Intro to Physical Geography Test 2

8/10/2019 Intro to Physical Geography Test 2

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Intro to Physical Geography Test #2 10/13/2014 1:14:00 PM


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10/13/2014 1:14:00 PM


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Chapter 7 Continued 10/13/2014 1:14:00 PM

Tunderstorms

Violent, localized, short live

Thunderstorm formation

Warm, moist air (oftem mT air mass)

Unstable (or conditionally unstable) allows air to rise Encouraged by diverging air aloft

Thunderstorm life cycle

Mature stage updrafts and downdrafts, heavy rain, can create hail

Dissipating stage all water is moving out of clouds and it causes

light rainThe geography of thunderstorms

Frequency decreases with distance from equator (few above 60

degrees)

Most occur during summers warm temperatures


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(graph that includes land and sea)

Average number of days per year with thundrestroms

east of rockies warm tropical air

west coast cold water current doesnt get the warm tropical air

mass

Violent associations

Hail

Downburst (or microbursts) dangerous for airplanes

Lightening and thunder

Tornadoes


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Hail

Formation

o

o Cycles through storm up and down and creates layers of hail

Lightning

Discharge of electricity that occurs in mature thunderstorms

Charge separation in cloud sets up electrical potential

Role of lightening is to equalize these differences in electrical

potential

Thunder Air poor conductor of electricity

Huge electrical potential develops

Lightning bold superheats the air 54,000 degrees f

Surrounding air expands violently sound wave

Distance from the thunderstorm

Speed of light: 3000,000,000 km/s

Speed of sound about 343 meters/s

Distance circulation

o For each 3 seconds, 1 km away

o For each 5 seconds, 1 mile away

Tornadoes

Cold air masses and warm air masses meet, flat land and theres

nothing to stop them

Localized


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Cyclonic low pressure cells

Surrounded by a whirling cylinder of wind violently

Have the most extreme pressure gradient

Probably about 200-500 mph

Usually in warm, moist, unstable air masses in mid latitude cyclonecold front

Tornado formation

Severe thunderstorm (1% spawn tornadoes)

Strong updrafts

Wind shear (change in direction or strength of winds from top to

bottom of storm)

Funnel cloud vs tornado

Global tornado frequency

basically in USA some in Australia and Europe

usa doesnt have east west mountain rage

waterspout


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tornado over water

less power

smaller temp gradient

water is being sucked up

La plata torado April 28, 2002

35 miles south of dc

CHAPTER 8

Climatic Zones and Types short term/weather

Weather

Short-run atmospheric conditions that exist for a given time in a

specific area

o Temperature, humidity cloudiness precipitation pressure

winds storms and other atmospheric variables

Climate

Aggregate of day-to-day weather conditions over a long period of

time

o Average, plus variations and extremes

Climactic Zones and Types Temperature and precipitation are the most significant and

understandable features when classifying climate

o Temp and precipitation because

Climate classification

Classification schemes

o Generalize a vast array of data in a simple form

o Way to compare and contrast different areas

o Examples

Ancient greek scheme

Koppen system

Modified koppen system

Koppen wanted to put climate in value form

General bands of latitiude


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missing precipitation in ancient greek form

KOPPEN SYSTEM AND MODIFIED KOPPEN

SYSTEM

CLIMATES AND LATITUDE


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**LAB EXAM**

Climograpth

Monthly temperature and precipitation

Tropical Humid Climates (Zone A)

Three types (rainfall based)

o Cover most of the land area within 12-20 degrees of

equator

o Lacks cold weather gets similar amount of sunlight

b/c its close to the equator, and you have low pressure

around the equator

o Very wet

Tropical wet Af

Tropical Monosoon Am

Tropical Savanna Aw

Shift in ITCZ causes variations between climate types

Tropical wet

Seasonless

Similar weather all the time

Uniform insolation all the time

Average temp rang over the entire year ~3 degrees in SingaporeClimograph

Tropical Monsoon AM

Similar to tropical wet

o Except heavy rainfall and slightly lower temperatures

in summer (high sun seasons) - caused by shift in ITCZ

Tropical Savannah Aw (most extensive)

Most extensive of A types

Lesser annual rainfall

Wildfire in dry season burns vegetation on top

Low-sun dry season

Tropical Savanna and the ITCZ

Day night differences are much bigger than any seasonal variability

Dry Climates


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Dry Climates (B) Spatial Distribution

30% of land area more than any other climactic zone

temperature and precipitation controls climate zones (B mostlycontrolled by precipitation)

