Theme 7 Flashcards

Front 1

Reduce

Back 1

Attempted to limit the number of purchases that are made in the first place

Front 2

recycle

Back 2

Ensuring that items or their components are put to some new purpose as much as possible. There can be economic benefits to recycling as well.

Front 3

reuse

Back 3

Reusing items as much as possible before replacing them with another item.

Front 4

composting

Back 4

the purposeful biodegradation of organic matter, such as yard and food waste. The decomposition is performed by micro-organisms, mostly bacteria, but also yeasts and fungi

Front 5

incineration

Back 5

a way of disposing of waist by the means of burning it. Converts the waist to smoke and ash. Repercussions of incineration tend to be air pollution.

Front 6

land application

Back 6

method of disposal of hazardous waste that invovls intentional application of waste material to surface soil. used for biodegradable industrial waste, etc

Front 7

waste stream

Back 7

flow of waste material from generation to treatment to final disposition.

Front 8

advanced sanitary landfill

Back 8

Set apart from a regular sanitary landfill because there is an added lining and a water treatment system to manage the leachate that escapes from the waste.

Front 9

sanitary landfill

Back 9

sites where waste is isolated from the environment until it is safe.It is considered sanitary when it has completely degraded biologically, chemically and physically.

Front 10

leachate

Back 10

product or solution formed by leaching, especially a solution containing contaminants picked up through the leaching of soil.

Front 11

open dump

Back 11

An area where solid waste is disposed of by simply dumping it. It often causes severe environmental problems, such as water pollution, and creates a health hazard. Illegal in the United States and in many other countries around the world.

Front 12

ocean disposal (dumping)

Back 12

Large quantities of material that are dumped directly into the ocean. After 1992, it became illegal to dump sewage directly into the ocean in the US, but this process still continues in many other countries. Common items dumped: fishing gear, packaging, hazardous waste.

Front 13

deep-well injection

Back 13

method of disposal of hazardous liquid waste invovling pumping waste deep into ground away from fresh waters. currently a controversial disposal method

Front 14

municipal waste

Back 14

urban solid waste or a waste type that includes predominantly household waste with sometimes the addition of commercial wastes collected by a municipality within given area.

Front 15

e-waste

Back 15

.Waste materials generated from using or discarding electronic devices, such as computers, televisions, and mobile phones.

Front 16

virgin resources

Back 16

resources that haven't been tapped into or excavated

Front 17

recycled resources

Back 17

.

Front 18

Pay-As-You-Throw tax

Back 18

People are charge a tax based on the volume of waste they produce (within their individual home)

Front 19

dioxins

Back 19

a class of chemical contaminants that are formed during combustion processes such as waste incineration

Front 20

hazardous waste

Back 20

waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment

Front 21

radioactive waste

Back 21

useless radioactive materials that are left after some laboratory or commercial process is completed

Front 22

PCBs

Back 22

.

Front 23

CERCLA (the Superfund Act)

Back 23

Containment, cleanup, and remediation of abandoned toxic sites. Also, strict monitoring of current mining operations. It was amended in 1995 to be less strict. Also a part of CERCLA is the SUPERFUND. The Superfund is the amount of money that is given to remediate the abandoned sites (1500 on National Priority List). Types of sites that are sponsored by the Superfund are landfills and dumps, waste lagoons, and injection wells.

Front 24

RCRA

Back 24

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, enacted in 1976. Goals are to protect humans from waste disposal hazards, to conserve energy and resources, reduce waste, and make sure that waste is disposed of properly.

Front 25

Clean Water Act

Back 25

Main federal law that governs water pollution. Goals are to eliminate toxins in water, stop water pollution, and make sure that surface waters were safe enough for everyday activities.

Front 26

SUPERFUND

Back 26

.

Front 27

Love Canal

Back 27

.

Front 28

Mineral

Back 28

A naturally occurring inorganic material with a definite internal structure and physical and chemical properties that vary within prescribed limits.

Front 29

Mineral resource

Back 29

Elements, chemical compounds, minerals, or rocks concentrated in a form that can be extracted to obtain a usable commodity.

