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Oxygen and ozone continuously interconverted. Solar UV breaks down oxygen; molecular and atomic oxygen combine to form Ozone. 3. Ozone is lost by reaction with atomic oxygen (plus other trace atoms). The ozone–oxygen cycle is the process by which ozone is continually regenerated in Earth's stratosphere, converting ultraviolet radiation (UV ...
Ozone in the stratosphere is mostly produced from short-wave ultraviolet rays between 240 and 160 nm. Oxygen starts to absorb weakly at 240 nm in the Herzberg bands, but most of the oxygen is dissociated by absorption in the strong Schumann–Runge bands between 200 and 160 nm where ozone does not absorb. While shorter wavelength light ...
The ozone layer or ozone shield is a region of Earth's stratosphere that absorbs most of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation. It contains a high concentration of ozone (O 3 ) in relation to other parts of the atmosphere, although still small in relation to other gases in the stratosphere.
The formation of the ozone layer is also caused by photodissociation. Ozone in the Earth's stratosphere is created by ultraviolet light striking oxygen molecules containing two oxygen atoms (O 2), splitting them into individual oxygen atoms (atomic oxygen). The atomic oxygen then combines with unbroken O 2 to create ozone, O 3. [17]
The ozone layer in the stratosphere blocks harmful UV radiation from reaching the surface of the Earth. A gamma ray burst would deplete the ozone layer, allowing UV radiation through. The mechanism describing the formation of the ozone layer was described by British mathematician and geophysicist Sydney Chapman in 1930, and is known as the ...
Ozone absorbs strongly in the ultraviolet and in the stratosphere functions as a shield for the biosphere against mutagenic and other damaging effects of solar UV radiation (see ozone layer). [5] Tropospheric ozone is formed near the Earth's surface by the photochemical disintegration of nitrogen dioxide in the exhaust of automobiles. [10]
The thermosphere (or the upper atmosphere) is the height region above 85 kilometres (53 mi), while the region between the tropopause and the mesopause is the middle atmosphere (stratosphere and mesosphere) where absorption of solar UV radiation generates the temperature maximum near an altitude of 45 kilometres (28 mi) and causes the ozone layer.
Ozone depletion, on the other hand, is a radiative forcing of the climate system. Two opposite effects exist: Reduced ozone causes the stratosphere to absorb less solar radiation, cooling it while warming the troposphere; as a result, the stratosphere emits less long-wave radiation downward, cooling the troposphere.