PHS200 Atmosphere, Circulation & Water Review

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Homework 10.1: Atmosphere, Circulation & Water Review

The relevant section(s) from Tarbuck & Lutgens (2015) is indicated. (Cite it if you use it!)

A.

Greenhouse Effect

(Sections 20.8 & 20.9)

1) Two of our neighboring planets are Venus and Mars. Compare the general atmospheric

conditions and the average surface temperatures of the two planets. What about the

geology of these two planets made them so different?

2) Does the existence of the atmospheric greenhouse effect influence the potential for

life to exist? Explain. Use evidence from Earth, Mars, and Venus in your answer.

B.

Coriolis Effect

(Sections 18.4)

1)

If the Earth was rotating (spinning) at a rate of 360° in 12 hours (instead of 24 hours)

speculate how you might expect the wind and cloud patterns to differ from the current

patterns. Would the number of cells change? Explain.

2) Find a high-resolution image or video of Jupiter, the largest planet in our Solar

System. What can you conclude about Jupiter’s rate of rotation (spin) compared to

Earth’s? Explain how you came to your conclusion. (Remember to cite your source.)

3) Now, look up the answer to how fast Jupiter spins (Section 22.4). Were you right?

Discuss.

C. What makes water (H2O) special?

(Sections 16.8 & 17.1)

1)

a.) Read about some of the following special properties of water: “Facts about

Water”, “Heat capacity”, “Water, the Universal Solvent”, “The Water in You”,

“Why is the ocean salty,” “Salinity”, “ and “Water in the atmosphere”, by clicking

on those icons at http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterproperties.html (You don’t

need to write summaries, here, but may summarize this reading with the rest of your

reading-assignment notes. However, use it to answer the next two questions.)

b) Pick a different, additional property of water that interests you, and summarize it.

2) If the Earth’s air pressure were substantially lower, what would happen to the boiling

point of water? Refer to the in-class demonstrations with the vacuum chamber.

How might this affect life on Earth?

3) What property of water helps it to moderate the climate in coastal regions, while the

inner portions of the continents experience more extreme temperatures? Explain

how this works.

4) Read about more of the special properties of water and life

here: www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/liquid-of-life.html

For what reasons is liquid water considered to be essential for life? Is it truly

impossible for life to exist without water

D.

Deep Ocean Currents

(Section 15.2. Also, read the information on the last sheet, including

the hyperlinks.)

One major theory involving the Oceanic Conveyor Belt is that global warming may

eventually lead to an ice age. Describe the sequence of events that may cause this to happen.

What natural processes could prevent this sequence of events from occurring?

E.

Thoughtful Question

Respond to the following:

1) The Earth experiences a variety of weather including wind, rain, snow, hail,

hurricanes, thunderstorms and tornadoes. Pose a thoughtful question related to

weather on other planets in our solar system. Thoughtful questions do not have

obvious answers!

2) Optional: Do your best to find an answer to the above question. (Sections 22.3 & 22.4)

F.

Submit

your written responses into the Homework 9 Assignment in Canvas, or you can

bring it to class and submit at the start of class, regardless of method.

References

Tarbuck, E.J. & Lutgens F.K. (2015). Earth Science (14th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson

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Explanation & Answer

Attached.

Running head: ATMOSPHERE, CIRCULATION AND WATER REVIEW

Atmosphere, Circulation and Water Review
Name
Institutional Affiliation

1

ATMOSPHERE, CIRCULATION AND WATER REVIEW
A. GREENHOUSE EFFECT
1) Comparison of atmospheric conditions, the average surface temperatures and
geology of the Venus and Mars
Both Venus and Mars are all formed in the same way through the accumulation of solid
matter from precipitation in the solar nebulae. They all presumably had original atmospheres,
which were lost and substituted with secondary atmospheres created by evaporative alloys
emitted to the atmosphere from the inner surfaces of the planets by means of volcanic gas
emissions. The atmosphere at Venus is extremely dense, dried and hot while that at Mars is
extremely narrow and cold. Nevertheless, similar processes happen in the two planets.
Atmospheric conditions
Venus is 107,000,000 km distant from the sun. At Venus, it is very hot. The temperatures are
because of greenhouse emissions. Due to its closeness to the sun, Venus gets two times as much
solar heat as the Earth. During the formation of the planet, water vapor could not condense and
as such stayed in the upper atmosphere. At Venus, the atmosphere has 97% CO2, 2% N2, and
below 1% of H2O, Oxygen, and methane. The planet does not have any water; hence carbon
cannot be removed from the space. Because carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas, Sun’s
radiation is caught in the Venus’ atmosphere and produces a very high surface temperature.
Clouds reflect almost 80% of the coming heat back to the airspace.
On the other hand, at Mars is 223,000,000 km away from the sun and very cold. The
atmosphere has very little mass to trap heat and as such the hottest day temperatures are
approximately 50 degrees F, and are around -170 degrees F at night. Water is trapped in locked
up in ice form below the soil. The Atmosphere is extremely thin, approximately one percent of

2

ATMOSPHERE, CIRCULATION AND WATER REVIEW
the mass of the atmosphere of the earth. It has 95% Carbon dioxide, 3% Nitrogen, two percent
Ar below 1% Oxygen (Tarbuck & Lutgens, 2015). There is a significant presence of water at
Mars. The presence of the high noble gas substance is an implication that the atmosphere at Mars
was denser in the past. In Mars, the climate is a desert because of the thin airspace. The planet is
also characterized by huge dust storms and CO2 fog.
Average surface temperatures
The surface temperatures at Venus are approximately 890 degrees F, which the median
hotness is found in the Solar System while at Mars, the average surface temperatures are -80
degrees F. In winter, they can drop to -195 degrees F.
Geology
Because of a very thick atmosphere, the geology on Venus can be known through radar
mapping which revealed; the presence of craters, volcanoes, fault lines and arachnoids. On the
other hand, the surface features at Mars include; craters, featureless terrain, chaotic terrain, polar
caps, volcanoes, and canyons.
the 2) Impact of atmospheric greenhouse effect on the potential for life with reference to
(Earth, Mars, and Venus)
The presence of excess atmospheric greenhouse effect influences the possibility for the
existence of life. Despite the presence of greenhouse gases on the earth, there is life. This is
because they are avail...


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