Influence of Subtropical Highs

B climates high pressure

BWh desert

o Either in or very near subtropical highs (ex. Sahara, Arabian

desert, Australian, Atacama desert)

o Farther from equator, annual variations in insolation

o Low humidity, large temperature ranges

o Subtropical deserts Atacama Desert

Has the double rain shadow effect

14 years without precipitation


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Deserts

Precipitation is scarce, unreliable, intense

Temperature large range

Near desert Subtropical Steppe(Bsh)

h steppe, k- desert, b - subtropical

Around subtropical deserts similar temperature & precipitation (not

as extreme)

Midlatitude desert (BWk)

Occur deep in interior of continents

Can have cold winters because of land water contrast

Midlatitude Steppe (BSk)

Ex: Montana

Transition zone between mid-latitude desert and humid climate

Steppe gets a little bit more precipitation

Mild Mid-latitude Climates (Zone C)

Equatorward margin of middle latitudes

Long and usually hot summers


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Short and relatively mild winters

3 types all near the ocean

o Mediterranean (ex: san diego)

o Humid subtropical (Washington, D.C.)

o

Marine west coast (Portland, seattle) Mediterranean (Csb, Csa)

o Western side of continents

o clear skies abundant sunshine

o Winter wet, mild winters

Humid Subtropical (Cfa,Cwa,Cwb)

o Eastern side of continents 25-30 degrees of latitude

o Higher humidity in summer

o No real dry period

o (ex: Sydney Australia and Guangzhou, China)

Marine West Coast (Cfb, Cfc)

o Occur about 40 degrees and 65 degrees in latitude

o Western side of continents ocean moderates

o Ex. Sitka Alaska

* KNOW WATER CURRENTS

Severe Midlatitude Climates (Zone D) Only in Northern hemisphere only place where land

masses are big enough where you get far enough away from

the ocean

No landmasses at appropriate latitudes in southern hemisphere

Four seasons with long cold winters

Moderate precipitation

Two types

o Humid continental (Dfa,Dfb,Dwa,Dwb)

o Subtropic (Dfc,Dfd,Dwc,Dwd)

Covering most northern Asia

Humid Continental

o Between 35 and 55 in north America

o Further north in Europe because of the gulf stream to

keep Europe warm


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o Gulf stream takes warm water across

o Temperature range big, constant rain, a lot of wind and

variations in pressure (ex. Chicago)

Subarctic

o

Long, dark, bitter cold winters Summers can be warm huge ATR

Continentality

Meager precipitation very far from the ocean,

westerlies

Alaska to eastern Canada and Scandinavia to

easternmost Siberia

Polar Climates (Zone E)

Cold and typically dry

Tundra (ET)

o ET Tundra has vegetation

o Low precipitation, cold, extremely short growing season, low

primary production treeline

o Barrow Alaska most northern point in the US.

Ice cap (EF)

o No vegetation and ice cap only

o

Eismitte, Greenland

H Climates (Zone H) Highland climates

Variations in elevation cause variations in climate types n vs

south facing slopes.

Cold or warm relative to south facing slope why?

o Direct sunlight on south facing slope, more insolation because

if youre in the northern hemisphere, it can only illuminate

south facing slope, north face has much more snow and

glaciers because its much colder

Altitude versus latitude is the dominant driver of climate

o Both vertically and direction the slope faces

North versus south facing slopes

Changes in temperature


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Windward vs. leeward changes in precipitation

Windward greater precipitation

Leeward less precipitation

Changes over short distanceso Tierra

Caliente

Templada

Fria

helada

Major world biomes

Temperature and precipitation control vegetation

Chapter 9: The Hydrosphere

Hydrosphere

Describes the waters of the earth

o Water exists on the earth in stores:

Atmosphere, oceans, lakes, rivers, soils, glaciers, and

groundwater

o Water moves from one store to another

Evaporation, condensation, runoff, precipitation,

infiltration and groundwater flow (change in latent heat

and change in energy to move water between these

stores)

Hydrologic Cycle

The endless circulation of water from the atmosphere to the earth

and its return to the atmosphere through condensation,

precipitation, evaporation and transpiration.


