Lab2_SystemDiagrams_LLL

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Feb 20, 2024

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Lab 2—Reading and Constructing System Diagrams 24 Questions Why is system diagram construction crucial to ESS? How do you understand something as complex as climate change, or soil formation for that matter? Both are tremendously complicated with many factors, processes, and feedback loops involved. It can be mind boggling. Indeed, soil processes are a part of what influences climate (through carbon sequestration and soil microbe respiration), and climate influences soil processes (through controlling temperature and moisture). One complex system is embedded in another in an interdependent relationship. The challenge is daunting, and one might be forgiven for giving up, but as our population grows and we must manage resources, there is great need for understanding complex systems. In addition, new tools provide opportunity to take on this challenging task. The answer to understanding the complex interwoven components of the earth we live on is that you “pull out all the stops.” You have to look at everything, the component physics, chemistry, geology, and biology. Field observations, experimental studies and computer modeling all need to be integrated. Multi-disciplinary teams and dedicated scientific communities are necessary. ESS is arguably the most challenging scientific endeavor humanity has ever embarked on. Much remains to be done, but one can also be heartened by the tremendous progress that has been made in the last few decades. One fundamental tool used in tackling these types of complex scientific challenges is mapping out the linkages among the various components, processes, and variables that influence a complex system of interest (climate, soils, ecosystems ….). These maps take many forms, but often consist of diagrams with boxes and arrows, and can be constructed as formalized system diagrams with their own meaningful iconography (symbology). They are fundamentally conceptual maps , models for how the complex system works, although they can also be transformed into working models. You are probably already familiar with system diagrams in some form. They are often called cycles, and the water cycle, carbon cycle, and rock cycle mentioned in the first lab are just three examples. We will start with these more familiar examples as we explore how one constructs systems diagrams. Knowing how to create system diagrams is also a skill that is useful in many other realms of life. For example, one could map out their financial situation or what influences their grade using system diagrams. Some people refer to “systems thinking.” One example of the application of system thinking to health science can be found here , which might be worth reviewing if you are or intend to be connected to this field in the future. There is a tremendous amount of material on the web about systems thinking, in part because it is so powerful and multi-disciplinary, and it can be disorienting at first. The reason we start off this lab course in ESS with this exercise is because understanding and constructing system diagrams is not only fundamental to ESS, it is also a powerful tool to use throughout life. 1

Our experience in teaching system diagram material suggests to us that for many students learning how to build such diagrams is not easy. This is not mentioned to discourage you in any way. Experience also suggests that this material is also quite accessible at the introductory college level. Just be prepared to explore a way of thinking that may be unfamiliar at first. As in the first lab, the parts you need to answer to complete the lab are identified by green text. Reading system diagrams as conceptual models (7 pts) The water cycle is an attempt to understand how water moves above, on top of, and below the earth’s surface. Without water, not only would there be no life on earth, but the earth would behave very differently geologically. Water makes all sorts of things happen in our world, and this is why it is often introduced at the elementary school level. Below you will find a version of the water cycle from the USGS ( source: https://gpm.nasa.gov/education/images/usgs-water-cycle- diagram ) that is very commonly used, and which you have seen in Lab 1. The USGS (the United States Geological Survey) is the agency responsible for helping to track and understand water resources, and provides a wealth of high quality geosciences information which we will tap into in subsequent labs. Read through the diagram carefully. If there are some words you are unfamiliar with (e.g. sublimation, or evapotranspiration) use your favorite web browser to look up a definition. 2

Use the diagram and what you know of the water cycle to answer these questions to the best of your ability, and thereby get some practice in reading one form of a system diagram. Please write clear, complete, answers and make your text a different color . Question 1: Of all the possibilities mentioned in the diagram, where is the greatest quantity of the water at any one point in time? The greatest quantity of water at any one point in time would be located in the ocean. Question 2: Which component(s) depicted in the diagram are especially significant for a location like Antarctica? Ice and snow are especially significant for a location like Antarctica. Question 3: Calving is a process where large chunks of glacial ice fall into the ocean (this occurs where the glacier front is floating on the water, or just at the water’s edge and large pieces break off and fall into the sea). The resulting icebergs eventually melt. Is that process displayed here, and if so, how? Calving is not on display in the diagram. Question 4: Does all of the water in the atmosphere that precipitates fall onto the land, and if not, where else can it fall? Is this represented in the diagram? Water can also fall into the ocean. It is not well represented in the diagram. Question 5: Where does water likely spend the shortest amount of time, on average? Google it if you don’t have a guess Water spends the shortest amount of time in the atmosphere. Question 6: Are “plant uptake” and “evapotranspiration” linked? If so, explain how. (evapotranspiration = evaporation of water from surfaces plus transpiration, which is evaporation of water from leaves ) Yes it is linked because plant uptake is the plant taking in water from the soil and evaporating from its leaves. Question 7: Is that linkage (Q6) explicitly shown on the diagram above? I would say so because it shows the plant getting water from the soil and that it evaporates into the atmosphere. This USGS water cycle diagram has the advantage of making a clear visual connection between the words and the real world. However, it has some disadvantages. Some of these are pointed out by the answers to the questions above. There are important processes that are not included in this diagram. Taking a more structured approach to creating system diagrams results in a more useful product, and a sounder conceptual understanding. Such system diagrams can also serve as the basis for more powerful, and predictive computer models for the earth system under investigation, and versions of the water cycle adapted to specific localities are used to manage water with very important economic and social consequences. When it 3

comes to recourse management, it is important to not only have a qualitative understanding, but also a quantitative grasp of the situation. Another example of a system diagram Below is a diagram for the carbon cycle from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – another federal government source that has significant geosciences information). Find additional information on the carbon cycle (and image source) here . Use the carbon cycle diagram above to answer the following questions. Question 8: Several arrows show transfer of carbon (C) from the atmosphere to vegetation. What is the name for the process that accomplishes this (where C in the form of CO 2 is taken up by plants)? The process of photosynthesis is where the plants capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 4

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