ENV200H1 Midterm: Midterm Notes
Document Summary
the earth is 4. 5 billion years old. human impact so large for such a short period. earths internal heat drives convection currents that force soft rocks upward with warmth and downward with cooling. large scale upward + downward movement of lithosphere including horizontal displacements occurs on fault lines. most systems involve negative feedback for stability. positive feedback rare most common with human impact. Thermodynamics: (1) energy can neither be created nor destroyed. (2) when energy is changed from on form to another some is degraded into heat. Co2 ------------------------> sugar ---------------------------- > c02 (photosynthesis) (cellular respiration) (2) hydraulic (water) Ocean ------ > atmosphere ------ > land ------ > ocean (3) nitrogen. Five steps: (1) nitrogen fixation bacteria split atmospheric nitrogen and combine it with hydrogen. (2) nitrification. (3) assimilation. (4) ammonification. (5) dentrification. (4) phosphorus. used in dna and atp (chemical energy) can stay trapped in lithosphere for millions of years.