GEOL 106 Midterm: Study Guide

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering
• Course: GEOL 106
• Professor: John Hages

Document Summary

The earth system (science: earth system (interacting subsystems). A new approach of study is called earth system science: a change in one component (subsystem) can propagate through the entire system, we need to know what happened/happens on all scales (microscopic/space; seconds/years). Earth system engineering / management (for the use and convenience of people: mitigate geological hazards (how to minimize the effects of natural disasters), sustain sufficient supplies of natural resources. Sources (energy and materials) and sinks (where we dump our wastes). Solar energy planetary sources use by humans planetary sinks heat loss. What is the environmental impact of extracting and using these sources/sinks: minimize and adjust to the effects of global and environmental change. Global (climate change), regional (aral sea), and local effects (water contamination). In the 1960s, water was extracted from the darya rivers to grow cotton. This resulted in the shrinkage of the aral sea over the years.