Question 6

(1)When two plates move towards each other, they would collide. This is called a convergent plate movement. As the plates collide, some crust is destroyed due to the impact, therefore this convergent boundary is also called a destructive boundary. When a continental plate and an oceanic plate collide, subduction occurs. The oceanic plate sinks under the continental plate as it is denser. The crust carrying the ocean melts underneath at the subduction zone due to the immense friction and high heat of the magma, which is acidic with higher silican and sulphuric content. The impact of the collision also causes cracks to form in the crust. The heat and pressure from the mantle forces the acidic magma to rise up these cracks. As the magma continues to rise up the cracks, it escapes onto the surface and solidifies, building up a volcano. Magma on the surface is now known as lava. Thus, an acid lava volcano is formed.(1) (2)divergent boundary or divergent plate boundary is a linear feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other. These areas can form in the middle of continents but eventually form ocean basins. Divergent boundaries within continents initially produce rifts which produce rift valleys. If the rifting process stops, a failed rift results. Therefore, most active divergent plate boundaries exist between oceanic plates and are often called oceanic rifts(2)(3) A transform fault is a fault which runs along the boundary of a tectonic plate. The relative motion of such plates is horizontal in either sinistral or dextral direction. Typically, some vertical motion may also exist, but the principal vectors in a transform fault are oriented horizontally. Not all faults are transform faults, and not all plate boundaries are transform faults.(3)
The features of the earths tectonic plates are (3)plates at our planet’s surface move because of the intense heat in the Earth’s core that causes molten rock in the mantle layer to move. It moves in a pattern called a convection cell that forms when warm material rises, cools, and eventually sink down. As the cooled material sinks down, it is warmed and rises again.

Scientists once thought that Earth’s plates just surfed on top of the mantle’s giant convection cells, but now scientists believe that plates help themselves move instead of just surfing along. Just like convection cells, plates have warmer, thinner parts that are more likely to rise, and colder, denser parts that are more likely to sink.

New parts of a plate rise because they are warm and the plate is thin. As hot magma rises to the surface at spreading ridges and forms new crust, the new crust pushes the rest of a plate out of its way. This is called ridge push.

Old parts of a plate are likely to sink down into the mantle at subduction zones because they are colder and thicker than the warm mantle material underneath them. This is called slab pull.(4)

(1) © Team 17701 TQ'98 (Cheong Kai Lin, Ng & Viren)
http://library.thinkquest.org/17701/high/tectonics/ptconv.html
(2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divergent_boundary

(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transform_boundary

(4) © The Regents of the University of Michigan. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/interior/how_plates_move.html

Question 3

Two nonrenewable resources are wind and . Wind orgins just from the air motion. Although we may not see the air moving it can measure its motion by the force that it puts on objects. For example, on a windy day leaves moving or trees swaying tells that the wind is blowing. Officially, a wind vane measures the wind direction and an anemometer measures the wind speed.
Another renewable resource is water, (1)water is the signature of our planet. We are the blue planet. The planet of life.The latest discoveries in astrophysics point to water not being a natural terrestrial product but imported from the edges of our solar system.
Life on Earth evolved from water, a marriage of oxygen and hydrogen to form the most recognized chemical code, H2O. 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water. 80% of fruit and vegetables are made of water. Our bodies are 50 - 70% water and we lose three bucket loads every week or about 2.5 liters on average escapes our body every day. 65% is removed in urine & feces, followed by 20% secreted through our skin and 15% through our lungs.(1)
Two non renewable resources are fossil fuels and nuclear power. (2)As we see daily proof, fossil fuels make the world go round. For the past century, and especially the past 50 years, they've created vast fortunes for individuals and entire nations, powered the global economy, and provoked geopolitical tensions and sometimes wars. No news there. But did you know that current events on this petroleum-addled planet are closely linked to weird and wonderful plants that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. Many people think that fossil fuels—oil, coal, and natural gas—come from the bodies of dinosaurs that ruled the earth during the mid to late Mesozoic era, 213 to 65 million years ago. Not so. The origin of oil is still a matter of scientific controversy. However, it is generally believed that the world's great oil deposits were formed from diatoms.(2) Energy changes earth system because without energy and all the thing that we put into the earth the earth would probably be a more healthy but we couldn’t live without it. Human consumption on the gases form energy can hurt your body because they are un healthy gases being put into our earth. The overall cost of he earths energy is major pollution in the air and the benefit are that we have energy which makes our everyday lives easier.

