4.

2
1. Sand → largest particles, loses water easily
2. Silt → medium particles, easily farmed
3. Clay → smallest particles, poor drainage

Soil is made up of 3 subcategories:

● Loam: contains sand, silt, and clay. Best soil for agriculture
● Peat: contains more than 20% decaying organic material. Acidic. Used in fertilizers
● Chalk: solid and soft, breaks down easily. Alkaline (basic). Poor for agriculture

Soil horizons:
- O: Uppermost layer, primarily composed of humus (decaying organic matter).
- A (topsoil): Dark, consisting of a mixture of humus and minerals, where seeds sprout and
plant roots grow.
- E: Light, mostly sand and silt; as water drips through, it leaches (carries away) most of
the minerals and clay.
- B (subsoil): Contains the clay and mineral deposits leached from the layers above.
- C: Partially broken-up rock; plant roots do not grow in this layer, and there is very little
humus.
- R: Solid rock.

Soils develop in response to several factors:

- Parent Material: The rock or minerals from which the soil derives.
- Climate: This is measured by precipitation and temperature.
- Living Organisms: These include nitrogen-fixing bacteria, Rhizobium, fungi, insects,
worms, snails etc. that help decompose
- Topography refers to the location's physical characteristics when the soil is formed.

Soil erosion is the movement of weathered rock or soil components from one place to another.
Erosion is caused by flowing water, wind, and human activity (cultivating inappropriate land,
burning of native vegetation, deforestation, and construction).
Soil erosion destroys the soil profile, decreases water-holding capacity of the soil, and increases
soil compaction.

Three types of soil erosion:

1. Sheet erosion – soil moves off as a horizontal layer. (solution: maintain plant cover)
2. Rill erosion – fast-flowing water cuts small channels in the soil. (solution: strip cropping or
contour plowing)
3. Gully erosion – an extreme case of rill erosion, where over time, channels increase in size and
Depth. (solution: divert water away from rills and gullies)

Soil erodes due to several factors:

- Water
- Wind
- Gravity
- Human factors → leads to water contamination

How do humans affect soil erosion?

● Deforestation: The lack of roots holding down soil. 

● Overgrazing: Pastureland can lead to cattle overeating and the top layer of soil can erode
with wind and rain.
● Pesticides and fertilizers: These can change chemistry of soil and kill microorganisms in
soil.
● Tillage practices: Turning and breaking up soil keeps top layer from accumulating
organic material and roots.

QUESTION:

Describe two soil conservation practices that are designed to decrease soil erosion.

-
No till farming, which disturbs the soil minimally, keeping it intact from wind and water
erosion.
- Contour farming, where the farming is gently sloped to slow water runoff.
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4.3

Soil sized from biggest to smallest: sand - silt - clay

● Larger particles allow water to pass through

● Smaller particles doesn't allow water to pass through
Porosity - volume of water that “fits between” the soil particles

Permeability - rate of flow of water through soil

% retention - how much water is “trapped” by soil

Porosity and Permeability are directly related; when one is high, the other is high as well. %
water retention is inversely related to both.

1) Clay - ↓↓ porosity ↓↓ permeability, ↑↑ retention

2) Silt - ↓ porosity, ↓ permeability, ↑ retention

3) Sand - ↑↑ porosity, ↑↑ permeability, ↓↓ retention

4) Organic matter - ↑ porosity, ↑ permeability, ↓ retention

Soil conservation methods:

● No till farming
● Conservation tillage
● Contour farming
● Terrace farming

Percolation: movement of water into ground.

Infiltration: movement of ions or chemicals through percolation

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4.4
Earth’s atmosphere:
- Exosphere: the outermost layer of the atmosphere, merges with space
- Thermosphere: the hottest layer of the atmosphere (temp. Increases, auroras, UV and
Xrays)
- Mesosphere: the middle layer of the atmosphere (coldest, temp. decreases)
- Stratosphere: the second layer of the atmosphere - 16-60km, less dense than due to less
pressure from layers above (ozone layer, temp. increases)
- Troposphere: weather occurs here 0-16 km, densest layer (contains most of the weather,
temp. increases)

In the atmosphere, nitrogen is 78%, oxygen is 21%, and the other gases are 1%
____________________________________________________________________________
4.5
● Hadley cells occur between 0° and 30° latitudes (directly north and directly south of the
equator). At the equator, these cells start with warm, rising air. Then, as the air moves
away from the equator, the air falls as cooler air.
● Ferrel cells occur between 30° and 60° latitudes. Around the 30° latitude line, the cold,
dry air of a Hadley cell falls, pushing warm air up.
● Polar cells occur at latitudes greater than 60°. Polar cells start around the 60° latitude line
where warm air from the Ferrel cells is pushed up. At higher latitudes, this air cools and
falls as dry air on the poles.

Because the Earth rotates on its axis, circulating air is deflected toward the right in the Northern
Hemisphere and toward the left in the Southern Hemisphere. This deflection is called the
Coriolis effect.

A convection cell is the rising of warm air and the sinking motion of cold air.

