Earth System Science: The science that studies the whole Earth as a system of many interacting parts and

focuses on the changes within and between those parts.Major Reservoirs:

Atmosphere, Hydrosphere (oceans), Biosphere, and Geosphere.Plate tectonics: Theory that the Earth's lithosphere (outer rigid shell) is broken into a dozen or so rigid "plates that move
relative to one another on the hotter, more plastic asthenosphereShallow earthquakes (surface to 70 kilometers), Intermediate earthquakes (between 70 and 300 kilometers), Deep
earthquakes (300 700 kilometers)Three Boundary Types: Divergent boundaries (plates move away from each other), Convergent boundaries (plates move towards each other), Transform
boundaries (plates slide past each other)Continental Crust: Thicker, less dense, cannot be subducted into mantle, generally older. Oceanic Crust: Thinner, (<10km), more dense, can be
subducted, generally younger, continuously created and destroyed. Tsunamis: generated by the movement of the seafloor, most common mechanism is earthquakes at subductions zones,
also generated by landslides and volcanic eruptionsContinental Margins: Passive (Far from plate boundary), Active (At plate boundaries), found in the continental slopeDeep Ocean Basins:
abyssal plain (4500m-6000m) dotted with hills, undersea mountains and islands due to volcanic activityMid-ocean ridges: Shallower depths that deep ocean, continuous mountain ridge
winds through all ocean basins, composed of basal lava flows often called pillow basalts, extensive volcanic activity, hydrothermal vents all along the centerOcean Sediments: Importance
(Energy resources, salts, phosphates for fertilizers, limestone and gravel for building help control pH of ocean, records valuable information about past climate). Our economy operates in
organic sediments (oil and gas) which form from ocean organisms. Lithogenous sediment: sediment coming from the land and volcanos, by weathering and erosion. Transported by water,
ice, wind, gravity. Shallower ocean (Coarser grained, range of sorting larger sediment), Deep ocean (finer grained (clay), very well sorted, abyssal clays). Glacial deposits (range of sizes
from bolder to clay in shallow and deep). Biogenous Sediment: sediment formed form the hard remains of organisms, ooze (containing at least 30% skeletons/tests) composed of Calcium
carbonate( WARM, calcareous ooze, dissolves when it reaches the Calcite compensation depth/CCD) or silica(COLD, siliceous ooze, will dissolve so only build up is it is produced in large
quantities). Hydrogenous Sediment: sediment produced by chemical reactions which cause the material dissolved in sweater to precipitate out of solution, usually occurs when there is a
change in conditions (temperature, pH, oxygen concentration), economically valuable (calcium carbonate, metal sulfides from hydrothermal vents, phosphates. Specific Heat: energy
needed to raise 1 kg of a substance by 1oC (Causes water to have a high heat capacity it can absorb or lose large amounts of heat with changing temperature very much. Large heat
capacity of our oceans moderate our climate by preventing large changes in temperature)Latent heat: energy required to change phase of substance (Temperature does not change,
energy is stored, water has largest. Large latent heat exchanges during evaporation and condensation transfer energy around the Earth)Salinity: total amount of material dissolved in
water (but not including dissolved organic matter, average 35g in 1kg water). Residence time: amount in reservoir /total sources OR sinks. Reservoir: amount of material of interest in a
given form. Flux: amount of material added to (source), or removed from (sink) reservoir, in a given period of time. Coriolis effect: an apparent force, due to Earths rotation, that
changes the direction of moving objects e.g. winds, water currents (- to the RIGHT in Northern Hemisphere- to the LEFT in Southern Hemisphere- No Coriolis effect at Equator)Ocean
circulation: Surface circulation (above 400m) driven by winds, Deep circulation (below 400m, thermohaline circulation, thermos (temperature) &haline(salinity), 90% of ocean circulation)
driven by density. Gyres form due to continent positions and wind patterns. Lack of pynocline makes it easier for surface and deeper waters to mix at high latitudes. How/where deep
water can be formed today: Make salty water cold by moving it to high latitudes e.g. North Atlantic, Make cold water salty by forming sea ice e.g. off Antarctica. How intermediate water
can be formed: Cold but fresher waters, Warm but very salty waters (due to high evaporation rates). Future of thermohaline circulation: Unlikely to get a complete shutdown (not enough
freshwater today). Butcirculation is thought to be slowing and is predicted to reduce in volume by up to 30% by 2100. A slowdown or weakening of the circulation may result in: climate
changes around North Atlantic (but no new ice sheets!), changes in how much carbon is stored in ocean and water chemistry. La Nina: strong SE trade winds, upwelling, cool in east, low
rain, warm water and high rain in west. El Nio : weak or reversed SE trade winds, warm water moves from west to east, high rain in mid- and east Pacific Complicating factors that affect
tides: Moon declination - the Moon does not actually orbit consistently above the Equator but can vary from up to 28.5 oN to 28.5 oS . Elliptical orbits which will affect gravitational force
over a year or longer. Depth of our oceans (4km) compared to wavelength of tides (20,000km) means that tidal waves are shallow water waves so slow down and so tidal bulges arent
perfectly stationary. Continents get in the way and so refract, reflect and focus tides in a very complex way! Processes/Characteristics of Life: Metabolism, Growth, Reproduction, Evolution.
