EESA01H3 Lecture : In Class Lecture Notes
31 Oct 2010
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Number of spheres with one major energy (sunlight), outputs heat. System: anything you can put boundaries on, inputs: anything you put in, outputs: anything that comes out. Open system - open to energy & matter. Closed system - only open to energy. Earth, closed system - inputs of energy, material continuously recycling, outputs into space engulfing a lot of systems that interact with each other. Feedback - whatever is outputted has an affect on inputs (matter) Positive feedback loops disastrous - continuously declining/degrading (river valley with erosion, snow pack with solar radiation) Threshold - a system may just snap. Atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere (frozen portion), anthrosphere. Major earth systems: rock cycle, ecosystems, hydrologic cycle, global energy balance, biogeochemical cycles (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, mercury, etc) Rocks liquefy solidifies igneous rock (granite) Weathering - physical breakdown of the rock. Lithification - forming another rock from cements.
