Geology Test 4

अब Quizwiz के साथ अपने होमवर्क और परीक्षाओं को एस करें!

Moderator

a substance, such as water, graphite, or beryllium, used in a nuclear reactor to slow down fast neutrons

Carbon Tax

a tax levied on fossil fuels in proportion to the amount of carbon emitted during combustion

Hot Dry Rock Technology

a technology that is used to literally "mine" the heat coming off rocks buried beneath the surface of earth; through this process, water is injected and pumped through rock and then circulated back up; the water hitting the rock creates steam as it flows through the rock, which can then be used for energy

Passive Solar design

a type of architecture that uses the inherent characteristics of a building to capture heat and light from the sun

Wind Farms

a vast tract of land covered with wind-powered turbines that are used to drive generators that produce electricity

Rubbish

a very genral term that includes trash, garbage, and other items such as construction and demolition debris

Atomic Chlorine

chlorine atoms influence cycles that are linked to ozone destruction; this greenhouse gas is potentially toxic to plant and animal life

Independent Power Producers

companies that construct electricity-generating plants and then sell the electricity to the large utilities

General Circulation Models (GCM)

complex mathematical models that, with the help of supercomputers, simulate the Earth's climatic patterns

Reactor Vessel

in a nuclear power plant, a thick steel tank that usually contains the reactor core and primary water loop

Fusion

the combining of isotopes of light elements to form a heavier element; in the process, energy may be released

Superfund

the common name for the federal Hazardous Substance Response Fund that is used for cleanup and related expenses associated with hazardous waste sites on the EPA's National Priorities List

Garbage

wet and generally edible discarded matter, such as old food remains, yard clippings, dead animals, and leftovers from meatpacking operations and butcher shops

Commercial Extinction

when a species becomes so rare that harvesting it is no longer economically viable

Sea Level Rise

worldwide rises in sea level ( relative to the elevations of the continents) such as has been predicted as a result of global warming

Nimbus 7

A NASA satellite that confirmed the depletion of the ozone layer over the south pole in the 1980s

Light-Water Reactor (LWR)

A common type of commercial reactor that uses ordinary (light) water as the moderator.

Waste-to-Energy

the burning of municipal solid waste to produce energy

"Big Five" Energy Sources

Coal oil, natural gas, large-scale hydroelectric, and nuclear power

Tokamak

a large machine that uses magnetic fields to confine and promote controlled fusion reactions

Herbicides

a chemical substance used to kill plant weeds

Cataracts

a condition in which the lens of the eye becomes opqaue

Melanoma

a condition of malignant skin cancer

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC)

a convention agreed to by many nations at the 1992 Earth Summit; although the convention does not establish legal obligations or specific target dates, it requires signing countries to use their best efforts to control emissions of greenhouse gases

Flat-Plate Collector

a device that usually consists of a black metal plate that absorbs heat from the sun; the heat can be transferred to a liquid and then used as desired

Batteries

a device that when charged with electricity stores the energy in the form of chemical energy; when it is discharged, the energy is converted back into electrical energy

Reprocessing Facility

a facility designed to reprocess spent nuclear fuel in order to recover fissionable materials

Energy Farms

a farm that produces biomass to be used as an energy source

Monoculture

a form of agriculture in which only a single species is grown in a particular field, such as a field devoted entirely to wheat

Global Dimming

a gradual reduction in the amount of solar radiation that penetrates earth's surface due to the increased reflectivity of clouds and pollution that results from fossil fuel emissions; global dimming may create a global cooling effect that has partially offset the effects of greenhouse gases on global warming

Dioxins

a group of more than 75 related compounds that are extremely toxic, artificially produced chemicals; can be inadvertently synthesized in incinerators when trash and garbage are burned

Uranium

a heavy element that contains 92 protons; fissionable isotopes of this element can be used as fuel in nuclear reactors and can also be manufactured into bombs

Plutonium

a heavy element that contains 94 protons; fissionable isotopes of this element can be used as fuel in nuclear reactors and can also be manufactured into bombs

Sanitary Landfill

a hole in the ground where solid waste is deposited; the hole is lined that materials will not escape, and it is covered with layers of dirt as it is progressively filled; when completely filled, it is capped, sealed with more dirt and topsoil

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

a large, international group of officials, scientists, and other researchers who, under the auspices of the UN, have been investigating the issue of global climate change, particularly potential future global warming

Ozone Layer

a layer of O3 in the stratosphere; most concentrated at an altitude of 20 to 25 km (12 to 16 mi)

