environmental science CH.3

the solid part of the Earth that consists of all rock, as well as the soils and loose rocks on the Earth’s surface

consists of all of the water on or near the earth’s surface

Earth’s thin outer layer composed almost entirely of light elements

the layer beneath the crust, makes up 64 percent of the mass of the Earth. It is approximately 2900 km thick and is made of rocks of medium density

Earth’s innermost layer composed of the densest elements.

Earth’s outer layer - a cool rigid layer, 15km to 300km thick, that includes the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle. It is divided into huge pieces called tectonic plates

the layer beneath the lithosphere - a plastic, solid layer of the mantle made of rock that flows very slowly and allows the tectonic plates to move on top of it

pieces of the lithosphere that glide acreoos the underlying asthenosphere in much the same way as a chunk of ice drifts across a pond

chemical species in the air, soil, and water environments; and the effect of human activity and biological activity on these.

Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils, and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with the Earth’s atmosphere, water, and biological organisms.

removal and transport of surface material including rocks, dirt, etc.

A mixture of gases that surrounds a planet or moon.

all weather happens here/layer of Earth’s atmosphere closest to Earth’s surface (where weather takes place and where most pollution occurs)

above troposphere (temperatures rise as altitude increases because the ozone absorbs the sun’s UV energy

A molecule of oxygen containing three oxygen atoms.

transfer of energy across space and in the atmosphere

he flow of heat from a warmer object to a colder object

transfer of air by air currents

Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth’s atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases

liquid water is heated by the sun and then rises into the atmosphere as water vapor

the continuous movement of water into the air, land, and back to other sources

The change from a gas to a liquid

Any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth’s surface.

concentration of all the dissolved salts in the ocean waters