final (Final - 100 questions) (recuperado) PDF

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GEO 303 - Study Guide FOR Final ...

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https://quizlet.com/111324683/geol-303-final-exam-sdsu-fall-2015-flash-cards/le

I feel like some of the things on this quizlet are things we’ve n ever learned? I could be wrong tho.. Quiz 5 Answers: 1. Through the hydrologic cycle, water vapor releases heat energy when it condenses in the atmosphere. True 2. Around the world, lightning is most common at subtropical regions meaning around 30 degrees latitude. False – most lightning in US occurs at 30 in Florida, but around the world it occurs mostly at equator 0 degrees 3. Map – what type of weather is a person in eastern Canada likely to experience on this day and why? Clear, sunny, dry conditions with mild temperatures – the high pressure brings sunny fair weather 4.

In order to avoid dying, people have never driven through flooded streets before. False

5. Why is hurricane season at the end of summer and well into fall? Because seawaters have great capacity to store heat..... release into atmosphere 6. Which coastal regions of the United States are more susceptible to being flooded by the rising seas? East and southern regions because these are flat coasts 7. Tornadoes form mostly right over the equator where the air has the most humidity and is most unstable. False – there are no spinning cyclones here because there is no Coriolis effect 8. The Troposphere is important in that its where convection occurs and heat energy is transferred around 9. What differentiates the Mississippi river floods of 1993 from the Big Thompson canyon floods of 1976, both in the US? The Mississippi river floods were enormous and lasting regional floods 10. Where can we observe the most dramatic changes due to climate warming? In the Northern Hemisphere 11. In general, the recurrence interval of a large and deadly hurricane/cyclone is shorter than the recurrence interval of a large and deadly earthquake? True – hurricanes occur more often than earthquakes therefore they have a short RI, high frequency, and are more common

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12.

A hurricane is a massive low pressure system

13. How the Santa Ana winds formed? They are formed by strong high pressure system that brings a lot of hot dry air to Southern California 14.

Picture of earth and different winds, asking about winds in Mid latitude – Westerlies

15. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was the deadliest natural disaster in history of USA – False – it was the costliest, not deadliest. The deadliest natural disaster in US was Galveston, Texas 16.

The most abundant greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide. False,Its H2O

17. Deaths from typhoon Haiyan in 2013, in the Philippines came as a result of the great storm surge. True

18. In Europe in 2010 and 2003 about 120,000 people, a staggering number, died as a result of the severe flooding. False -- it was a heat wave 19. Air rises vigorously at Equatorial regions because ___. Its warm and wet and less dense 20. Which of the following is the only TRUE statement about the Coriolis effect? - Because of it, supercell storms in the Midwest of the US rotate in a COUNTERCLOCKWISE fashion

STUDY GUIDE FOR FINAL (Final - 100 questions) GEOL 303 NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list. This is only a rough guide, with broad topics. You should have much more in your notes taken from the recordings. You will be asked to apply the knowledge that you’ve acquired in new ways. You will be tested on how well you can make connections amongst different concepts learnt throughout the term. Exam will be mostly MC questions, with a fair number of matching and also TF. You’ll have 2 hours or less. Final is worth 150 points. EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE SEMESTER UP TO WEATHER (material in the first 3

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exams) This includes very few events (listed below). Know the main ideas of: The Earth: the Earth’s internal structure; 1. The densest materials sunk to the middle of the earth to create the core, mantle, crust * Most dense to least dense* a. Core (interior core, exterior core), mantle, oceanic crust, continental crust, oceans, (water) atmosphere, space

Physical concepts such as energy (kinetic, heat): Heat Energy (plate tectonics)- Moves the Earth; Hot to Cold Kinetic Energy: Speed/Movement- Creates heat; Cold to Hot density:m/v : density is equal to mass divided by volume (oceanic crust is more dense than continental) Convection: warm water rises, cool water sinks. Viscosity a measure of the resistance of a fluid to deformation under shear stress Energy sources and energy transfers in the Earth system – what drives natural disasters?: convection

The characteristics of natural disasters – magnitude, type, frequency… What is the relationship between frequency, magnitude, energy released, recurrence interval? Magnitude: size of event, how much energy it releases Frequency: amount of events per time period, recurrence interval Duration: how long events take to occur Types: geological: tsunamis, landslides, earthquakes, volcanoes Atmospheric: tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, droughts, fires, lightning, blizzards

