Apes Chapter 5

Front 1

Biogeochemical Cycle

Back 1

The cycling of a chemical element through the biosphere; its pathways, storage locations, and chemical forms in living things, the atmosphere, oceans, sediments, and lithosphere

Front 2

Carbon Cycle

Back 2

Biogeochemical cycle of carbon. Carbon combines with and is chemically and biologically linked with the cycles of oxygen and hydrogen that form the major compounds of life

Front 3

Carbon-Silicate Cycle

Back 3

A complex biogeochemical cycle over time scales as long as one-half a billion years. Included in this cycle are major geologic processes, such as weathering, transport by ground and surface waters, erosion, and deposition of crustal rocks.

Front 4

Chemical reaction

Back 4

The process in which compounds and elements undergo a chemical change to become a new substance or substances

Front 5

Denitrification

Back 5

The conversion of nitrate to molecular nitrogen by the action of bacteria- an important step in the nitrogen cycle

Front 6

Drainage basin

Back 6

The area that contributes surface water to a particular stream network

Front 7

Geologic cycle

Back 7

The formation and destruction of earth materials and the processes responsible for these events. The geologic cycle includes the following subcycles: hydrologic, tectonic, rock, and geochemical

Front 8

Hydrologic Cycle

Back 8

Circulation of water from the oceans to the atmosphere and back to the oceans by way of evaporation, runoff from streams and rivers, and groundwater flow.

Front 9

Limiting Factor

Back 9

The single requirement fro growth available in the least supply in comparison to the need of an organism.

Front 10

Macronutrients

Back 10

Elements required in large amounts by living things. These include the big six-carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorous, and sulfur

Front 11

Micronutrients

Back 11

Chemical elements required in very small amounts by at least some forms of life. Boron, copper, and molybdenum are examples of micronutrients

Front 12

missing carbon sink

Back 12

The unknown location of substantial amounts of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere but apparently not reabsorbed and thus remaining unaccounted for

Front 13

Nitrogen Cycle

Back 13

A complex biogeochemical cycle responsible for moving important nitrogen components through the biosphere and other earth systems

Front 14

Nitrogen Fixation

Back 14

The process of converting inorganic, molecular nitrogen in the atmosphere to ammonia. In nature it is carried out only by a few species of bacteria, on which all life depends

Front 15

Phosphorus Cycle

Back 15

Ma major biogeochemical cycle involving the movement of phosphorous throughout the biosphere and lithosphere.

Front 16

Plate tectonics

Back 16

A model of global tectonics that suggests that the outer layer of Earth, known as the lithosphere, is composed of several large plates that move relative to one another.

Front 17

Rock Cycle

Back 17

A group of processes that produce igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks.

Front 18

Tectonic Cycle

Back 18

The processes that change Earth's crust, producing external forms such as ocean basins, continents, and mountains