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Earth Moisture Inventory

In the context of the water cycle, a reservoir represents the water

contained in different steps within the cycle

99% of all moisture on earth is in storage

water frozen as ice in glaciers and continental ice sheets ~ of allfreshwater la

less than 1% of the earths moisture is actively moving around in

the annual hydrologic cycle

The residence time of a reservoir within the hydrologic cycle is the

average time a water molecule will spend in that reservoir. It is a

measure of the average age of the water in that reservoir, though

some water will spend much less time than average and some

much more

Oceans One ocean broken down into four major oceans

Pacific, atlantic, arctic, indian.

o Arctic only a few places where water can move from the

arctic ocean. Causes differences in flows

Ice The Cryosphere

Second only to the oceans as a place to store water Land ice

o Alpine glaciers, ice sheets, ice caps

10% of the land surface

not displacing water so when it melts it raises water

levels

o Oceanic Ice (Size)

Ice pack, Ice shelf, ice flow, iceberg

Already displacing water

Greenland and Antarctica two main ice sheets

Land Ice glacier ice

Earths largest Ice pack

Arctic Ocean

Ice albedo feedback affects polarbears


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Oceanic Ice forms

Ice pack an extensive and cohesive mass of floating ice

Ice shelf a massive portion of a continental ice sheetsIce floe

Iceberg


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Review:

Hydrologic cycle

Shortest residence time in atmosphere

Climate Change Ice melting in the arctic

Extent ofpermafrost

Permanently cold subsoil ground which remains below 0 degrees

C for more than 2 years

Occurs in the northern hemisphere on land

Primarily driven by latitude, the farther north you are, the more

continuous

Continuous permafrost completely frozen

Discontinuous spatially variable

Sporadic permafrost follows mountain ranges

Problem in arctic buildings sink if the permafrost melts

Surface Water

Limited amounts - .25% of the worlds total moisture supply

Highly variable in space Used for drinking water, agriculture and sustaining human life

Lake

A body of water surrounded by land

Natural basin having a restricted outlet

Sufficient inflow of water to keep the basin filled

You need to have a river, stream, creek, brook,

Lake Distribution

A lot of lakes in Canada

Dams/ reservoirs controlling

Swamp


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Body of water with water-tolerant

Plants, predominantly trees

Marshes

A body of water with water tolerant plants Primarily grasses and sedges

Has vegetation within

In U.S. airports are built on old marshes because they are flat

Rivers and streams

Natural water course flowing towards an ocean or other body of

water

Largest drainage basins in the world

All of the land areas drained by a river and its tributaries

Ground water

Water stored underground

2.5 times that found in lakes and streams

found in many places, just need to dig no evaporation

can last a long time

Surface

Water on the surface that is open to evaporation


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Saturated zone

Subsurface zone where all pores of the ground are filled with water

Ground water

Occupying the saturation zone and moving under the force ofgravity

Water table

The boundary between the unsaturated zone containing soil water

and the saturated zone, which holds the ground water


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Ground water is recharged by percolation of water from the soil water belt

downward to the zone of saturation. It is discharged by seepage into

streams, lakes and marshes and other topographic depressions

Water flows with gravity

Water table is highest under hills (seepage into streams, lakes and marshes

lowers it in valleys and other topographic depressions

Ground water is always moving by the fouce of gravity from recharge areas

to discharge areas

Ground water keeps water flowing even if it hasnt rained in a while

Slow discharge of water from ground water maintains rivers and streams

Aquifers: porous rocks saturated with ground water

Aquicludes: layers of impermeable rocks

Confined and unconfined aquifers

Artesian wells water that was once under ground under pressure

that came to the surface

Flow from confined aquifers

Groundwater mining


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Removal of water from an aquifer at a rate greater than its flow and

recharge capacities

You dont know the extent how far it covers, you dont know how

much to mine

Results ino Collapsing aquifers: water in aquifers often provide support

for the porous rock

Decreased capacity

Land subsidence

o Saltwater intrusion

Contamination of an aquifer by seawater due to over-

pumping the aquifer

Cone of Sepression

Shape of an inverted come

The Ogallala Aquifer

Largest aquifer in the united states

About the size of a larger great lake

Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, new Mexico, Oklahoma

High Plains Aquifer (Ogallala)Water table has dropped more than 40 ft in places

If mining stopped, ,it would take 1,000 years to recharge

Underground water does not obey property rights

Water used to irrigate grain crops (wheat, sorghum and corn, providing 40%

of cattle feed) and cotton

The city of san Antonio, tx depends entirely on water from this aquifeBiosr

Biosphere consists of all living things, plants animals

Processes and interactions within the biosphere are exceedingly intricate

energy, water and nutrients

Biogeochemical cycling

Flow of energy


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Hydrologic cycle

Carbon cycle

Oxygen cycle

Nitrogen cycle

(interrelated and complex)

Intro to Physical Geography Test 2

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