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Areal extent: area covered by event

Population Growth – Where are the highest population densities? 90% of population is in less than 20% land. Asia. Where are the highest deaths? Where do people tend to concentrate? Do they cope well?... ·

Impacts – the 2 main groups of space objects…asteroids, meteors, comets, and space

debris Meteor: bright streak of light in atmosphere, burns up in atmosphere Meteorite: meteor that strikes earth’s surface Airburst: explodes in atmosphere Asteroids: 1-1000 km (come from asteroid belt), silicate or metal Comets: (come from kuiper belt), weaker, smaller, less dense, frozen gases

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Mass Extinctions – what are they? What’s their significance?

5 so far, causes large diversity of species, appearance and disappearance of lifeforms

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Plate Tectonics – major principles; What are the 3 plate boundaries; the state of the San

Andreas fault in southern California today… What are the tectonic forces? Divergent: move apart, sea floor spreading, mid ocean ridges Convergent: 2 plates come together Transform: plates slide by in opposite directions Forces: gravity, slab pull (subduction zones) , ridge push (divergent)

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San Andreas Fault: NA plate and Pacific plate, eventually western CA is moving northwards

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Earthquakes – Where do they occur, why? ● Convection currents within mantle and move plate tectonics and when they collide or slip they create an earthquake ● Vibration of the earth produced by rapid release of energy – slip along a fault ● Fault – much smaller than a plate boundary and can happen in a plate boundary

Seismic waves ● P-waves (goes thru both solid and liquid), S-waves (goes thru solids only), Love waves (what causes destruction), Raleigh waves (rolling motion) EQ destruction ● groundshaking acceleration, liquifaction, fire, landslides, and tsunamis What’s the largest quake ever measured? ● Chile 1960 9.5 EQ Know the enormous impact of the 2010 Haiti quake only (building collapse?) ● Strike-slip, left lateral faults ● Transform boundary along the caribbean plate ● Poor building codes, population density ● Death toll of 160,000 ● Severe structural damage

· Tsunami – where and why they occur ● their characteristics; the staggering impact and significance of the 2011 Japan tsunami only (great inundation, and more)...

Volcanoes – the compositions of magma; Where they erupt and why? What are the 2 biggest volcanic killers (hazards)… Mafic: silica poor, not very dangerous, ex: basalts (dark, dense) Felsic: silica rich, high amounts of gas, less dense Intermediate: 60% silica, very abundant about subduction zone

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Deadliest: pyroclastic flow, mud flow ·

Mass Wasting – deadliest types?.. Human influence?…

THE LAST PART OF THE SEMESTER - WEATHER AND SEVERE WEATHER (This is a large portion of your final, about 75%) Includes chapters 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 in 7th Edition of Abbott. (This is chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16 in 9th Ed)

Can anyone explain the right-hand-rule please? Low pressure systems move upward (thumb up), curled fingers indicate the rotation of weather (CCW) What drives the weather? -sun, atmosphere, ocean, rotation of the earth, and uneven solar absorption. How is this section different from all the others? -The other sections were driven by geothermal energy (inside of the Earth) and this section, the weather is driven by atmospheric energy (from the atmosphere) Deaths related to weather in the US and around the world… Who often dies… and by what? -Deaths due to severe weather in the US, is heat and cold, the elderly and children die from it. - 2003 heatwave in Europe, most France 70,000 died. -Eurasia 2010 heatwave, 56,000 deaths in Russia.

In what way do we have natural disasters become also man-made disasters? (ex the 2013

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Philippines typhoon, 2005 hurricane Katrina – why these?)…

-how a natural disaster can become a man made disaster because of the overpopulation, inadequate shelters, and poverty in this area. category 5 that killed over 6,000 people, mostly by the sea waves (Philippines) ~ also becomes a man-made disaster because people build at coastlines and below sea levels. (Katrina) ·The Hydrologic Cycle what is it? What circulates?...Water - where is it? the oceans get heated up by the sun. when it has enough energy, the water evaporates from the ocean surface, which turns the liquid into a gas and forms the clouds. Because it is cooler in the atmosphere, the water condenses and turns the gas into a liquid, which is rain. The rain precipitates onto land, the water goes back into the ocean, and the cycle repeats. How do you describe the heat capacity of Oceans? Very strong. It has enough energy store and release the immense amount of heat. Strong enough to create hurricanes. à what and why is it important for ocean waters? It cools off the oceans How do the oceans cool off? -Oceans cool off by having hurricanes/evaporating. What are the phase changes of evaporation and condensation? Phase 1: Evaporation is when liquid turns into gas which makes the heat get absorbed. Phase 2: Condensation is when gas turns into liquid which allows heat to release in the sky

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(clouds).