Leachate

a liquid solution that forms as water percolates through waste, such as refuse in a landfill or old mining tailings; may contain chemicals that can be dissolved, particles, and live microorganisms

Meltdown

a major accident at a nuclear power plant in which the fuel assembly (core) is heated beyond its melting point

Energy Intensity

a measure of the amount of energy required to create a good or service (a car, an acre of agricultural land, etc)

Deep Well Injection

a method of disposing liquid wastes, such as industrial or hazardous wastes, wherein they are pumped or injected down wells deep below the Earth's surface

Dilute and Disperse

a method of handling waste whereby the substance is watered down and then released into the environment; this is a difficult method to justify in more modern times because of the sheer amount and toxicity level of much of the waste generated by industry and commercial sectors

Concentrate and Contain

a method of waste disposal that concentrates waste solids and liquids and then contains them, such as in a storage facility, so as to reduce exposure to humans and the environment

Soil

a mixture of weathered rocks and minerals, decayed organic matter, living organisms, air and water

Breeder Reactors

a nuclear reactor that is especially designed to actively convert nonfissionable isotopes into fissionable isotopes that can then be used as fuel

Little Ice Age

a period in Earth history, beginning in late medieval/early renaissance times (ca. AD 1300) and ending only 200-300 years ago, during which average global temperatures were slightly lower than immediately before or after

Biodegradable Plastics

a plastic that can be degraded, decomposed, or broken down by microorganisms into simple compounds such as water and carbon dioxide

Cogeneration

a power plant that produces several types of energy simultaneously, such as electricity and heat, that can be used locally

Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)

a report compiled annually by the EPA on toxics released by US industries based on data reported to the EPA by those industries under the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act of 1986

Swidden Techniques

a shifting method of agriculture by which vegetation is cut down, allowed to dry, and burnt as a way to enrich the soil; after a few years the land must be allowed to lay fallow for a period before being cultivated again; the purpose is the allow the soil to regenerate between cultivations; synonymous with slash and burn agriculture

Love Canal

a site in the town of Niagra Falls, NY, that gained national attention in the late 1970s when hazardous chemicals that were buried in the area began to adversely affect the residents; spurred Congress to pass the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980

Open Loop Recycling

a situation in which a material or substance can be recycled once or a few times, but not indefinitely because the material is damaged or degraded each time it is recycled

Biogas Disasters

a special chamber or reactor used to promote the biochemical conversion of biomass

Genetically Modified Crops

a specific type of technology that is used to alter the genetic makeup of living organisms; this process involves combining genes from various organisms to gather the best traits and create a more commercially desirable organism; the technology is subject to debate, although often used on agricultural products

Neutron

a subatomic particle that has approximately the same mass as a proton, but does not bear an electric charge

Fertilizers

a substance, often an artificial chemical mixture, that is spread on or through the soil to promote plant growth

Ozone

an O3 molecule; contributes to air pollution in the troposphere but is an important natural component of the stratosphere; the layer in the stratosphere protects the Earth's surface from excessive levels of UV radiation

Montreal Protocol

an agreement reached in 1987 at a meeting in Montreal, Canada, whereby a number of industrialized countries pledged to freeze CFC production at 1986 levels and then gradually decrease CFC production to 50% of 2986 levels by 1999

Kyoto Protocol

an amendment to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which brings together industrial and developing countries to lower their greenhouse gas emissions in a unified fashion; the US and Australia are the only developed countries that have refused to sign the agreement; the protocol opened for signatories in 1997 and was implemented in 2005

Hydrothermal Fluid Reservoirs

an area where hot rock occurs at relatively shallow depth and natural groundwater is heated, sometimes to extremely high temperatures

Solar-Hydrogen Economy

an economy based primarily on solar power (in all its forms, including wind power and hydroelectric power) and using hydrogen as a convenient way to store and transport energy

Fuel Cells

an electrochemical cell in which electrons are removed from hydrogen atoms to form an electric current; the hydrogen ions combine with oxygen to form water

Thorium

an element that contains 90 protons; an isotope of this element can be used in a breeder reactor to produce fissionable U-233

Salinization

an increase in soil salt content that sometimes occurs due to prolonged irrigation, especially in poorly drained arid regions

Industrial Ecosystem

an industrial situation that mimics the principles of ecosystems in nature; no "waste" is produced; rather, the effluents of one industrial process form the raw materials for another industrial process

Topsoil

an upper layer in the soil, composed primarily of a mixture of organic matter and mineral matter; it is alive with microscopic and small macroscopic organisms