(1) Chris Middleton 2005 by FineWaters Media, LLC FineWaters
http://waterindustry.org/Water-Facts/water-1.htm

(2) Copyright © 2008 BBG
http://www.bbg.org/gar2/pgn/2003su_fossilfuels.html

(3) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power

QUESTION 1

(1)The biosphere is the life zone of the Earth and includes all living organisms, including man, and all organic matter that has not yet decomposed(1)
(1)The Atmosphere is the Life processes involve a vast number of chemical reactions some of which either extract or emit gases from and to the atmosphere. For example, photosynthesis consumes carbon dioxide and produce
es oxygen whereas respiration does the opposite. Other examples of biogenic gases in the atmosphere include methane, dimethylsulfide (DMS), nitrogen, nitrous oxide, ammonia, etc.).(1)
(1)The hydrosphere: water is essential for all living organisms on Earth and has played a key role in the evolution and sustenance of life on our planet. The biosphere as we know it would not exist without liquid water (for example, consider Mars). Water is also important for transport the soluble nutrients (phosphate and nitrate) that are needed for plant growth, and for transporting the waste products of life's chemical reactions.(1)
(1)Geosphere: The geosphere and biosphere are intimately connected through soils, which consist of a mixture of air, mineral matter, organic matter, and water. In fact, one could consider soil as composed of all four spheres (atmosphere, geosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere). Plant activity such as root growth and generation of organic acids are also important for the mechanical and chemical breakdown (weathering) of the geosphere.(1)

(1)an interacton between them is chemical reactions of life (e.g., photosynthesis-respiration, carbonate precipitation, etc.)which have imparted a strong signal on the chemical composition of the atmosphere, transforming the atmosphere from reducing conditions to and oxidizing environment with free oxygen. The biosphere is structured into a hierarchy known as the food chain whereby all life is dependent upon the first tier (i.e. mainly the primary producers that are capable of photosynthesis). Energy and mass is transferred from one level of the food chain to the next with an efficiency of about 10%. All organisms are intrinsically linked to their physical environment and the relationship between an organism and its environment is the study of ecology. The biosphere can be divided into distinct ecosystems that represent the interactions between a group of organisms forming a trophic pyramid and the environment or habitat in which they live.(1)
Althought all for system have their own identities they do interact with each other (2)For example, a volcanic eruption in the geosphere may cause profound direct and indirect effects on the hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere(2)
(2)Volcano >> geosphere >> atmosphere >> hydrosphere >> biosphere
Volcanoes (an event in the geosphere) release a large amount of particulate matter into the atmosphere. These particles serve as nuclei for the formation of water droplets (hydrosphere). Rainfall (hydrosphere) often increases following an eruption, stimulating plant growth (biosphere). Particulate matter in the air (atmosphere) falls out, initially smothering plants (biosphere), but ultimately enriching the soil (geosphere) and thereby stimulating plant growth (biosphere)(2)
If you need to get more complicate her is a very complex interaction of all the elements (2)volcanoes (geosphere) may emit large quantities of sulfur dioxide (atmosphere). When atmospheric sulfur dioxide combines with water (hydrosphere), sulfuric and sulfurous acid form. Rain (hydrosphere) may bring these acids to the Earth, acidifying soils (geosphere), lakes and rivers (hydrosphere). Acidic water leaches nutrients from the soil (geosphere) into the water table (hydrosphere), making the soil less fertile for plants (biosphere), and the subterranean water supply (hydrosphere) less potable for humans (biosphere). Acid rain falling on lakes and streams reduces the pH of the water (hydrosphere), which may result in a decrease in phytoplankton and zooplankton growth (biosphere). If photosynthesis is reduced, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide can build up and stimulate global warming (atmosphere) which may contribute to increased melting of glaciers (hydrosphere).(2)
Society will and science interact from a personal and social perspective because it will be good for research of the one layer and global warming.





