Assignments

 ** Jan.20th, 2010

Page 460 #6-17 6. ** Which of the following describes a situation in which convection would not occur? c. a snowball warmed in your hand.


 * 7.** If I was measuring the temperature of freezing water and the the thermometer read 273 degrees, the temperature scale I'd use would be Kelvin.


 * 8.** The air around us is not pure oxygen. We are surrounded by only 21% oxygen while nitrogen takes up 78% and the last percent is taken up by other gases.


 * 9.** A: represents the stratosphere, B: represents the troposphere.


 * 10.** As a substance cools and its thermal energy decreases, the motion of the atoms in the substance is slowing down.


 * 11.** Temperature is not a measure of thermal energy, Temperature is a measure of average kinetic energy of all particles in a smaple of matter.


 * 12.** As you increase your height in altitude the particles are more spread out. Pressure is the amount of force per unit area. If the particles are more spread out, then there is less force per unit area.


 * 13.** Wind is the movement of air from an area of higher pressure to an area of lower pressure.


 * 15.** The Coriolis effect differs in the northern and southern hemisphere because the wind deflects to the right of the northern hemisphere and to the left of the southern hemisphere.


 * 16.** Albedo describes the amount of radiation reflected by a surface. Snow covered areas and deserts reflect more radiation meaning it has a higher albedo. Forests and Oceans absorb the radiation meaning it has a lower albedo.


 * 17.** Both Hurricanes and Tornadoes form in warm, damp air when the wind blows into each other from opposite directions. Hurricanes are created usually over warm, tropical oceans while tornadoes are more violent and form on the land.

**Page 481 #6-15**

**6.** The types of evidence that paleoclimatologists use to study weather patterns are fossils, the rings in tree trunks, layers of sediment from the bottom of a river, and glaciers.


 * 7.** Features that are used to describe a biogeoclimatic region include plant life, soil, geography, and climate.


 * 8.** The main difference between El Niño and La Niña is that El Niño is the warming of water in the Pacific Ocean and La Niña is cooling of water in the Pacific Ocean..


 * 9. a.** If BC were tilted 90 degrees towards the sun, the climate would be alot warmer.


 * b.** If BC were tilted 90 degrees away from the sun, the climate would be alot cooler.


 * 10.** Wobble might affect the climate by making the world cooler, and could possibly result in another ice age.


 * 11.** If all the continents were grouped in a super continent, the oceans would be much cooler than they are right now.


 * 12.** When a meteorite hits earth it hurls dust, debris, and superheated gases into the atmosphere. They make dusty clouds and block and absorb the suns radiation making earth cooler.


 * 13.** When Earth's orbit is more elliptical, its orbit takes it farther from the sun and less solar radiation reaches Earths surface making it cooler.


 * 14.** This would suggest that there were less CO2 originally and is increasing.

**Dec.17th, 2009**


 * Page 537 #15

15)a)** Composite Volcano
 * b)** Rift Eruptions
 * c)** Shield Volcano


 * Page 538 #12-21 **

**12)** The Continental Drift Theory


 * 13)a)** Convergent plate boundary
 * b)** Divergent plate boundary
 * c)** Transform plate boundary


 * 14)** Because it’s harder for magma to be released when to continental plates are colliding upwards or if two plates are just pushing against each other.

**15)** Because the great mountain ranges of the world seemed to fit together suggesting that the continents where once connected


 * 16)** the tectonic plates would stop moving. The Earth would also cool down because the heat and magma wouldn't circulate around;therefore, making the Earth not livable.


 * 17)** It doesn't make geologists think that the Earth is just a solid ball of rock. It also tells you where the hot spots of Earth are located and where you can find magma.


 * 18)** Because the tectonic plates when they collide causing rifts in earth’s surface causing magma to rise up from earth’s interior.


 * 19)** There would big pools of lava that would flow down the hills.


 * 20)** Because every earthquake involves a unique set of forces and geological structures, it is very difficult to accuratley predict timing, size, and location of a particular earthquake.

**d)** oceanic crust **e)** lower mantle
 * 21) a)** trench
 * b)** volcanic island arc
 * c)** upper mantle


 * Dec.1st, 2009**

Page 461 # 20


 * 20)a)**the albedo of a typical city would be way higher than the albedo of a forested area, because concrete, shingles, vehicles emit heat or infrared radiation which raises the temperature of the air.
 * b)** White Rock
 * c)** Because white rock doesnt absorb solar radiation.
 * d)** pale-coloured shingles
 * e)** Because shingles absorb solar radiation.
 * f)**Well the easier a material conducts heat and thermal energy the hotter the material gets and at a quicker rate. Similarly if a city is made up of more thermal conductors the hotter the city would be creating an urban heat island.
 * g)** The role of convection in an urban heat city is to increase the transfer of heat within fluids.