!! the westerlies wind pull air from the west to the east!!

For the biomes:

- Tropical rainforests will near the low pressure areas, near the equator
- Coniferous forests are also in places with low pressure (between the polar and ferrel
cells)
- Deserts are in the high pressure areas with low precipitation and more dryness (between
the westerlies and the trade winds)
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4.6
Divide: highest point in a river
Tributaries: small rivers
Delta: where all the rivers meet
Groundwater: the large area of water where the rivers lead to

Terrestrial parts:
Source zone: head of the river where melted snow or rain cause the river to form
Transition zone: between the headwater. Theyre clear, cold, and fully oxygenated
Floodplain: river spreads out, more sedimentation, less oxygen, warm water
Rainwater that lands within the watershed does one of two things:

1. Runs downhill across the land associated with the watershed until it joins the river or one
of its tributaries, or
2. Percolates through the soil to join groundwater
Rainwater that lands at the divide between watersheds will run into either one watershed or the
other.

Watershed affected by human action:

- Logging: removing trees and cutting down the roots. Increases surface runoff
- Residential aread: pesticide use, fertilizers use, and pinhole leaks. So when it rains all of
those chemicals will wash into the rivers
- Industrial: any pollution will go down to the river
- Cities: same as industrial
- Livestock: animal waste can end up in the river
- Dam: they block the flow of sediments

Rainwater's flow through a watershed depends upon the watershed's:

○ Area
○ Length
Slope
○ Soil type
○ Vegetation type
○ Divides with adjoining watersheds

Pollutants within the watershed can flow into the river via rainwater runoff. Sources for
pollutants include:

○ Cities
○ Residential areas
○ Livestock
○ Cropland
○ Industrial sites

Dams can contribute to pollution by inhibiting the flow of sediment along the length of the river.
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4.7
The main source of energy for our earth is from our sun; called solar radiation.

As the Earth orbits the sun, different parts of the Earth receive more or less direct sunlight, which
causes the temperature differences also known as seasons. When the Earth tilts towards the sun,
the daytimes are longer and the solar radiation hits the Earth's surface at a more direct angle,
causing hotter temperatures. When the Earth tilts away from the sun, nights become longer and
temperatures drop.
The summer and winter solstices represent the highest and lowest points of the sun throughout
the year, or the longest days and nights. The equinoxes mark the start of spring/fall where the day
and night are approximately even in length.

Insolation: refers to the amount of solar radiation (energy from sun's rays) reaching an area

Albedo: proportion of light reflected by a surface

- Surfaces with higher albedo reflect more light and absorb less (ice/snow)
- Surfaces with low albedo reflect less light and absorb more heat
- When sunlight is absorbed by a surface it gives off infrared radiation

The tilt of the earth’s axis is: 23.5

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4.8
Rain Shadow Effect:
A. Windward— the side of a mountain which receives moist air
B. Leeward— the opposite side of a mountain which receives drier air
C. Rain shadow deserts form on the leeward side

Factors that influence climate:

● Sun
● Earth’s orbit
● Greenhouse gases
● Volcanoes
● Ocean currents
● Land masses

Moisture from the ocean goes through to the mountains and when they reach those mountains
they are shifted upwards, and as air rises it cools and as the water vapor in it cools it turns into a
cloud and it rains. Consistent rains creates greenery in an area. While it moves across the
mountain the air turns hot.
4.9
An El Niño is a warming of the Pacific Ocean

When a La Niña occurs, it is a cooling of the Pacific Ocean

- A. irregularly periodic variation in winds and sea surface temperatures over the tropical
eastern Pacific Ocean
- B. affects the climate of much of the tropics and subtropics
- C. three phases:
- 1) warming phase = El Niño
- 2) cooling phase = La Niña
- 3) neutral phase = temperature variation from climatology is within 0.5 °C (0.9
°F)

Neutral conditions are the transition between warm and cold phases of ENSO. Ocean
temperatures, tropical precipitation, and wind patterns are near average conditions during this
phase. Close to half of all years are within the neutral period.

- D. The Southern Oscillation is the accompanying atmospheric component, coupled with

the sea temperature change
- 1) El Niño is accompanied by high air surface pressure in the tropical western
Pacific
- 2) La Niña is accompanied by low air surface pressure in the tropical western
Pacific

Under normal conditions, prevailing winds blow from east to west along the equator in the
Pacific Ocean

Upwelling: the upward movement of water

● When brought to the surface, deep water bring nutrients for fish (commercial fishers take
advantage of that)

When prevailing winds weaken, the warm water that has collected in the western Pacific flows
“downhill” and eastward toward South America

When upwelling is suppressed:

- Primary productivity is reduced
- Decline in fish population
 - Extreme weather

!!in areas that are dry, el nino causes floods and wetter weather!!

La nina, is characterized by the presence of colder-than-normal surface water in the equatorial

Pacific

With la nina:
- Upwellings return
- Causes hurricanes
- Warmer and drier winters in the southernwest u.s
- wetter winters in the pacific northwest
-