Ap Environmental "hit Parade"

Front 1

abiotic

Back 1

all non living things in the environment

Front 2

abyssal zone

Back 2

deepest region of the ocean, extremely cold temperatures and very low levels of dissolved oxygen, high level of nutrients b/c of decaying plant and animal matter from above zones

Front 3

acid

Back 3

any compound that releases hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. also a water soltution that contains a surplus of hydrogen ions

Front 4

active volcano

Back 4

a volcano that is curently erupting or has erupted within recorded history

Front 5

aggregate

Back 5

crowded or massed into a desnse cluster

Front 6

air mass

Back 6

enormous bodies of air that move as a unit

Front 7

A layer

Back 7

soil horizon, below O layer, weathered rock, organic material (TOP SOIL)

Front 8

alkaline

Back 8

a basic substance; chemically a substance that abosrbs hydrogen ions or releases hydroxyl ions in refernce to natural water a measure of the base content of the water

Front 9

aquifer

Back 9

an underground layer of porous rock sand or other material that alows the movement of water b/t layers of non prous rock o clay (tapped for wells)

Front 10

arable

Back 10

land that is fit to be cultivated

Front 11

astehnosphere

Back 11

the part of the mantle that lies just below the lithosphere

Front 12

atmosphere

Back 12

the gaseous mass or envelope surrounding a celestial body

Front 13

barrier island

Back 13

a long sort of narrow island running parallel to the mainland built up by the actions or waves and currents proctects coas from erosion by surf and tidal surfaces

Front 14

bathyal zone

Back 14

the steep descent of the seabed from the continental shelf to the abyssal zone

Front 15

benthic zone

Back 15

deepest layer in a body or water; characterized by very low temp. & low oxygen levels

Front 16

biologial weathering

Back 16

any weathering that is caused by the activties of living organisms

Front 17

botic

Back 17

living or derived from living things

Front 18

B layer

Back 18

a soil horizon; recieves minerals and organic materials that are leached from the E layer

Front 19

chemical weathering

Back 19

the result of chemical interaction b/t with the bedrock that is typical of the action of both waterand atmospheric gases

Front 20

C layer

Back 20

made up of larger pieces of rick that have no undergone much weathering

Front 21

clay

Back 21

soil made up of particles that are less than 0.002 mm in diameter (smaller than sand and silt)

Front 22

conduction

Back 22

the transmission or convering of something through a medium or passage especially the transmision of electric charge or heat through a conduction medium without perceptible motion of the medium itself

Front 23

concetion currents

Back 23

pcean currents caused by the vertical movement of air due to heating and cooling of atmosphere

Front 24

congergent boundary

Back 24

a plate boundary where 2 plates are moving toward each other and have/will collide

Front 25

coral reef

Back 25

an erosion-resistant marine ridge or mound consisting chiefly or compacted coral together with algal material

Front 26

Coriolis effect

Back 26

the observed effect of the corioulis force especially the deflection of an object moving above the eath, rightward in the northern hemisphere and leftward in the southern hemisphere

Front 27

crop rotation

Back 27

the practice of altering the crops grown on a piece of land for ex) corn 1 year then legumes for two years then back to corn

Front 28

delta

Back 28

a usually triangular alluvial desposit at the mouth of a river

Front 29

divergent boundary

Back 29

a plate boundary at which plates away from each other. this causes an upwelling of magma from the mantle to cool and form new crust

Front 30

doldrums

Back 30

a region of the ocean near the equator characterized by calm light winds or squalls

Front 31

dormant volcanoes

Back 31

volcanoes that have not been known to erupt

Front 32

drip irrigation

Back 32

a method of supplying irrigation water through tubes that literally drip water onto the soil at the base of each plant

Front 33

earthquake

Back 33

the result of vibrations [due to plate movements] deep in the earth taht release energy

Front 34

e layer

Back 34

soil horizon; lies below a layer e stands for eluviations and this layer is prmarily composed of mineral material

Front 35

epilimnion

Back 35

the uppermost and thus the most oxygenated layer of a fresh body of water

Front 36

erosion

Back 36

the process of soil particles being carried away by wind or water. erosion moves smaller prticles 1st and hence degrades soil to a coarser sandier stoneir texture

