Ap Environmental Science Hit Parade Review

Front 1

abiotic

Back 1

related to factors or things that are separate and independent from living things, Nonliving

Front 2

acid

Back 2

Any compound that releases hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. also a water solution that contains a surplus of hydrogen ions.

Front 3

Air mass

Back 3

enormous bodies of air that move as a unit

Front 4

aquifer

Back 4

underground layer of porous rock, sand, or other material that allows the movement of water between layers of nonporous rock or clay, frequently tapped for wells

Front 5

arable

Back 5

land fit to be cultivated

Front 6

asthenosphere

Back 6

part of the mantle just below the lithosphere

Front 7

clay

Back 7

The finest soil made up of particles less than .002 mm in diameter

Front 8

conduction

Back 8

transmission of something through a medium or passage, commonly electricity or heat, without movement of the medium

Front 9

convection

Back 9

vertical movement of a mass of matter because of heating and cooling.

Front 10

convection currents

Back 10

Air currents caused by the vertical movement of air due to atmospheric heating and cooling

Front 11

humus

Back 11

dark, crumbly, nutrient-rich material that results from the decomposition of organic material, with is also a product of composting organic waste.

Front 12

lithosphere

Back 12

outer part of earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle, approximately 100 km thick

Front 13

Hadley cell

Back 13

system of vertical and horizontal air circulation that creates major weather patterns, predominately in tropical and subtropical regions

Front 14

headwaters

Back 14

a source

Front 15

loamy

Back 15

soil composed of a mixture if sand, clay, silt and organic matter

Front 16

Southern oscillation

Back 16

atmospheric pressure conditions corresponding to the periodic warming of El Nino and La Nina

Front 17

thermosphere

Back 17

outermost shell of the atmosphere between mesophere and outer space.

Front 18

ammonification

Back 18

production of ammonia or ammonium compound a in the decomposition of organic matter, especially through the action of bacteria

Front 19

assimation

Back 19

process in which plants absorb ammonium, ammonia ions, and nitrate ions through their roots

Front 20

bioaccumulation

Back 20

accumulation of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in various tissues of a living organism

Front 21

biomagnification

Back 21

process by which the concentration of toxic substances increases in each successive link in the food chain

Front 22

denitirification

Back 22

process of converting ammonia to NO3, NO2, and N2 and releasing it back into the atmosphere

Front 23

Gause's principle

Back 23

No 2 species can occupy the same niche

Front 24

Pioneer species

Back 24

organisms in the first stages of succession

Front 25

nitrification

Back 25

process in which soil bacteria convert ammonium to a form that can be used by plants. nitrate or NO3

Front 26

nitrogen fixation

Back 26

conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into compounds, such as ammonia, by natural agencies or various industrial processes

Front 27

Anthracite

Back 27

cleanest burning coal; almost pure carbon

Front 28

bituminous

Back 28

Second purest form of coal

Front 29

crude oil

Back 29

form petroleum takes when In the ground

Front 30

Hubbert Peak

Back 30

theory that concerns the long term rate of conventional oil extraction and depletion

Hint 30

Peak Oil

Front 31

lignite

Back 31

least pure coal

Front 32

subbituminous

Back 32

third purest form of oil

Front 33

gray smog

Back 33

smog resulting from emissions from industry and other sources of gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels

Front 34

alkaline

Back 34

a chemically basic substance that absorbs hydrogen ions or releases hydroxide ions. In reference to natural water, a measure of the base content of the water.