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Geography - Physical > ELSS Vocab List > Flashcards

ELSS Vocab List Flashcards

1
Q

Ablation

A

The loss of ice and snow, especially from a glacier, through melting, evaporation and sublimation.

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2
Q

Acidification

A

Decreasing pH, e.g. of the oceans due to an increase in the uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere.

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3
Q

Active Layer

A

In areas of permafrost, the top layer of soil that thaws during the summer and freezes again during the autumn.

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4
Q

Adiabatic expansion

A

The expansion of a parcel of air due to decrease in pressure. Expansion causes cooling.

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5
Q

Albedo

A

The reflectivity of a surface: snow and ice have high albedos. Once ice forms on the earth the high albedo reflects solar radiation back into space, further reducing surface temperatures.

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6
Q

Aquifer

A

A water-bearing band of porous or permeable rock

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7
Q

Artesian aquifer

A

A confined aquifer containing groundwater that when tapped will rise to the surface under its own pressure

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8
Q

Artesian pressure

A

The hydrostatic pressure exerted on groundwater in a confined aquifer occupying a synclinal structure.

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9
Q

Atmosphere

A

Thin envelope of gases (mainly nitrogen and oxygen) that surrounds the Earth

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10
Q

Biological pump

A

The ocean’s biologically driven sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere to deep sea water and sediment.

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11
Q

Biosphere

A

The space at the Earth’s surface and within the atmosphere occupied by living organisms.

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12
Q

Cap and trade

A

An internal scheme to control carbon emissions. A market-based solution to climate change where polluters either cut their emissions or incur extra costs by buying tradable carbon credits.

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13
Q

Carbonation

A

A process of chemical weathering where calcium carbonate rocks react with naturally acidic water to form calcium bicarbonate, a soluble product, which is removed by the water in solution.

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14
Q

Carbon Capture & storage

A

The removal of CO2 from emissions by thermal power stations and its storage in disused oil and gas wells underground.

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15
Q

Carbon credits

A

Allowances that permit given levels of CO2 emissions by businesses. Excess emissions must be covered by trading carbon credits.

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16
Q

Carbon fertilisation

A

Rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere which increase photosynthesis and stimulate plant growth.

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17
Q

Carbon offset

A

Market-based approach to limiting carbon emissions. Businesses receive annual carbon quotas (credits). These can be sold/bought on international carbon credits.

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18
Q

Carbon sink

A

A long-term store of carbon in ocean sediments, carbonate rocks etc.

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19
Q

Carbon source

A

Inputs of carbon to the atmosphere by respiration, combustion and decomposition.

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20
Q

Chelation

A

A type of chemical weathering caused by acids derived from rainwater and dead organic material.

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21
Q

Condensation

A

The phase change of water vapour (gas) to liquid (water).

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22
Q

Convection

A

The motion of a gas or liquid which when warmed rises until eventually it cools and sinks in a continuous circulation.

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23
Q

Decarbonation

A

The reduction or removal or carbon emissions from energy sources.

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24
Q

Decomposition

A

Process by which organic substances are broken down into simpler matter.