Front 37

estuary

Back 37

the part of the wide lower course of a river where its current is met by the tides

Front 38

fault

Back 38

the place where 2 plates abut each other

Front 39

front

Back 39

the boundary where different air masses meet

Front 40

green revolution

Back 40

the development and introduction or new varieties of wheat and rice that has increased yields per acre in countries since 1960's

Front 41

hadley cell

Back 41

a system of vertical and horizontal air cicualtion predomnating in tropical and subtropical regions and creating major weather patterns

Front 42

headwaters

Back 42

the water from which a river rises

Front 43

horiztional airflow

Back 43

when a wamr air mass rises an cool air rushes in to take its place

Front 44

horse latitudes

Back 44

either of two belts of latitudes located over the oceans at about 30 to 35 north and south calm light changable winds

Front 45

humus

Back 45

dark crumbly nutrient rich material that results from the decompostion of organic material

Front 46

hypolimnion

Back 46

the layer of water in a thermally stratified lake that lies below the thermocline is nonciculating and remains cold

Front 47

inner core

Back 47

molten core of eath

Front 48

insolation

Back 48

the rate of delivery of solar radiation per unit of horizontal surface

Front 49

interbasin transfer

Back 49

a system by which water is transported very long distances from its source through aquefucts or pipelines

Front 50

ionosphere

Back 50

a region of the earth's atompshere where ioniztion caused by incoming solar radiation affects the rands mission of radio waves

Front 51

el nino

Back 51

a climate variation that takes place in the tropical pacific about every 3 to 7 years for a duration about 1 year

Front 52

land degradtion

Back 52

when soil becomes water logged and then dries out and salt forms a layer on its surface

Front 53

la nina

Back 53

a cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of SA occuring about 4-12 years and affecting the pacific and other waeather patterns

Front 54

limnetic zone

Back 54

the surface of open water the region the extens to the depth that sunlight can be penetrated organisms in this region and short lived and rely on sunlight

Front 55

littoral zone

Back 55

beings with the very shallow water on a shoreline plants and animals recieve abundant sunlight end of this zone is the depth which rooted plants stop growing

Front 56

loamy

Back 56

soil composed of sand clay silt and organic matter

Front 57

mantle

Back 57

layer of earth b/t crust and core

Front 58

monoculture

Back 58

single crop on a farm/region/country single homogenous culture w/out diversity

Front 59

o layer

Back 59

top layer, most organic material

Front 60

physical [mechanical[ weathering

Back 60

any process that breaks down rock into smaller pieces without changing the chemistry of the rock

Front 61

prior appropriation

Back 61

when water rights are given to those who have historically used the water in a certain area

Front 62

profundal zone

Back 62

in fresh water the layer of water that is too deep for sunlight to penetrate

Front 63

red tide

Back 63

a bloom or dinoflagellates that causes reddish discoloartion of coastal ocean waters. certain dinoflagellates of the genus Gonyamlax produce toxins that kill fish and contaminate shell fish

Front 64

R horizon

Back 64

the bedrock which lies below all of the other layers of soil

Front 65

riparian right

Back 65

the right as ti fishing or to the useof a river bed of one who owns riparian land

Front 66

southern oscillation

Back 66

the atmospheric pressure conditions corresponding o the periodic warming of el nino and the cooling of la nina

Front 67

salinizzation

Back 67

the process in which soil becomes saltier and saltier until finally the salt prevents the growth of plant it is caused by irrigation b/c salts brought in with the water remain in the soil as water evaporates

Front 68

subduction

Back 68

the process in which an oceanic plates slides under a continental plate

Front 69

transform boundary

Back 69

also known as transform faults boundaries at which plates are moving past each other sideways

Front 70

troposphere

Back 70

the lowers region of the atmosphere between the earths surface and the tropause characterized by decreasing temp w/ increasing altitude

Front 71

upwelling

Back 71

the process in which cold often nutrient rich waters from the ocean depths rise to the surface

Front 72

water scare

Back 72

less 1,000 m^3 per person