Question

Comparing the heights of the 300-mb pressure surface generally across the southern portion of the U.S. to those along the northern portion on the map, as latitude increases (one moves poleward), the height of the 300-mb surface generally ________. This pattern is the same as that found at 500 mb.

a) Increases
b) Decreases
c) Remains constant
d) Fluctuates

Answer 1

As latitude increases, the height of the 300-mb surface generally decreases due to inverse relationships between pressure, altitude, and temperature in the Earth's atmosphere.

Step-by-step explanation:

As latitude increases (one moves poleward), the height of the 300-mb surface generally decreases. Atmospheric pressure and altitude have an inverse relationship; as one moves to higher latitudes, where temperatures are generally colder, the thickness of atmospheric layers tends to decrease, leading to a lower height of the 300-mb surface.

This is consistent across various atmospheric levels, such as at 500 mb, signifying a spatial consistency in the pattern of the atmospheres vertical structure. This relationship is affected by the vertical temperature profile, as air density and pressure change with temperature decreases at higher altitudes — known as the lapse rate (I) — affecting atmospheric height contours, or isobars, depicted on weather maps.

L