CH 10-14 Flashcards
(165 cards)
1
Q
Asian Brown Cloud
A
2mi. thick layer of ash, acid, aerosols, dust, smog over India. Cuts insolation by 15%
2
Q
Nitrogen oxides
A
formed when heat from combustion initiates reactions between atmospheric nitrogen & oxygen. An acid rain source
3
Q
Carbon monoxide
A
less common, colorless, odorless toxic gas pollutant
4
Q
Volatile organic compounds
A
gases containing carbon, benzene, toluene, formaldehyde which interact with ozone to create photochemical smog
5
Q
Lead
A
most abundantly produced metal air pollutant which impairs brain and nerve function
6
Q
Particulate matter
A
most apparent form of air pollution
7
Q
Hazardous air pollutants
A
very dangerous even in low concentrations, accumulates in human and animal tissue. e.g. gasoline vapors, solvents
8
Q
Mercury
A
key neurotoxin, damages brain and nerves. 70% of airborne particles of it released by burning coal
9
Q
Hydrologic cycle
A
the water cycle
10
Q
Dew point
A
temperature at which relative humidity reaches 100%
11
Q
Frontal rainfall
A
cold and warm air masses collide
12
Q
Orographic rainfall
A
moist air pushed over a landform
13
Q
Rainshadow
A
dry leeward side of mountain
14
Q
Chinook
A
winds that flow down dry leeward side of mountain
15
Q
Convectional rainfall
A
rapidly rising hot air cools, precipitates
16
Q
Thermals
A
upward flows of air from the surface in a convectional rainfall
17
Q
Air mass
A
large section of air
18
Q
Front
A
leading edge of air mass
19
Q
Tornado
A
most violent storm on earth for its size. winds up to 300+ mph
20
Q
Fujita scale
A
measurement of tornado intensity from 1-5
21
Q
Waterspout
A
tornado over water
22
Q
tornado watch
A
alert from the national weather service when atmospheric conditions could form a tornado
23
Q
tornado warning
A
alert from national weather service when a tornado has been sighted or a hook shows up in doppler radar
24
Q
eye
A
center of a hurricane
25
storm surge
sea water pushed inland by hurricane
26
groundwater
largest compartment of liquid fresh water. has 100x the volume of all rivers, freshwater lakes, ad reservoirs combined
27
Zone of saturation
areas where rocks and soil are filled with water
28
Water table
top edge of zone of saturation
29
Non-aquifer
non-water-bearing rocks
30
aquifer
water-bearing rock
31
recharge zone
area that adds water to aquifer
32
artesian well
aquifer trapped between layers of non-aquifer where pressure forces water upward
33
piezometric level
height water is pushed up in artesian well
34
Lake Baykal
world's larges lake. found in serbia. 5,000 ft. deep
35
wetlands
stabilize soil and hold back surface runoff
36
Aral Sea
water body that has lost 60% of its volume due to Russian diversion of rivers
37
Saltwater intrusion
freshwater in aquifer replaced by ocean salt water
38
Cone of depression
water table dips down around a heavily pumped well
39
Karst topography
groundwater dissolves limestone beneath surface, surface collapses creating sinkholes
40
Agriculture
#1 reason for US wetland destruction; our greatest use of water
41
Streambed channelization
bulldozing streams, vegetation, and straightening stream channels
42
Transpiration
the loss of water from leaves and plants
43
evapotranspiration
loss of water from the soil and the leaves of plants
44
riparian rights
people who own land along streams have rights to use it
45
braiding
occurs when stream channel is clogged with sediment; breaks channel into many small channels, making navigation impossible
46
point source pollution
water pollution occurring from a specific place
47
non-point source pollution
no specific place where water pollution is occurring
48
coliform count
measures levels of naturally occurring intestinal bacterium, and gives water personnel the chance to measure fecal contamination in water
49
biological oxygen demand
amount of oxygen required by decomposers to break down organic matter
50
oxygen sag
oxygen levels decline downstream
51
water hyacinth
introduced to Florid from South America in 1884, 10 plants can grow into 600,000 in 8 months
52
inorganic fertilizers
#1 anthropogenic source of plant nutrients in fresh water
53
laundry detergents
#2 anthropogenic source of plants nutrients in fresh water due to synthetic phosphates
54
tripolyphosphates
cling to dirt, holding it in suspension until the water washes it away
55
toxic tides
excessive nutrients support blooms of deadly aquatic microorganisms in polluted waters near the shore
56
Thermal pollution
hot water from power plant cooling towers enter streams, suddenly changing temperatures, killing life and changing fish spawning cycles
57
Magnitogorsk
steel mfg. plant in Ural Mts. 90% of local children suffer from birth defects and pollution related ills
58
Bratislava
capital of Slovakia; dumps 2 billion gallons of industrial and municipal wastes into the Danube annually
59
Primary treatment plants
reduce amounts of organic solids by settling, filtering, and screening
60
Secondary treatment
more filtering and screening and aeration to accelerate bacterial breakdown of wastes
61
tertiary treatment
