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Env Geo midterm

midterrrrrrm

QuestionAnswer
What are the "spheres"? Hydro, Bio, Litho, Atmo
What is the malthusian formula for population growth? I = P * A * T
What is the difference between linear and exponential growth? -linear (add fixed quantity/unit time) -exponential (proportional, good for population, rate of growth proportional to # people)
How do you get k (the growth constant?) -k = 1/t ln(N/No) -t is the span of time -N is the highest value -No is the lowest value
How do you get doubling time? doubling time = 70/(k * 100)
Vandermeer maint points -intraspecific competition limits population growth to sustainable levels -carrying capacity must also be taken into account
Vitoek Paper main points -land change/habitat disruption is bad -of natural areas left, they don’t have buffer zones -land change results in atmospheric chemical changes “We are changing the earth more rapidly than we are understanding it” -Ag, biogeochemical, & ocean issues
Resource needs/impacts of population growth: -increased energy use -greater food and clean water requirements -more land and space needed -disruption of natural systems
environmental systems group of linked, interrelated and interacting objects/phenomena
formula for measuring steady vs transient state delta S = inputs - outputs
Steady State Input = output • managed system such as university with constant enrollment • stock constant • delta S = 0
Transient states -input < output • use of fossil fuels • stock reduced • delta S negative -input > output • pollution of a lake with heavy metals • stock grows • delta S positive
Residence time (average time that something stays in the system, applies for steady state) • pool/flux
Human Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems - Vitousek -so 40% total • decreased biodiversity • habitat fragmentation • changing atmospheric chemical concentration • runoff and erosion • fire frequency • albedo (how reflective the earth’s surface is)
CO2 - Vitousek -280 ppmv pre 1800 (during interglacials) -400-280 = 120/280 = 42% effect by humans -messes with sediment transport (can’t get to beaches)
Water - Vitousek -dams and impoundments, only 2% of N.A. rivers unimpeded -6% of runoff evaporated -humans using 50% of available fresh water (70% of this is agriculture)
Nitrogen - Vitousek atmospheric = N2 NH3 = fixed N fixing bacteria use enzyme (nitrogenase) yearly, 90 mil metric tons of N fixed on land, = amount at sea we’ve 2x'ed that, 25m mt f fuels 40m m (alfalfa, legumes, etc) ^ NO2 (GG), eutrophication, algal blooms, acid r
Haber process industrial N fixation, using high temp & pressure to make fertilizer
Foley paper topics Food production, freshwater resources, forests, regional air/climate, infectious diseases, confronting effects
“Global consequences of land use” Foley -since 1850, 1/3 of CO2 comes from land use -“ecosystem goods and services” essential products (food, fiber, fresh water) and environmental processes (flood control, water purification) -Pasture is new biome 40%, runoff, barely any return for fert input
Foley land use solutions • coffee farms near forests (~1km) increase yield 20% more • NYC purchased catskill mtns for water filtration (saved 5-7 bil)
Soils • isotropic (same) → anisotropic (layered) • start to develop horizons • secondary minerals and organic matter
Pedogenesis soil formation
Soil horizons • O (organic) • A (mixed organic & mineral matter) • E (eluviation, leached layer) • B (zone of accumulation – clays, iron oxide, some organic matter) • C (chemically weathered parent material) • R (regolith, non chemically weathered rock/sediment)
soil forming factors • Climate (P=E?) • Parent material • Relief • Time • Organisms
Mollisols o P=E o Flat o Grasslands o Loess over limestone
Pedology soil in its natural position
What causes erosion? slope/area of land
How does one quantify erosion? -river budgets -sedimentary rock volumes (from Cambrian to now) -plot comparisons
What is a drought defined by? • persistence – lasting 10+ years (how long until there’s 2 years above average rainfall) • abruptness – significantly shorter than persistence • magnitude – 5% change from norm
Dust Bowl Summary NM, KS, CO, OK. Homestead act + WW1 (no more wheat from german-occupied russia) + more homestead = wheat $. Mollisols went airborne after grass roots dug up. Mechanized plowing. Drought.
Flood A flood is any relatively high streamflow that overtops the natural or artificial banks of a river.
Discharge Discharge is another term for streamflow; it is the measured volume of water that moves past a point in the river in a given amount of time. Discharge is usually expressed in cubic feet per second.
Cubic foot per second One cubic foot per second (cfs) is about 450 gallons per minute.
Floodplain The floodplain is the relatively flat lowland that borders a river, usually dry but subject to flooding. Floodplain soils actually are former flood deposits.
Recurrence interval The average number of years between floods of a certain size is the recurrence interval or return period. The actual number of years between floods of any given size varies a lot because of the naturally changing climate
Hydrograph A hydrograph is a graph that shows changes in discharge or river stage over time. The time scale may be in minutes, hours, days, months, years, or decades.
River stage The river stage is the height of the water in the river, measured relative to an arbitrary fixed point.
How do you determine growth rate for a straight line? Slope of line. (y2-y1/x2-x1)
What is the k value/unit time? a percentage, not a number
How many people do floods kill annually? a million
River development -initially, in young streams channels are relatively straight as the river cuts down to base level -after achieving a graded profile, stream will cut side to side, creating a flood plain -rivers can therefore flatten out a rugged landscape.
What makes a flood worse? • Permeability of the soil • Putting roads everywhere • Land use (construction/development/pavement) • Vegetation • Relief • Antecedent moisture (how wet are the soils to begin with?) • Artificial bottlenecks in the rivers (constrict flow)
How do you find recurrence interval? RI = (# of years on record + 1)/magnitude rank
Watershed budget data -as streamflow goes up, other things go up • Dissolved exports (Ca, Na, N) • solid exports (sediment, sand, twigs) -clear cutting doesn’t do anything really with erosion • 1.7 m/My is typical • (ag is 600 m/My) • clear cutting is more like 3m/My
Hubbard Brook relevant info -discharge went up 30-40% -suspended sediment export went up a factor of 5-6ish -dissolved load export went up by a lot
Created by: haleyBUGoxox
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