Ch. 3 Key Terms

Question 1

Water Cycle

Answer 1

the cycle of processes by which water circulates between the earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land, involving precipitation as rain and snow, drainage in streams and rivers, and return to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration.

Question 2

Evaporation

Answer 2

the process of turning from liquid into vapor.

Question 3

Condensation

Answer 3

water which collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it.

Question 4

Precipitation

Answer 4

the action or process of precipitating a substance from a solution.

Question 5

Salinity

Answer 5

is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water.

Question 6

Fresh Water

Answer 6

of or found in fresh water not of the sea.

Question 7

Biosphere

Answer 7

the regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere of the earth (or analogous parts of other planets) occupied by living organisms.

Question 8

Geosphere

Answer 8

any of the almost spherical concentric regions of matter that make up the earth and its atmosphere, as the lithosphere and hydrosphere.

Question 9

Hydrosphere

Answer 9

all the waters on the earth’s surface, such as lakes and seas, and sometimes including water over the earth’s surface, such as clouds.

Question 10

Crust

Answer 10

describes the outermost shell of a terrestrial planet. Earth’s crust is generally divided into older, thicker continental crust and younger, denser oceanic crust.

Question 11

Mantle

Answer 11

is the mostly-solid bulk of Earth’s interior. The mantle lies between Earth’s dense, super-heated core and its thin outer layer, the crust. The mantle is about 2,900 kilometers (1,802 miles) thick, and makes up a whopping 84% of Earth’s total volume.

Question 12

Core

Answer 12

The central or innermost portion of the Earth, lying below the mantle and probably consisting of iron and nickel.

Question 13

Lithosphere

Answer 13

is the solid, outer part of the Earth. The lithosphere includes the brittle upper portion of the mantle and the crust, the outermost layers of Earth’s structure. It is bounded by the atmosphere above and the asthenosphere (another part of the upper mantle) below.

Question 14

Asthenosphere

Answer 14

the upper layer of the earth’s mantle, below the lithosphere, in which there is relatively low resistance to plastic flow and convection is thought to occur.

Question 15

Tectonic Plate

Answer 15

is a massive, irregularly shaped slab of solid rock, generally composed of both continental and oceanic lithosphere.

Question 16

Chemical

Answer 16

is the scientific discipline involved with elements and compounds composed of atoms, molecules and ions

Question 17

Weathering

Answer 17

describes the breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals on the surface of the Earth.

Question 18

Erosion

Answer 18

the process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents.

Question 19

Atmosphere

Answer 19

is the layers of gases surrounding a planet or other celestial body. Earth’s atmosphere is composed of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and one percent other gases.

Question 20

Troposphere

Answer 20

the lowest region of the atmosphere, extending from the earth’s surface to a height of about 3.7–6.2 miles (6–10 km), which is the lower boundary of the stratosphere.

Question 21

Stratosphere

Answer 21

the layer of the earth’s atmosphere above the troposphere, extending to about 32 miles (50 km) above the earth’s surface (the lower boundary of the mesosphere).

Question 22

Ozone

Answer 22

a colorless unstable toxic gas with a pungent odor and powerful oxidizing properties, formed from oxygen by electrical discharges or ultraviolet light. It differs from normal oxygen (O2) in having three atoms in its molecule (O3).

Question 23

Radiation

Answer 23

the emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles, especially high-energy particles which cause ionization.

Question 24

Conduction

Answer 24

the process by which heat or electricity is directly transmitted through a substance when there is a difference of temperature or of electrical potential between adjoining regions, without movement of the material.

Question 25

Convection

Answer 25

the movement caused within a fluid by the tendency of hotter and therefore less dense material to rise, and colder, denser material to sink under the influence of gravity, which consequently results in transfer of heat.

Question 26

Greenhouse Effect

Answer 26

is the way in which heat is trapped close to the surface of the Earth by “greenhouse gases.” These heat-trapping gases can be thought of as a blanket wrapped around the Earth, which keeps it toastier than it would be without them.