Solutions for Chapter 3: The Cellular Level of Organization

The transport of sediment in a zigzag pattern along a beach caused by the uprush of water from obliquely breaking waves.

The totality of life on Earth; the parts of the solid Earth, hydrosphere, and atmosphere in which living organisms can be found.

The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of water 1° C.

A form of condensation best described as a dense concentration of suspended water droplets or tiny ice crystals.

The variation in the rate and degree of weathering caused by such factors as mineral makeup, degree of jointing, and climate.

A mountain formed by the displacement of rock along a fault.

The gradual increase in temperature with depth in the crust. The average is 30° C per kilometer in the upper crust.

A sediment layer that is characterized by a decrease in sediment size from bottom to top.

A coherent unit of Earth’s rigid outer layer that includes the crust and upper unit.

The zone of beach that extends from the low-tide shoreline seaward to where waves break at low tide.

Resource that forms or accumulates over such long time spans that it must be considered as fixed in total quantity.

The relatively flat submerged zone that extends from the breaker line to the edge of the continental shelf.

Open ocean of any depth. Animals in this zone swim or float freely.

The point in the orbit of a planet where it is closest to the Sun.

A basic unit of the geologic calendar that is a subdivision of an era. Periods may be divided into smaller units called epochs.

A cold air mass that forms in a high-latitude source region. Polar easterlies In the global pattern of prevailing winds, winds that blow from the polar high toward the subpolar low. These winds, however, should not be thought of as persistent winds, such as the trade winds.

The radioactive isotope of carbon, which is produced continuously in the atmosphere and is used in dating events from the very recent geologic past (the last few tens of thousands of years).

The ratio of the air’s watervapor content to its water-vapor capacity.

Isolated hill of sand that exhibits a complex form and develops where wind directions are variable.

The level of a lake, resistant rock layer, or any other base level that stands above sea level.