Irrigation

artificial watering of land

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

artificially produced compounds composed primarily of carbon, fluorine, and chlorine that have been implicated in the deterioration of the ozone layer

Source Reduction

as applied to solid waste, reducing the generation of waste in the first place, as opposed to later reusing or recycling waste

Control Rods

device composed of a substance that has the ability to absorb neutrons, such a cadmium or born, that is used in a nuclear reactor to control or even halt the nuclear chain reaction

Radiation

electromagnetic radiation; includes visible light, heat, UV, gamma rays, x-rays, etc; term is also used to refer to the emission of particles from a radioactive atom

Geothermal Energy

energy (heat) originating from deep within the earth

Solar Energy

energy derived from the sun

Biomass Energy

energy produced by the burning of such biomass as organic wastes, standing forests, and energy crops

Alternative Energy

energy sources such as solar power or wind power hat can be used instead of fossil fuels, nuclear power, and large-scale hydroelectric

Light Pollution

excess "waste" light given off by outside sources (or sources visible from the outside) at night

Greenhouse Gases

gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbons, that are relatively transparent to the higher energy sunlight, but trap lower-energy infrared radiation; the gases that accumulate in the atmosphere promote global warming

Bioengineering

genetic manipulations and engineering to produce new varieties and types of organisms

Transgenic Crops

genetically transformed crops; crops that have been artificially engineered using bioengineering

Nitrogen Oxides

important components of both lower atmospheric pollution and the upper atmospheric greenhouse gases that promote global warming

Daughter Products

the atoms resulting from the splitting, or fission, of a large atom such as uranium or plutonium

Containment Structure

in a nuclear reactor, a housing around the reactor vessel designed to protect the outside environment from major radioactive contamination if an accident should occur

Chain Reaction

in a nuclear reactor, when the fissioning of one atom releases neutrons that induce the fissioning of other atoms and so forth

Heat

infrared radiation

Ice Ages

intervals in the history of the earth, especially during the last 2.5 million years, when average global surface temperatures were lower than they are currently and continental ice sheets were much more extensive than they are today

Soil Horizons

layers of soil that form approximately parallel to the surface of the land; may include the topsoil, subsoil, a layer of partially disintegrated rock, and the underlying bedrock

Infrared radiation

low energy, long wavelength electromagnetic radiation that humans perceive as heat

Active Solar Techniques

mechanisms, such as flat-plate collectors, that are designed to actively collect the energy of sunlight and us it (i.e. to heat a building or heat water)

Green Revolution

modern, chemically based, usually mechanized agriculture that was used on a large scale in the industrialized countries after WWII

Yellowcake

name for uranium oxide (U3O8) or "natural uranium"

Methane

natural gas CH4; a fossil fuel and potent greenhouse gas

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

philosophy that farmers should not try to totally eliminate pests, but should simply attempt to control them so that they do not cause serious damage; often involves the use of "natural" controls such as pests' natural biological predators; seeks to reduce the use of artificial chemical pesticides

Crop Rotation

planting different crops on a particular field in different years - the same crop is not planted on the same field year after year

Bioplastics

plastics produced from organic and generally biodegradable compounds (such as vegetable polymers) and containing little to no petroleum products; in proper compost setting, most will break down

Aerosol Spray

products that are sprayed as a fine mist during use, such as canned spray paints and deodorants; for many years such products used ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons as propellants

Refuse

refers to both trash and garbage

Aquaculture

refers to farming of aquatic organism in general and sometimes freshwater organisms in particular

Carbon Emissions

release of carbon into the atmosphere during the burning of fossil fuels and other organic matter and similar activities

Mariculture

saltwater seafood farming

Industrial Solid Waste

solid wastes produced by industries, including wastes from larger-scale manufacturing, mining, resource processing and so forth

Pioneer Stage of Succession

stage of succession where an initial set of organisms colonize an area and begin the process of succession; organisms in this stage are often well evolved to deal with harsher climates, such as greater exposure to elements like wind and solar raditation

Carryover Grain Stocks

stocks of grain that are saved from one harvest year and remain at the beginning of the next harvest year

Energy Storage

storing energy in a form that is readily accessible to humans

Soil Fertility

the ability of the soil to support plant life and associated fauna

Carbon Efficiency

the amount of economic output per unit of carbon released

Biotechnology

the artificial use and manipulation of organisms toward human ends

Malnutrition

the condition of a human or other organism in which the proper amount of energy and nutrients is not maintained through intake of calories, protein, and various vitamins and minerals; the amount of nutrients required for each person depends on age, sex, body build, and more

