SLE102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Surface Runoff, Transpiration, Ecliptic

• School: Deakin University
• Department: Science, Engineering and Built Environment
• Course: SLE102
• Professor: Nick Porch

Document Summary

Matter: something that has got mass: the entire earth is a closed system. Small amount of matter limited mineral resources. The smaller parts of earth are open systems. Energy: the ability to do work in a physical system. Three main sources of energy in the energy cycle: solar radiation. Derives from the sun; dominates energy flow. Deri(cid:448)es fro(cid:373) earth"s i(cid:374)ter(cid:374)al heat; (cid:448)ol(cid:272)a(cid:374)oes are one pathway to surface: tidal energy. Derives from the rotation of the earth and gravitational pull of the moon. Earth loses energy from the energy cycle by: reflection. About 40% of incoming radiation is reflected unchanged back into space: degradation & re-radiation. Energy absorbed by materials at the surface of the earth undergoes a series of irreversible degradations eventually ending up as heat and is reradiated back to space. Describes the fluxes of water between the various reservoirs of the hydrosphere. Water movement pathways = precipitation, transpiration, surface runoff and subsurface infiltrations.