CHAPTER 12 Flashcards
ACID MINE DRAINAGE
Pollution caused when sulfuric acid and dangerous dissolved materials such as lead, arsenic, and cadmium wash from mines into nearby lakes and streams.
CONSERVATION TILLAGE
A method of cultivation in which residues from previous crops are left in the soil, partially covering it and helping to hold it in place until the newly planted seeds are established.
CONTOUR PLOWING
Plowing that matches the natural contour of the land.
CROP ROTATION
The planting of a series of different crops in the same field over a period of years.
MINERALS
Elements or compounds of elements that occur naturally in Earth’s crust.
NUTRIENT CYCLING
The pathway of various nutrient minerals or elements from the environment through organisms and back to the environment.
OVERBURDEN
Soil and rock overlying a useful mineral deposit.
PLATE TECTONICS
The study of the processes by which the lithospheric plates move over the asthenosphere.
SHELTERBELT
A row of trees planted as a windbreak to reduce soil erosion of agricultural land.
SMELTING
A blast furnace is used to create chemical reactions take place throughout the furnace as the ore moves downward.
SOIL
The uppermost layer of Earth’s crust, which supports terrestrial plants, animals, and microorganisms.
SOIL EROSION
The wearing away or removal of soil from the land.
SOIL HORIZONS
Horizontal layers into which many soils are organized, from the surface to the underlying parent material.
SPOIL BANK
A hill of loose rock created when the overburden from a new trench is put into the already excavated trench during strip mining.
SUBSURFACE MINING
The extraction of mineral and energy resources from deep underground deposits.
