Unit 8

Question 1

Eutrophication

Answer 1

nutrient saturation of water leading to oxygen depletion

Question 2

Aquifer

Answer 2

underground pool of water wedged between rocks or sand that yields groundwater

Question 3

Water pollution

Answer 3

occurs when harmful substances—often chemicals or microorganisms—contaminate a stream, river, lake, ocean, aquifer, or other body of water, degrading water quality and rendering it toxic to humans or the environment.

Question 4

Pollution

Answer 4

contamination of the natural environment

Question 5

Pathogen

Answer 5

any disease-producing agent

Question 6

Pollutant

Answer 6

waste matter that contaminates the water, air, or soil

Question 7

Runoff

Answer 7

While plants and animals need these nutrients to grow, they have become a major pollutant due to farm waste and fertilizer runoff.

Question 8

Nutrient

Answer 8

any substance that can be metabolized to give energy

Question 9

Nutrient pollution

Answer 9

includes nitrates and phosphates, is the leading type of contamination in these freshwater sources.

Question 10

Algae

Answer 10

primitive chlorophyll-containing aquatic organisms

Question 11

Pesticide

Answer 11

a chemical used to kill destructive insects or animals

Question 12

Impermeable

Answer 12

preventing especially liquids to pass or diffuse through

Question 13

Herbicide

Answer 13

a chemical agent that destroys plants or inhibits growth

Question 14

Seep

Answer 14

pass gradually or leak or as if through small openings

Question 15

Groundwater

Answer 15

When rain falls and seeps deep into the earth, filling the cracks, crevices, and porous spaces of an aquifer (basically an underground storehouse of water), it becomes groundwater—one of our least visible but most important natural resources.

Question 16

Radioactive

Answer 16

exhibiting or caused by emissions in nuclear decay

Question 17

Radioactive substances

Answer 17

Radioactive waste is any pollution that emits radiation beyond what is naturally released by the environment.

Question 18

Contaminate

Answer 18

make impure

Question 19

Estuary

Answer 19

the wide part of a river where it nears the sea

Question 20

Solvent

Answer 20

capable of meeting financial obligations

Question 21

Persistent Organic Pollutant

Answer 21

a fat soluble pollutant that can be accumulated in the body. Also travels easily through wind and water.

Question 22

Bioaccumulation

Answer 22

the buildup of a pollutant in an organism over time

Question 23

Biomagnification

Answer 23

the increase in pollutants in an organism as you travel up the food chain.

Question 24

Solid Waste

Answer 24

Solid waste is any garbage or discharge from industrial, community, commercial, and other human activities.

Question 25

Sanitary landfill

Answer 25

Liner, water collection, leachate, clay cap, methane collection

Question 26

Leachate

Answer 26

water that percolated through a solid and leached out some of the constituents

Question 27

Effluent

Answer 27

liquid waste or sewage discharged into a river or the sea