Front 30

Mineral reserve

Back 30

the portion of a resource that is identified and from which a usable form of the resource can be legally and economically extracted at the time of the evaluation.

Front 31

Ore

Back 31

.An ore is a type of rock that is mined and contains minerals with important elements including metals.

Front 32

Overburden

Back 32

.Rock material overlying the coal deposit, but excluding soil. Soil is generally removed separately for use in reclamation.

Front 33

Gangue

Back 33

The earthy waste substances occurring in metallic ore

Front 34

Spoil banks

Back 34

.

Front 35

Surface mining

Back 35

Mining at or near the surface; includes placer mining, mining in open glory-hole or milling pits, mining and removing ore from opencuts by hand or with mechanical excavating and transportation equipment, and the removal of capping or overburden to uncover the ores.

Front 36

Subsurface mining

Back 36

.

Front 37

Strip mining

Back 37

Surface mining in which the overlying layer of rock and soil is stripped off to reach the resource. Large strip mines are some of the world's largest excavations by people.

Front 38

Open-pit mining

Back 38

.

Front 39

Dredging

Back 39

An excavation activity or operation usually carried out at least partly underwater, in shallow seas or fresh water areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location. This technique is often used to keep waterways navigable.

Front 40

Placer mining

Back 40

An ancient method of using water to excavate, transport, concentrate, and recover heavy minerals from alluvial or placer deposits.

Front 41

Mountain-top mining

Back 41

.

Front 42

Hydraulic mining

Back 42

.

Front 43

Tailings

Back 43

.The waste material remaining after metal is extracted from ore.

Front 44

Smelting

Back 44

Process used to extract base minerals from their ores. Process usually involves melting the ores, and then separating the metals from the rest of the mixture.

Front 45

Heap-leaching

Back 45

.

Front 46

Reclamation

Back 46

.

Front 47

Room and pillar mining

Back 47

.

Front 48

Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act

Back 48

.

Front 49

Lithosphere

Back 49

The outer layer of earth, approximately 100 km thick, of which the plates that contain the ocean basins and the continents are composed.

Front 50

Asthenosphere

Back 50

.

Front 51

Core

Back 51

.The innermost layer of the Earth, consists of a fluid outer core and a solid inner core. Because the outer core contains iron, when it flows it generates a magnetic field. This is the source of the Earth's magnetic field.

Front 52

Mantle

Back 52

the mostly solid portion of the earth surrounding the core

Front 53

Crust

Back 53

The Earth's thin, hard outer shell that covers and floats on the Mantle. Has two parts, Oceanic and Continental Crust. The former mostly consists of heavier rocks, while the latter has lighter materials.

Front 54

Depletion allowance

Back 54

.

Front 55

Bauxite

Back 55

.

Front 56

R to C ratio

Back 56

A measure of the time available for finding the solutions to depletion of nonrenewable reserves, where R is the known reserves (for example, hundreds of thousands of tons of a metal) and C is the rate of consumption (for example, thousands of tons per year used by people).

Front 57

Antarctic Treaty

Back 57

sets aside territory declares a zone free from nuclear tests and radioactive waste disposal to ensure that antarctica is used for peaceful purposes (eg. scientific research). Forty six countries agreed to the treaty.

Front 58

EEZ

Back 58

a seazone over which a country has special rights over the exploration and use of minerals

Front 59

International Seabed Authority

Back 59

.

Front 60

Biomining

Back 60

.

Front 61

Acid mine drainage

Back 61

acidic water that drains from mining areas and enters near by water resources causing the water to become acidic

Front 62

Copper Basin, TN

Back 62

.

Front 63

Phytoremediation

Back 63

.

Front 64

Pay-As-You-Throw tax

Back 64

.

Front 65

hazardous waste

Back 65

waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment.

Front 66

radioactive waste

Back 66

.

Front 67

PCBs

Back 67

.

Front 68

CERCLA (the Superfund Act)

Back 68

.

Front 69

RCRA

Back 69

.

Front 70

Clean Water Act

Back 70

.

Front 71

SUPERFUND

Back 71

.

Front 72

Love Canal

Back 72

.

Front 73

dioxins

Back 73

.