[EARTHSS 1] - Final Exam Guide - Comprehensive Notes fot the exam (24 pages long!)
30 Mar 2017
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Earth system science (ess1) lecture notes 1 and 2. The scientific method: recognizing an unsolved problem, making observations (collecting data) to try to solve the problem, formulating a hypothesis a tentative explanation, testing the hypothesis. The science that studies the whole earth as a system of many interacting parts and focuses on the changes within and between those parts. Major reservoirs of the earth system: atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, geosphere, anthroposphere (part made by humans) Closed system: energy can enter and leave the system but matter cannot. Open system: energy and matter can enter and leave the system. Changes in one part of a closed system will affect the other parts. Reservoirs: amount of material of interest in a given form. Flux: amount of material added to (source), or removed from (sink) reservoir, in a given period of time. Residence time = amount inside reservoir/total sources or sinks. Feedback loops: positive: amplifier, bad, negative: damping.