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25
Desertification
The conversion of marginal land into desert brought about by naturally occurring periods of drought together with human mismanagement of the land.
26
Dew point
The critical temperature at which condensation occurs.
27
Discharge
The total volume of water flowing through a channel at any given point and is measured in cubic metres per second (cumecs).
28
Downwelling
The sinking of dense, salty (or cold) water in the oceans.
29
Dynamic equilibrium
A system displaying unrepeated average states through time.
30
Ecosystem
A group of organisms (plants, animals, bacteria) which interact with one another and the environment so that material is transferred between the living and non-living (air, soil, water) parts of the system.
31
Evapotranspiration
Combined loss of water at the surface through evaporation and transpiration by plants.
32
Flux
Measurements of the rate of flow of material between the stores. Measured in mass per time.
33
Goldilocks zone
A habitable zone around a star where orbiting planets similar to the Earth can support liquid water. It is neither too hot, nor too cold.
34
Greenhouse gas
Gases in the atmosphere such as CO2, CH4 and water vapour which absorb long-wave terrestrial radiation.
35
Groundwater flow
The horizontal movement of water within aquifers.
36
Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere is the combined mass of water found on, under, and above the surface of a planet.
37
Impermeable
A substance which fluids are unable to pass through.
38
Infiltration
The vertical movement of rainwater through the soil.
39
Interception
Precipitation that does not reach the soil, but is instead intercepted by the leaves, branches of plants and the forest floor.
40
Lapse rate
The rate at which non-rising air decreases in temperature.
41
Lithosphere
A layer in the Earth’s mantle above the asthenosphere together with the crust which is divided into a series of tectonic plates. It is rigid and moved by the flows of semi-molten rock in the asthenosphere.
42
Methane hydrate
A structure of ice that contains methane between ice crystals and is found in ocean floor sediments.
43
Net Primary Productivity
The production of organic compounds from atmospheric or aquatic carbon dioxide, principally through the process of photosynthesis.
44
Overcultivation
Cultivation which, given environmental resources, is not sustainable in the long term and is evidenced by declining yields, soil exhaustion and soil erosion.
45
Overgrazing
Excessive grazing of land by livestock which destroys or degrades pasture and is not sustainable.
46
Overland flow
Rainfall that runs off the ground surface either because the soil is saturated or the intensity of rainfall exceeds the soil’s infiltration capacity.
47
Oxidation
A chemical process that weathers certain types of rock and involves the absorption of oxygen from either the atmosphere or water by rock minerals.
48
Percolation
The movement of surface and soil water into underlying permeable rocks.
49
Periglacial
Places on the edge of glaciated areas. Permafrost is a typical characteristic.
50
Permafrost
Found in periglacial areas - soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years.
51
Permeable rock
A rock that is penetrated by water, either through mineral pores (air spaces) or along joints, faults and fissures)
52
Photosynthesis
A process by which green plants convert water and CO2 into starch and sugar in the presence of sunlight.
53
Physical pump
Involves the mixing of surface and deep ocean waters by vertical currents, creating a more even distribution of carbon both geographically and vertically in the oceans.
54
Phytoplankton
Tiny photosynthesising marine organisms in the surface waters of the oceans.
55
Polyculture
The cultivation of several different crops, often simultaneously in the same field
56
Porous rock
Rocks which contain pores or air spaces between mineral particles, where water is stored.
57
Potential Evapotranspiration (PET)
The maximum amount of evaporation and transpiration that could take place if water supply was unlimited.
58
Potentiometric surface
An imaginary surface that defines the theoretical level to which water would rise in a confined aquifer.
59
Precipitation
Moisture (rain, snow, hail) falling from clouds towards the ground.
60
Processes (system)
The physical mechanisms that drive the flux of material between stores. E.g. evaporation drives the flux of water from the sea to the atmosphere store.
61
Recharge
Net input of water into an aquifer causing a rise in the water table.
62
Residence time
The length of time that molecule of water or carbon dioxide etc. Remains in natural storage (e.g. in the atmosphere or oceans)
63
Respiration
The process in living organisms where the intake of oxygen oxidises organic substances to produce energy and release carbon dioxide.
64
Run-off
The movement of water across the land surface.
65
Shifting cultivation
A traditional method of cultivation in tropical forests which involves rotation of land rather than rotation of crops.
66
Solar Radiation
Ultraviolet, short wave radiation from the sun that supplies energy to our planet when absorbed by surfaces.
67
Stemflow
The flow of water along the branches and stems of trees and other plants to the ground.
68
Store
The amount of material of interest (e.g. water) held within a part of the system. Essentially how much water and where it is. Stores are expressed in units of mass.
69
System
A group of objects and the relationships that bind the objects together. There are inputs, transfers (flows), stores and outputs
70
Throughfall
Rainfall, initially intercepted by vegetation, which drips to the ground.
71
Throughflow
Water flowing horizontally through the soil to stream and river channels.
72
Thermal Growing Season
The period of a year when temperatures are high enough to permit plants to grow in their native environment.
73
Transpiration
The evaporation of moisture from pores on the leaf surfaces of plants.
74
Tundra
A biome found in periglacial areas where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. In tundra, the vegetation is composed of dwarf shrubs, sedges and grasses, mosses, and lichens.
75
Water balance
The relationship between precipitation, streamflow, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture and groundwater storage in a drainage basin over a year.
76
Water table
The upper surface of the zone of saturation in permeable rocks and the soil.
77
Weathering
The in situ breakdown of rocks exposed at, or near, the land surface by physical, chemical and biological processes.

Geography - Physical (49 decks)

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