GGR100H1 Study Guide - Final Guide: Tectonic Uplift, Spheroidal Weathering, Weathering

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emeraldbutterfly273

16 Oct 2011

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Endogenic processes: processes occurring inside earth having to do with several things such as geophysical movement of fluids, plate techtonics, formation of rocks, tectonic uplift (creates mountain ranges/sea floor spreading). These happen very slowly and are in traditional realm of geology. Exogenic processes : things happening above surface/outside innards of earth. >geomorphology: process-based study of landforms (earth + shape). Constant supply of raw materials that"re then worked. Dynamic equilibrium between uplift of tectonics and wearing down by weathering, mass wasting and erosion (rock moved with an agent: water/wind/ice move rock) 2 diff. types of plates make up lithosphere: oceanic crust (heavier) and terrestrial crust (hard brittle crust plate tectonics float atop molten, plastic asthenosphere). >when these come into contact, interesting stuff happens. > plate tectonics: solid sea-floor gets subducted beneath land plates, then melts. > weathering, mass-wasting and erosion wear down solid rock that"s uplifted by the rock cycle.

Related Questions

a) From the known value of atmospheric pressure at the surface ofthe Earth, estimate the total number of air molecules in theEarthâs atmosphere. (Hint: Disregard air motion and consider staticequilibrium on the atmosphere. The atmosphere presses on the groundand by Newtonâs 3rd law there is a reaction force acting on theair. What is balancing this force?)

b) During certain seasons, strong winds call Chinooks blow from thewest across the eastern slopes of the Rockies and downhill intoDenver. Although the winds come from mountains where thetemperature is low, the temperature in Denver can climb 20 Â°Cwithin a few minutes after the Chinook wind arrives. Similar windsoccur in the Alps and in Southern California. Explain why thetemperature of the Chinook wind rises as it descends the slopesrapidly? (The answer to this is key to solving the numerical partof the problem, if the air moves very quickly then heat transferinto and out of the air can be neglected in the firstapproximation) Suppose the wind comes from Grays Peak (80 km westof Denver, elevation 4350 m) to Denver (elevation 1630 m) and theatmospheric condition at Grays Peak is -15.0 Â°C and 5.60 x 10^4 Papressure while the conditions in Denver before the wind arrives is2.0 Â°C and 8.12 x 10^4 Pa. By how many degrees C will thetemperature in Denver rise when the Chinook arrives? (Hint: Adetailed discussion of the physics involved in the Chinook windscan be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinook_wind)

) Ion Rocket Engine. A special type of rocket engine useselectricity for propulsion: the ion engine. A soft metal, such ascesium, is vaporized and then electrified (ionized) with highvoltage. These cesium ions are the accelerated by strong electricfields to produce a current of atoms at high velocity. Outside theengine, the ions are then recombined with electrons to restoreelectrical neutrality.

A particular ion engine has an exhaust velocity of 20,000 m/sec.The mass flow (dm/dt) is just 1 milligram per second.

a) What is the thrust produced by this engine?

b) The engine propels a 200 kg spacecraft. What velocity change(delta-v) is achievable by running the engine continuously for onesolid year? (For simplicity, assume a constant mass for the system.One year = 31.56 million seconds.)
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) Potential Energy. How much work is required to lift one metricton (1000 kg) of water to an altitude of 1000 meters? (The Sun isdoing this all this time to the Earthâs weather.)
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q) Kinetic Energy 1. A car has a mass of 1200 kg. How much kineticenergy does it have when traveling at a speed of 30 m/sec?

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Kinetic Energy 2. The Space Shuttle orbits the Earth at a speed ofsome 7750 meters per second (which is about 260 times that of atypical highway driving speed). With a typical payload, the Shuttlehas a mass of 120,000 kg.

a) What is the kinetic energy of the Shuttle in orbit?
b) The Shuttle reaches orbit in some 500 seconds. At what rate ofwork (power) did the rocket engines perform on the Shuttle to placethe craft and its payload into orbit? Compare this to the maximumpower output of a typical nuclear electric generatingstation.
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Solar Power. In space, outside the atmosphere, some 1360 Watts ofradiant power pass through every square meter (at normalincidence).

a) What total amount of power does the Earth intercept from theSun? (The projected area of the Earth is ?RE2, where RE is theradius of the Earth, 6.38 million meters.)

b) Compare this figure to the total amount of power produced by allof human civilization, currently some 40 trillion (1012) Watts.What conclusions about solar power can you draw from thiscomparison?

q

-) Angular Momentum. Assuming a uniform distribution of mass insidethe Earth, calculate:

a) the Earthâs moment of inertia, I;
b) its angular momentum, L = omega(omega=2pi/T) the angularmomentum of the Moon in its orbit around the Earth (L = mvr).Compare these two values. (The sidereal period of the Moon is 27.3days; its mass is 1/81 of that of the Earth; its average orbitalradius is 383,000 km.)

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Q0 Water Pressure. Calculate the value of the water pressure at theChallenger Deep, the deepest known place on the surface of theEarth. The currently accepted depth of the water there is 10,911meters. (This is deep enough to cover Mount Everest, and still havemore than one mile of water above the peak. On January 23, 1960,Swiss explorer Jacques Piccard and US Navy Lieutenant Don Walshbecame the first, and so far, the only people ever to visit thisremote place, descending in the Italian-built bathyscaphTrieste.)

q-8
Mass of Earthâs Atmosphere. The pressure of the Earthâs atmosphereat sea level is 101,300 Pascals (Newtons per square meter.) Thismeans that every square meter of Earthâs surface supports a weightof 101,300 Newtons. From this, determine the mass of Earthâsatmosphere. What fraction of the Earthâs total mass is this?

Tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere are called aerosols. Windblown dust, sea salts, volcanic ash, smoke from wildfires, and pollution from factories are all examples of aerosols. Depending upon their size, type, and location, aerosols can either cool the surface, or warm it. They can help clouds to form, or they can inhibit cloud formation. And if inhaled, some aerosols can be harmful to people's health.

These maps show average monthly aerosol amounts around the world based on observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite. Satellite measurements of aerosols, called aerosol optical thickness, are based on the fact that the particles change the way the atmosphere reflects and absorbs visible and infrared light. An optical thickness of less than 0.1 (palest yellow) indicates a crystal clear sky with maximum visibility, whereas a value of 1 (reddish brown) indicates very hazy conditions.

High aerosol amounts are linked to different process in different places and times of year. High aerosol amounts occur over South America from July through September. This pattern is due to land clearing and agricultural fires that are widespread across the Amazon Basin and Cerrado regions during the dry season. Aerosols have a similar seasonal pattern in Central America (March-May), central and southern Africa (June-September, and Southeast Asia (January-April).

In other cases, however, aerosol concentrations are not related to fires. For example, from May through August each year, aerosol amounts rise dramatically around the Arabian Peninsula and nearby oceans due to dust storms. Elevated aerosol amounts nestle at the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains in northern India in some months, and linger over eastern China for much of the year. These elevated aerosol amounts are due to human-produced air pollution.

What is the most likely source of the high concentration of particulates that appear off the coast of northwestern Africa?

What is the most likely source of the high concentrations of particulates over central Africa and central South America?

What is the most likely source of the high concentrations of particulates over eastern China?

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GGR100H1 Study Guide - Final Guide: Tectonic Uplift, Spheroidal Weathering, Weathering

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