Bibliography
(1) http://ess.geology.ufl.edu/ess/Introduction/Biosphere.html

(2)
Norm Herr. Ph.D, Copyright 2007
http://www.csun.edu/science/books/sourcebook/chapters/8-organizing/files/earth-systems-interactions.html

(3)
All picture from
http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=valcano+interaction&btnG=Search+Images

WES D

When we did the WES D project had some prior knowledge about this subject although i did learn a substantial amount of stuff in the duration of the project. In the WES D project we learned about how the winds and the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis effect which is the unequal heating and cooling of the atmosphere by the underlying ocean and land surfaces produces atmosphere circulation. This has to do with my project topic because my topic is La Nina mainly about the winds coming from the pacific oceans and the cool air coming from the west.

Activity c

At the begging In the activity Wes c we learned about storms.I didnt know much about storms other than that they were clouds and rain that usually had thunder and lightning but i found out that they were much more than that.There are many more components to storms than that. We learned about how the dew point and humidity are related. They are related because Relative humidity is defined as the amount of water vapor in a sample of air compared to the maximum amount of water vapor the air can hold at any specific temperature in a form of 0 to 100%.(1) and dew point is the temperature to which a given parcel of air must be cooled, at constant barometric pressure, for water vapor to condense into water.(2) This is related to El Nina because El Nina brings cold air winds in from the ocean and dew point and humidity is water vapors and cool air temperatures.

(1)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humidity

(2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew_point

La Nina ~ Climate issue research

When i started i didn't know much about the topic but it sounded interesting then after research i found that la Nina is defined as cooler than normal sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific ocean that impact global weather patterns.(1) La Nina comes every few years and can stay for up to two years but is usually only normal for La Nina to stay for 9-12 months. It is an extreme phases of a naturally occurring climate cycle. (1) La nina is caused by a buildup of un normally cold subsurface waters in the tropical Pacific. At higher latitudes, El Niño and La Niña are among a number of factors that influence climate.(2) La Niña means "The Little Girl." La Niña is sometimes called El Viejo (Old Man), anti-El Niño, or simply "a cold event" or "a cold episode".(3) La nina is mostly over Indonesia and northern Australia and brings higher than normal pressure over the eastern tropical Pacific. More wet conditions are know to be over Africa and northern Brazil, during the northern winter season. Also there are drier than normal condition during the cold episodes.(4) La Nina is thought to occur because of very strong trade winds that as pressure rises in the east, there is typically an accompanying decrease in the west. The studies of La nina and el nino also led to the realization that Asian monsoon seasons under certain barometric conditions were often linked to drought in Australia, Indonesia, India and parts of Africa, and to mild winters in western Canada.
As a rule, the effects of La Niña are more direct and dramatic during the Northern Hemisphere winter. La Niñas may affect weather patterns in certain parts of the world, causing abnormally high rainfall in southeast Asia and dry conditions in the desert areas of South America. Some impacts of previous La Niñas include:

∑ Abnormally heavy monsoons on the Indian subcontinent.
∑ * In the United States, colder and snowier winter in the northern states west of the Great Lakes. Drier than normal winter in the Southeast. Warmer and drier winters in the Southwest. Enhanced hurricane activity around the mid-Atlantic states.
* Torrential rains leading to floods in Southeast Asia.
* Wet weather in eastern Australia.
* Cool and wet winter in southeastern Africa
(5)




All images from :
http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=Global+effects+of+La+nina&btnG=Search+Images





(1)
http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina_new_faq.html

(2)
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/la-nina-story.html

(3)
http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/lanina.html

(4)
http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/lanina/cold_impacts.shtml

(5)
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/education/lanina/global/index_e.cfm

Activity 4

When we started activiety four i was thinking that the bottle with the black dirt and no clouds would get warmer faster under the light again because black gets hot faster. There were four options thought they were white sand with clouds and white sand withought clouds then black dirt with clouds and black dirt without clouds. In the results yeblack dirt with no clouds did actually heat up faster then the rest. The activity connects to my topic because it can bring in colder weather form its ocean currents.