How is heat energy absorbed and how is it released? Heat is absorbed when clouds are formed (evaporation) and heat is released when rain comes down onto land (condensation) .

What’s the troposphere and why is it relevant? Troposphere is where all weather occurs. 12 lower kilometers of the atmosphere.

The Atmosphere – transfer of heat and water – how? Heat is stored in the ocean and through condensation is released into the atmosphere. What are its salient characteristics? (Tº, P, density, water vapour…) – how do they all relate? Density - warm air = less dense, so it rises. Cold air = denser so it sinks. Water vapour - warm air = humid, less dense, so it rises. Cold air = dry, denser, so it sinks. What is the power for all weather? – the sun (uneven solar radiation); relate pressure to winds… Movement from of wind goes from High to Low pressures. High pressures means dry, fairly warm weather. At low pressures, it rains a lot more. Describe the convective cell (what happens at the surface, what happens at the troposphere? what happens at Eq- warm, moist air = rises. Leads to condensation, rain and instability, what happens at 30 deg?...Air in the equator rises into atmosphere. By the time it reaches 30 degrees latitude, it sinks – for the Hadley Cell), and the winds generated - what are these prevailing winds? Originate in the subtropical high (30 degrees). How do they blow? Trade Winds (easterlies) to Eq blow NE to SW towards the EQ--hurricanes form. Westerlies blow from SW to NE towards the poles at higher latitudes--tornadoes form … at what latitudes do we have the great deserts on Earth and why? 30 degrees latitude. They are getting all the high pressure air = warmth... what’s

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the latitude of San Diego, and what does this mean in terms of climate?...About 40 degrees and it’s very hot, warm, compressed climate ·

The Coriolis Effect, what does it do to fast moving objects on Earth? In the N- hemisphere:

everything veers right. Cyclones – low pressure centers (winds veering right, rotation counterclockwise-wise), and Anticyclones – high pressure centers (winds veering right, rotation clockwise-wise); What’s the relation of these geometries to hurricanes, tornadoes? Tornadoes= 60-30 degree (N. hemi) Hurricanes = 30-Eq (N. hemi) All are affected by the Coriolis effect... What and where are the Trades (Easterlies), the Westerlies? Trades winds come from near the equator(east winds to west). The westerlies veers to the right right above the 30 degree line(west to east). What is Coriolis effect at the Equator? At the equator, There is NO CORIOLIS EFFECT. At the Poles? It is more eventful in the poles than it is at the equator.

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Wildfires in CA

what can cause them? -Man made -Fallen power lines due to high wind speeds How is air pressure a factor? They become the spark that can make the fire accelerate through the land. Santa Ana winds in CA – what are they? A high pressure system which are dry, hot winds that are funneled down Sierra Nevadas and passover desserts, making winds strong and dry. Typically occurring in fall seasons through March. the 2003-07 firestorms in CA – what is their relevance?…Same areas were burnt again.

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Global Warming and Climate Change –

What are the greenhouse gases? -

Water is the most abundant gas. Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone are also greenhouses gases but make up less than 5 percent of the gases. Water is 95%.

Repercussions on earth, coastal regions;…Temp and CO2 levels in past 150 years – how have they changed? It’s increasing by almost one degree celsius every year. Increased by 40% What has been the trend in temp for the last 60 million years? We’ve actually been in a cooling trend for the longest time. What is happening to glaciers? Melting due to global warming. What is happening to sea level? Rising because of melting of glaciers In North America, where would be extensive flooding (what coasts), and why? Anywhere that has a flatline coast-- including Florida and most southern states especially New Orleans which is delta below sea level and could reach all the way up to Memphis, Tennessee(East.) West coast would be part of LA and San Diego but not greatly. A lot of people live by the coast so many will be affected. Where are the vast ice sheets today? Antarctica and Greenland How do they tie in with the hydrologic cycle and to sea level? Sea levels are rising. Where’s climate change being felt the most? Arctic regions Who is affected the most? It will invade buildings and homes by the coasts making people migrate further inland. Polar Bears are also greatly affected because their home is melting and they hunt off of the sea ice. Greenland is also rapidly melting.

