GEO 131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Coriolis Force, Water Vapor, Northern Hemisphere
12 Jan 2017
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Made up of gases, often transparent (may have haze) Essential to life on earth for several reasons: Moves thermal e from equatorial regions to polar regions by wind, convection currents, ocean currents. Good as well: warms earth enough to drive evolution from ice age. Precambrian atm composed mainly of nitrogen and co2, along w/ some ch4 and nh4. Oceans couldn"t be maintained bc water would evaporate. Volcanoes spewed water vapor, co, and even more nitrogen and co2 into air. Photosynthesis-- produces o2 and sugar from co2 and sunlight. This created an oxidizing enviro-- ch4 and nh4 get broken down, new enviro. Our atmosphere, abundant in free o2, is a rarity. Our current atmosphere is not a primordial atmosphere but a secondary atmosphere. Fluid; can distribute thermal e bc it can move around. O2 in northern hemisphere in winter received from equator. N - 78. 03, o - 20. 99, co2 - 0. 03, h - 0. 01, ar - 0. 94.
