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Atmospheric Structure and Composition © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION © Eyewire, Inc. © Eyewire, Atmospheric Structure CHAPTER 2 and Composition and liquid particles suspended above the surface Chapter at a Glance that are too tiny for gravity to pull downward. Solid Origin of the Earth and Atmosphere aerosols include ice crystals, volcanic soot parti- Atmospheric Composition cles, salt crystals from the ocean, and soil particles; Carbon Cycle liquid aerosols include clouds and fog droplets. Constant and Variable Gases Because the atmosphere is composed of the Faint Young Sun Paradox lightest elements gravitationally attracted to the Atmospheric Structure Earth, many assume that it has little or no mass. Summary Compared with the mass of the solid Earth (6 × Key Terms 1024 kg; or 6 × 1021 metric tons) and oceans (1.4 × Review Questions 1021 kg; or 1.4 × 1018 metric tons), the atmosphere is Questions for Thought indeed light. But the atmosphere has a substantial total mass of 5 × 1018 kg (5 × 1015 metric tons)! The mass of the air is in constant motion, giving The atmosphere is a collection of gases held near considerable impact to the surface environment. the Earth by gravity. It is also pulled away from the For example, a tornado can cause catastrophic Earth because a vacuum exists in the harsh con- devastation to a location. In the case of a tornado, ditions of space. One of the most fundamental the mass of air has substantial acceleration. Ac- properties of the universe—the second law of cording to Newton’s second law of motion, force thermodynamics—states that energy (and, there- is the product of mass and acceleration. The two fore, mass, because energy and mass are related by factors combine, in this situation, to produce a Einstein’s theory of relativity) moves from areas of force capable of devastation. higher concentration (in this case, Earth’s lower The atmosphere is an extremely complex entity atmosphere) to areas of lower concentration (outer that must be viewed simultaneously on many levels, space). The atmosphere thus represents a place both temporally and in three spatial dimensions where a balance is generally achieved between (west–east, north–south, and vertical). Atmospheric the downward-directed gravitational force and processes can be difficult to understand. To appre- the upward-directed force of buoyancy. This bal- ciate the nature of the atmosphere properly, we ance is termed hydrostatic equilibrium. This must first understand the origins of the atmosphere extremely thin and delicate zone known as the and its changes since the origin of the planet. atmosphere makes life as we know it possible on the planet. When you look in the sky the atmo- ■■Origin of the Earth sphere appears to continue infinitely, but if Earth and Atmosphere were the size of an apple, the atmosphere would have the thickness of the apple’s skin. According to the best scientific information, the Technically, the atmosphere is a subset of the air universe is believed to have begun approximately because it is composed solely of gases. By contrast, 15 billion years ago. At that time all matter in air contains not only gases but also aerosols—solid the universe was confined to a single space. An 11 9781284028775_CH02_0011.indd 11 9/18/13 8:03 AM © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION 12 CHAPTER 2 — Atmospheric Structure and Composition ­explosion of unimaginable proportion sent this couraged by frequent impacts with large planetes- matter—mostly hydrogen—outward in all direc- imals, which were essentially very small planets of tions. Over time, gravity caused matter to collect condensed debris moving over wildly eccentric or- in various areas of space to form galaxies. Within bits about the Sun. These planetesimals contrib- the galaxies smaller amounts of matter condensed uted heavier elements and mass to the growing gravitationally into stars. Star formation began to Earth while shattering and melting its hot surface. occur when hydrogen was compressed under its A collision between Earth and a planetesimal is own gravitational weight. If the mass involved was thought to have created the Moon. Remnants of sufficiently large, nuclear fusion—a process that early solar system planetesimals are present today converted lighter elements (principally hydrogen) in the vast asteroid field between Mars and Jupiter. into heavier elements (primarily helium)—began. The Oort cloud—a collection of icy comets and Such reactions released amazing quantities of dust that surrounds the outer edges of our solar radiant energy while creating (fusing) all matter system—also acts as a relic of conditions present in heavier than hydrogen. the early stages of solar system formation. Occasionally, a star exploded, sending heavier In these early times Earth’s atmosphere is be- elements outward through the galaxy. Vast clouds lieved to have