Three domains of life: Eurkarya (complex multi/unicellular life), Archea (simple, microscopic creatures that often live in extreme environments), Bacteria (no nucleus). 5 Kingdoms: Protista
(the single-celled eukaryotes); Fungi (fungus and related organisms); Plantae (the plants); Animalia (the animals); Monera (the prokaryotes) Metabolism: Autotroph (self-feeder:
photo(energy from sun)/chemo(energy from chemical reaction)) CO2 + H2O + energy => CH2O + O2, Heterotroph (other feeder: Suspension(filter feeding) CH2O + O2 => energy + H2O
+ CO2, Deposit(dead or decaying organic matter), Carnivorous(capture and eat: active (seek prey)/passive(wait for prey)). Important nutrients in ecosystem: Nitrogen (limiting),
Phosphorus, Iron and silica. Why Few Marine but many land species: More variable environments and separation of environments on land create more species. Marine environment is very
stable and interconnected. Very stable conditions means that often ocean organisms are not good at coping with changes they are very sensitive to change. More benthic species
because there are more diverse conditions possible on the seafloor e.g. rocky, sandy, muddy, steep or flat, lots or little sediment deposited. Adapted to DEEP Ocean: Huge eyes, sensory
devices (antenna/sensitive skin), bioluminescence. Adaptions to Salinity: Active Transport(ions are transported form low concentration to high concentration), Diffusion(dissolved material
from areas of high concentration to low concentration), Osmosis(water molecules move from low salinity to high salinity). Adaption to Pressure: Most marine organisms do not have air
pockets instead they have water-filled bodies which are incompressible. Plankton: Organisms that drift with ocean currents (cannot swim against current), Classification based on
feeding styles: Phytoplankton (producers: diatoms, coccolithophores), Zooplankton (consumers: radiolarians, copepods), Bacterioplankton (recyclers), Classification based on life
cycle: Holoplankton (are plankton for their whole life: foraminifera, radiolaria), Meroplankton (only plankton when juvenile/larval: starfish, lobsters, octopi). Nekton: They stay afloat using:
Internal gas chambers (called swim bladders in fish) which the animal can inflate and deflate, actively swimming. Obtain Prey: Nekton can be lungers or cruisers: Lungers wait for prey to
come close, Cruisers actively seek prey. Cold-blooded fish have same temperature as their environment known as poikilothermic and tend to be slower. Warm-blooded fish maintain
their body temperatures higher than their environment known as homeothermic) and tend to be faster. May help their muscles work better. Avoid Prey: Schooling (grouping together),
Symboisis (relationships with other organisms: Commensalism (less dominant benefits without harming), mutualism (both benefit), Parasitism (one benefits at the expensive of the other)),
Speed, transparency, countershading, camouflage, secreting poisons, mimicry. Benthos: Mostly near coasts, Primary producers: plants (turtle grass, mangroves). Epifaunal: Live on top of
seafloor. Infaunal: Live within sediment on seafloor. Rocky shallow offshore benthic ecosystems: usually covered by seaweeds, provide food and shelter for: mollusks, starfish, sea urchins,
sea slugs, lobsters, mammals. Corals: ANIMAL. Symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellates which photosynthesize and live in corals tissues. Large surface corals grow in warm water,
western side of ocean basins, rocky hard bottom, sunlight/clear water. Habitats for 25% of all marine species, 50% of tourism income, protect coastlines from storm waves and tsunamis.
Abyssal Plains: usually filter seawater, sift, or use chemical clues to search for food. Hydrothermal Vents: unrelated to photosynthesis, occur along mid-ocean ridges, must be fast growing.