Soil Degradation

the damaging or destruction of natural resources, often due to overuse, abuse, and neglect by humans

Composting

the decomposition of organic materials by microorganisms; produces various forms of "soils"

Erosion

the deterioration and weathering away of soil or rock

Tidal Power

the harnessing of the tides to produce energy in a form that humans can readily utilize

Wind Power

the harnessing of wind's energy for human applications

Closed Loop Recycling

the indefinite recycling of a material or substance without degradation or deterioration, such as the recycling of many metals and glasses

Core

the interior of a nuclear reactor containing the fuel, moderator, and control rods

Climax Community

the last, relatively stable and diverse, community in the sequence of community succession

Troposphere

the lowermost thermal layer of the atmosphere, wherein temperatures normally decline with increasing altitude; the layer of the atmosphere in which most weather phenomena take place

Decentralization

the movement away from large, centralized sources of power and production

Crust

the outermost layer of rock that forms the solid surface of our plant Earth; divided into continental and oceanic

Sky Glow

the phenomenon when the sky at night in a certain area is not dark as it would be naturally, but glows due to excess light in the local atmosphere

Carbon Dioxide

the primary greenhouse gas

Methane Gas

the principal component of natural gas, it is a widely distributed chemical in nature that is odorless and colorless; it is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, some of which comes from the flatulence and belching discharge of farm animals

Milling Process

the process, including crushing, grinding, and leaching, curing which a mineral, such as copper or uranium oxide (yellowcake), is removed from the raw ore and concentrated

Deforestation

the removal of forest cover from an area

Waterlogging

the rising of the water table over time, and the soaking of soils, in areas where irrigated land is poorly drained

Municipal Solid Waste

the solid waste produced by the residents and businesses of a city, town, or other municipality; includes old newspapers, packaging materials, empty bottles, leftover foods, leaves and grass clippings, etc

Fission

the splitting of an atom, such as uranium or plutonium, to release energy

Desertification

the spread of desert like conditions due to human exploitation and misuse of land

Ecological Succession

the successive groups of plants and animals that will colonize a newly cleared patch of land or uncolonized body of water

Cosmoclimatology

the theory that variations in the flux of cosmic rays entering Earth's atmosphere can influence cloud formation and Earth's climate (cosmic rays promote cloud formation and cooler temperatures); the intensity of such cosmic rays is, in part, a function of solar activity as strong solar winds can lower the number of cosmic rays entering the Earth system and thus promote global warming

Stratosphere

the thermal layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere in which temperature increases with altitude; this is where the ozone layer occurs

Hybrid Engines

the type of engine that is typically smaller than the traditional internal combustion engine and uses a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) to propel the vehicle; these vehicles are lower users of fossil fuels and are much more efficient; usually refers to a hybrid of electric and fossil fuel power

Hydropower

the use of artificial or natural waterfalls to generate electricity

Bioremediation

the use of bacteria and other small organisms to clean up or reduce unwanted concentrations of certain substances; aka biotreatment

Nuclear Power

the use of nuclear fission reactions to generate electricity

Photovoltaics

the use of semiconductor technology to generate electricity directly from the sun

Solar Thermal Technology

the use of the sun's energy to heat substances such as water to produce steam that drives turbine and generates electricity

Greenhouse Effect

the warming up of the lower atmosphere due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases that trap heat near the surface of the earth

Decommissioning

to take out of service, dismantle, and dispose of a nuclear power plant

Biological Control

use of "natural" controls, such as pests' natural biological predators, to control pest populations; seeks to reduce the use of artificial chemical pesticides

Trash

waste that is "dry" and nonedible, such as newspapers, boxes, cans, and containers

Hazardous waste

wastes that are particularly dangerous or destructive; specifically characterized by one or more of the following properties: ignitable, corrosive, reactive, or toxic

Ocean Energy

waves, tides, differential heat layers, and other sources of energy directly related to the world's oceans


संबंधित स्टडी सेट्स

Earth Science : 6. EARTH'S WATER ( Quiz 2)

View Set

Principles of Management Test 2 [Ch. 3+4] - Loes

View Set

New Jersey Chapter 7 Lesson 3 Inventions and Industry

View Set

Organizational Behavior Exam 4 StraighterLine

View Set

Adaptive Quiz: Chapter 26, Antibacterials

View Set

EXAM 3 STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS - r and m

View Set

EAQ Prioritization (Week 3), Week 5 in Class delegation assignment, Week 2 Delegation quiz, EAQ Delegation Wk 2

View Set