consisted of light and inert (noble) of dust, called nebula (Figure 2.1), formed, and gases such as hydrogen, helium, neon, and argon. the original gravitational accumulation process These gases were effectively swept away as the began anew. Our solar system is believed to have solar wind—radioactive particles from the Sun formed from a nebula approximately 5 billion moving through space at nearly the speed of years ago. The Sun gravitationally attracted the light—developed. Today, Earth is largely devoid of bulk of the elements that composed the nebula. noble gases as a result. So how did the atmosphere Planets formed as balls of dust gravitationally col- that we know today form? lected over various orbits about the primitive Sun. The composition of the atmosphere can be ex- Earth was one such ball of dust. As it grew the ele- plained by looking at volcanic activity, which is ments fused together and collapsed under their rather limited over Earth’s surface today but was own weight and gravity. As Earth grew in size, its apparently widespread billions of years ago as the gravity increased proportionately. Friction caused early Earth cooled slowly from its primordial mol- the Earth materials to melt. Melting was also en- ten state. As volcanic material cooled, gases were released through the process of outgassing, which primarily involved diatomic nitrogen (N2) and car- bon dioxide (CO2), with lesser amounts of water va- por, methane (CH4), and sulfur. The condensation of water vapor into liquid water in the cool atmo- sphere formed clouds and precipitation. Precipita- tion collected in low-elevation areas of the planet and accumulated over time to form the oceans. Our planet is unique in the solar system because of the presence of liquid water. This is a conse- quence of many related, and interacting, factors— some of which include distance to the Sun and atmospheric composition. Because water is essen- tial to life, it is not surprising that Earth is the only planet known to support life. ■■Atmospheric Composition Today, the dry atmosphere consists primarily of N and diatomic oxygen (O ). Diatomic nitrogen is Figure 2.1 The Orion Nebula. 2 2 a stable gas that comprises 78% of the present-day Courtesy of NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team. atmospheric volume (Table 2.1). The abundance 2ND PAGES 9781284028775_CH02_0011.indd 12 9/18/13 8:03 AM © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Atmospheric Composition 13 Table 2.1 Composition of the Dry Atmosphere to have evolved from the further development of eukaryotes. Prokaryotes and eukaryotes would Gas Percentage of Air have had to develop in the oceans, however, be- Nitrogen (N ) 78.08 cause without oxygen in the atmosphere the pro- 2 99.03 Diatomic oxygen (O2) 20.95 tective ozone (O3) layer could not have formed to Argon (Ar) 0.93 protect terrestrial life from the harmful ultraviolet Carbon dioxide (CO2) 0.039 (UV) radiation emitted by the Sun. Over time, CO2 All others 0.003 continued to accumulate, as it became a larger and larger component of the atmospheric volume. By about 3 billion years ago another major de- of N2 has increased as a percentage of the total velopment in the history of life on Earth apparently atmospheric volume primarily because it is not caused another major change to the atmospheric removed as effectively from the atmosphere as composition. The early evolution of eubacteria, are most other atmospheric gases. The residence and later, protists, and eventually aquatic green time—the mean length of time that an individual plants led to a significant extraction of CO2 from molecule remains in the atmosphere—of N2 is the atmosphere in photosynthesis—the process believed to be approximately 16.25 million years. by which green plants derive energy through the The next-most abundant gas in the present-day breakdown of food—and in the accumulating bio- dry atmosphere is oxygen, comprising approxi- mass of those plants. O2 is released into the atmo- mately 21% of the atmospheric volume. About sphere as a byproduct of photosynthesis. As green 0.93% of the remaining 1% of the dry atmosphere plants began to populate Earth, first in the oceans is composed mostly of argon (Ar), and a wide array and later on land after the presence of O2 gradually of atmospheric trace gases constitute the remain- led to the formation of ozone (O3) and the O3 der. Of these, CO2 is the fourth-most abundant gas layer—atmospheric CO2 decreased in concentra- in the dry atmosphere, representing 0.039% of the tion while atmospheric O2 simultaneously in- dry atmosphere, or 390 parts per million (ppm). It creased. Today most of the atmospheric CO2 is plays an especially important role in maintaining stored in vast quantities of sedimentary rock, orig- the temperature of the planet at a level comfort- inally extracted from the atmosphere by living able for life in its present form.
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