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Severe Weather – Hurricanes – what are they? Massive low pressure cyclones.

The largest storm systems, why?… Hurricanes, can range up to 2,000 km across (1300 miles).

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The eye can be up to 70km across. Their overall characteristics; where do they form (at ~what lat.)?... Massive low pressure systems that rotate in a counterclockwise rotation, occur during the late summer/fall (september/october), Originate in warm seas(5-25 degrees latitude) They do not form at the equator(no coriolis effect). Die out at land because they are cut off from their power (warm ocean of tropics), VERY powerful because many cycles of evaporation and condensation What are the conditions that produce hurricanes? Sea water = 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Warm, humid air. Weak wind shear. Fast winds > 120km/h. The Saffir-Simpson scale and of what is it a function? Measures wind speeds and put into categories. 5 different categories that also describe the height of the storm surge. What kinds of damage to property? Dangerous winds causing extensive damage, along with storm surges. Also rains so flooding is a damage. The storm surge – what is it? Surging is high turbulent seas flooding land, basically massive waves onto the land caused by the hurricane. Events – Galveston 1900 (why important?); 5 meters storm surge. 10,000 deaths. Deadliest natural disaster in US History. Bangladesh 1970 – Why this country? Gets the deadliest cyclones. Huge population density living in flat deltas and lands. 500,000 deaths. What is the great killer from hurricanes? ( Philippines Nov 2013) Haiyan. 10,000 deaths. Storm surge deadliest part of hurricane. Sandy 2012 – all characteristics; how did this storm become powerful? regions affected? why the damage? Storm surge(4 meters) Category 2. Huge,powerful hurricane merged with a low pressure system on land(HYBRID STORM). Abnormally warm oceans outside of NY and NJ.

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Katrina 2005 – all characteristics; deaths in New Orleans – why? where is New Orleans?... type of storm; widespread damage; what’s Katrina’s significance?... Human influence in creating a large disaster?... Costliest natural disaster in USA. Huge humanitarian crisis. 1 million people displaced. New Orleans is below sea level*** Humans created levees and they made it worse and it lead to many deaths. 80% of the city was flooded. Category 5. Levees failed.

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What is coastal sand erosion and who gets affected the most, and where? (east/south coasts

of US)... Sand is removed by these waves or storm surges. Happens most at the east coast. Where are homes built? They are built on the beach. How do they mitigate (lessen) this hazard? How do people lose their houses? Make the homes built on stilts. Severe Weather – Thunderstorms what are they? -Huge conventional storm Where and when do they occur most often? -tropics, mid latitudes - US: Florida, south What are the stages what the most powerful stage? -3 stages: cumulus: updrafts and vertical movements of air, mature (most powerful): updrafts and downdrafts with moist warm air rising and cold air sinking , dissipating: downdrafts with little rain and clean air Convection, updrafts, downdrafts, heat released… What other severe weather do they produce? Lighting, flash floods, tornadoes, and hail.

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Severe Weather – Lightning – what is lightning? Electrical discharge in upward/downward

draft clouds. Where does it occur, and how does it form? Mountains, west coast, and east coast. Where, how do people die? Per year? 50 deaths per year... Effects of lightning?... Flash-over into the skin and rest of body. Chronic pain, memory trouble, personality changes, temporary blindness, and rarely cardiac arrest.

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Severe Weather – Tornadoes – what are they? Cyclonic storms. Smaller storms but are

more violent. Their characteristics; when do they form? Short duration. Very destructive with extreme winds. Small and erratic vortex. Spring/Summer in mid latitudes. What is the scale that measures tornadoes, and what is it a function of? (Enhanced Fujita)...Goes from 0 to 5. Measures power by damage on the ground via wind speed. The country that gets hit the most! USA--70% of tornadoes are in the US. In tornado alley = Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska Who dies most often? People in mobile homes What and where are the conditions that produce tornadoes? - the supercell (mesocyclone) thunderstorm and wall cloud;… What is the dam...