Cold Seeps: unrelated to photosynthesis, longer lasting so slower growing. Be aware that we have even have found life deep in Earths ocean crust. Country Ocean territory: A countrys
territorial waters extend 12 miles out from land. A countrys exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extends out 200 miles from land and gives them control over mineral resources, fishing and
pollution regulation. Pollution: Noise(from shipping, effects still unknown), Plastic and trash (light, strong, durable and cheap) Oil (~50% comes from human: boats, cars, runoff,
transporting oil around the world, oil/gas extraction, tougher regulations have been put into effect), Sewage (most countries treat then dump into ocean (still contains human waste,
metals, oil, and other chemicals, banned by US in 1992), Heavy metals (mercury, bioaccumulation, biomagnification, can cause birth defects and muscle weakness, damage to hearing,
vision and speech, eventually insanity), Pesticides (washed into oceans and was biomagnified, DDT caused birds egg shells to be too thin and crush), fertilizers (Phosphorus and nitrogen
cause huge algal blooms, other animal life suffocates creating deadzones. Invasive Species: increased shipping means that species from different parts of the world can invade different
regions, can disrupt the existing ecosystems an cause extinction, can also occur from emptying fish tanks into ocean. Habitat Destruction/Fishing practices: Dredging (bycatch and
destruction of ecosystems), Most fish species are fully or over exploited and so are being removed more quickly than they can breed to replace the population (causing higher trophic levels
to starve), Fish ae getting smaller and farther out into the ocean (changing baselines). Managing fisheries involves determining remaining populations of fish, analyzing fishing practices,
creating closed areas and setting/enforcing catch limits. Source of Earths energy is the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation. Earths energy balance: Shortwave (visible) radiation
comes from the Sun. Some is reflected by atmosphere or Earths surface. Remaining amount of energy is absorbed by the Earth which increases Earths temperature. Earth then emits
longwave (infrared) radiation outwards (because it is colder). Longwave radiation is absorbed by greenhouse gases in Earths atmosphere so does not escape out to space. Gases in the
atmosphere therefore warm up and emit longwave radiation in all directions including back to Earths surface which keeps us warmer. Change in the amount of incoming shortwave
radiation Changes in solar luminosity. Changes in Earths orbit. Change in the amount of incoming shortwave radiation reflected from the Earth or the atmosphere Changes in aerosols in
atmosphere e.g. volcanic eruptions. Changes in amount and type of clouds. Changes in type of surface on Earth e.g. melting ice, deforestation. Change in the amount of outgoing longwave
radiation trapped by our atmosphere Changes in aerosols in atmosphere e.g. soot from fires. Changes in greenhouse gas concentrations in atmosphere. Recent observed changes in
climate include: Warming of the atmosphere, Wet places getting wetter and dry places getting dryer, Glaciers and ice sheets have been melting, as has sea ice and permafrost (frozen soil),
Oceans: have warmed down to 3000m in some locations, increased sea levels, acidification of
seawater due to higher atmospheric CO2 levels.
Representative
Concentration Pathways (RCPs): plausible
greenhouse gas trajectories
for the future based on economic growth,
energy sources, population
growth. An increase in atmospheric CO2 will
increase dissolved CO2 and
result in more H+ ions (lower pH) and so more
acidic oceans. More acidic
oceans result in less CO32- and in some locations
(if we see high levels of
carbon emissions) the surface ocean could
become undersaturated with
CaCO3. If the ocean in undersaturated (or less
supersaturated) then
organisms that produce calcium carbonate
shells could struggle to
survive it is likely to further stress coral reefs
and potentially change the types of phytoplankton and zooplankton in the oceans. But effects on life in the ocean are
very uncertain still need more research. The calcite compensation depth can move (get shallower) on long timescales to prevent large changes in ocean pH but the change we are seeing
today is happening too quickly for that to occur. Our oceans are warming due to the extra energy trapped near Earths surface due to greater greenhouse has concentrations. Area and age
of Arctic sea ice has been decreasing over the last 30-40 years. Amount of summer sea ice remaining by 2100 will depend on which RCP we follow (amount of biological activity in a
summer ice-free artic will probably be greater, but it will no longer be unique, increased human activity to pollute and disrupt ecosystems). -Be aware that sea level will continue to rise
beyond 2100 due to thermal expansion and continued melting of ice sheets -Ultimately preventing ocean acidification, sea ice melt and sea level rise require reducing our greenhouse gas
emissions. There are plenty of existing technologies which could allow us to do this but they are not yet widespread.