Energy Flow Systems :: essays research papers

Energy Flow SystemsRichard lily-whites Organic Machine, and William Cronons Changes in theLand, both examine environments as zip conflate dodges. The energy flow modelwas utilized by the authors to explain relationships within ecosystems.Richard Whites thesis is to examine the river as an organic machine, asan energy system that, although modified by human intervention, maintains itsnatural, its unmade qualities. White emphasizes on energy because it is auseful concept that can be easily understood. He says, the flow of the riveris energy, so is the electricity that comes from the dams that block that flow.Human labor is energy so are the calories that are stored as generative by salmon fortheir journey upstream. White notes that energy is as concrete as salmon,human bodies, and the Grand Coulee Dam. White wants his readers to think aboutnature and its relationship with humanity.White explains how the river is energy. The Columbia River works asgravity pulls it to the Pacific O cean. The Columbia is continuously cuttinginto the terrain that it flows through. Over millions of years water rushedthrough the Columbia Basin to form the Columbia River. body of water carries soil, silt,and debris downstream. The constant movement of material in the river cuts andshapes the river basin into the land. This movement is a slow and inefficientuse of energy. According to White, only two per centum of waters potential energyresults in the work of erosion. The other ninety-eight percent of waters energywas lost as water molecules rub against themselves, the river bed, and the riverbanks. This energy was released as instigate into the river.Often the energy of flowing water was not recognized. There areoccasions when rivers do show their power is destructive ways. Power wasusually exhibit through floods, and more so in flash floods. Thousands ofyears ago, an ice dam in the Columbia River, holding the glacial lake Missoula,broke and created the largest known fresh wate r flood in earths history. Theflood rushed into the Columbia Channel and created the Grand Coulee and otherrock channels that would have taken the Mississippi River three 100 years atfull flood to create.Salmon are also a part of the Colombian energy model. As the riverworks its way descending(prenominal) to the Pacific Ocean, the salmon work their way up theColumbia to spawn. The energy in salmon can be measured by their body fat andcaloric value. Salmon start their run upstream prepared for the long hard run.Their bodies have stored fat and oil after a year expenditure of feeding at sea.