AP Environmental Science
The Peru Current, which supports vast populations of food fish, slows somewhat during normal years due to warming, but in El Niño years the warming lasts for months and has a much greater economic impact upon international fishing. An El Niño event started in September 2006 and lasted until early 2007. Then, from June 2007 on, a weak La Niña occurred, eventually strengthening in early 2008. The Chilean government placed restrictions on fishing to help local fisheries compete against international companies moving southward after fish.
(a) What is the first sign of an El Niño event?
(b) Why do El Niño events change precipitation patterns on the western coast of South America?
(c) What role does air pressure play in weather patterns?
(d) Why is it important to study El Niño trends and fish impacts?”
Question 2:
Aquifers are often found in various places. Hydrologists are concerned about surface pollutant runoff making its way down into underground aquifers. Some aquifers form a water table that separates saturated and unsaturated zones. Some aquifers, however, lie beneath layers of impermeable materials like clay. Confined aquifers are more complex than unconfined aquifers that flow freely.
(a) Can groundwater pollution affect the integrity of aquifers? Explain.
(b) What is the difference between confined and unconfined aquifers?
(c) Where are aquifers generally found?
Question 3:
A heat and pressure gradient promotes metamorphism in a graded way depending on depth. The deeper you go, the hotter the temperature and pressure, the greater the metamorphic changes. Depending on the conditions under which rock is changed, the rock gradient forms either high-grade or low-grade metamorphic rock.
↑ Temperature and ↑ pressure ⇒ high-grade metamorphic rock
↓ Temperature and ↓ pressure ⇒ low-grade metamorphic rock
Rock’s crystalline structure changes as it adjusts to new temperatures and pressures. Ions are energized, breaking their chemical bonds and creating new mineral linkages and forms. Sometimes, crystals grow larger than those in the original rock. New minerals are created by the rearrangement of chemical bonds or reactions with fluids entering the rock.
(a) What role does metamorphism play in the rock cycle?
(b) Explain the correlation between pressure and depth.
(c) Are greater metamorphic changes likelier to occur at a depth of 170 km or 1,700 km in the Earth’s crust?
(d) Give an example of each of the following rock types: sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. How do they differ?
Question 4:
Scientists have observed severe declines in honeybee populations. They call this colony collapse disorder. Without honeybees, flowers are not pollinated, crops don’t thrive, and overall plant “growth suffers. In fact, apple growers are almost totally dependent on insects for pollination, with honeybees responsible for over 90%. Pumpkin growers need bees to pollinate their plants too. On average, growers paid $140–$160 per colony in 2012, compared to $55 and $65 per colony in 2008 due to the decline in available bees. In fact, nearly ½ of all honey bee colonies have vanished due to pesticides, mites, and disease.
(a) From the preceding information, can honeybees be considered a keystone species in certain agricultural ecosystems?
(b) Describe a possible effect of drastic honeybee population declines as a species.
(c) How could the population drop in honeybee population affect the habitats of other local denizens?
(d) Ultimately, where does all food come from (i.e., what major components are necessary?)
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