activated carbon used to bond chemicals; advanced filtering (reverse osmosis), chlorine added to kill disease transmitted bacteria
62
Uniformitarianism
assumes same physical processes active today have been operating throughout geologic time
63
Catastrophism
belief that the earth is young, major events created landforms
64
Discontinuity
transition zone between layers in the earth
65
Gutenberg discontinuity
transition zone between Outer Core and Lower Mantle
66
Mohorovicic discontinuity
transition zone between uppermost mantle and crust
67
Asthenosphere
43 to 155 miles down; layer of molten 'plastic-like' rock upon which tectonic plates float
68
Igneous rock
rock 'fire formed' from hot magma
69
magma
hot molten rock within the earth
70
lava
hot molten rock that reaches the surface of the earth
71
sedimentary rocks
these rocks are formed from organic materials or bits of other rocks stuck together by pressure
72
lithification
cementation, compaction, and hardening of sediments into sedimentary rocks
73
metamorphic rocks
igneous, sedimentary rocks that have been changed by heat or pressure
74
contact metamorphism
hot magma 'cooks' adjacent rock, changing them into metamorphic rocks
75
foliated metamorphic rocks
metamorphic rocks with streaks or lines of minerals
76
Pangea
according to continental drift theory, the one continent
77
Laurasia
in continental drift theory, the northern half of the one continent
78
Gondwana
in continental drift theory, southern half of the one continent
79
seafloor spreading
magma flows to surface along mid-ocean ridges, creating more sea rocks
80
subduction
denser oceanic rock is pushed underneath less dense continental rock
81
Mariana trench
world's deepest trench -36,198 ft (subduction zone
82
tectonic plates
the huge rocks that float on the asthenosphere
83
evaporites
chemical sediments left behind when water evaporates. E.g. gypsum, NaCl
84
epicenter
area on the surface directly above where the earthquake occurred
85
hypocenter/focus
where the earthquake occurs within the earth
86
tsunami
giant sea waves can move 600 mph 100ft high
87
fossil fuels
main source of energy today
88
reserves
fossil fuels that can be extracted with today's technology
89
resource base
includes all stocks of fossil fuels that are too expensive to extract
90
coal
most abundant and widely distributed fossil fuel
91
china
world's leading coal producer
92
wyoming
#1 in US coal production (25%) low sulfur coal
93
unit train
coal trains with 100 cars carrying coal to power plants
94
anthracite
hard coal
95
bituminous
soft coal
96
lignite
brownish coal, low BTUs
97
black lung
progressive debilitating disease caused by breathing coal dust
98
slurry
mix of coal and water
99
overburden
material to be removed to reach coal
100
highwall
cliff-like structures (180 ft tall) results of draglines moving overburden
101
draglines
huge shovels used to remove overburden
102
room and pillar
a section of coal is left behind to support the mine roof
103
roof bolting
roof ceiling is attached to above stable rock strata with rods and cross ties
104
1 barrel
42 gallons
105
E.L. Drake
drills first US oil well in PA drilled 69 ft down
106
bitumen
asphalt-like hydrocarbons from tar sands
107
Athabasca
Northern Alberta, Canada. World's largest commercial production of synthetic crude oil. supplies 10% of Canadian oil
108
Kerogen
solid hydrocarbons found in oil shale
109
natural gas
least abundant fossil fuel
110
fracking
mixture of water and hazardous chemical are pumped through shale to force natural gas out
111
Three Mile Island
US nuclear power plant releases radioactive gas in 1979
112
Zimmer plant
Ohio power plant intended to be nuclear, switched to coal at last minute
113
Chernobyl
reactor core blows up sending radiation around the world in 1986
114
Uranium 235
fuels nuclear power plants
115
fission
splitting of U-235 atoms to create energy
116
fuel rods
hold the U-235
117
Control rods
contain boron, slows nuclear reactions
118
reactor core
fuel rods and control rods in a reactor vessel, bathed in water
119
containment building
4ft thick concrete shell surrounds reactor core
120
light water reactors
80% of world's approx. 420 nuclear plants cooled by water
121
heavy water reactors
nuclear power plants cooled by forms of carbon
122
mill tailings
radioactive uranium ore dumped near mine sites and rivers
123
fusion
nuclear reaction that occurs in the sun
124
Yucca Mountain
controversial US storage facility for nuclear waste, in Nevada
125
Biomass
wood, plant material, dung, used for heat, cooking
126
digesters
small scale plants take methane gas from sewage and feedlot manure, used for cooking and heating
127
Methanol
Methyl alcohol can be produced from biomass, coal, nat. gas
128
Ethanol
Ethyl alcohol made from grain, sugar, sugar beets, cane, milk prods.
129
Gasohol
unleaded fuel; 90% gasoline 10% ethanol
130
Brazil
uses sugar cane to produce ethanol
131
Fish ladder
allows fish to move around dams
132
Denmark
#1 in wind energy
133
Active systems
solar energy using fans, pumps, to circulate heat
134
passive systems
solar energy that collects, stores, transfers heat without mechanical assistance
135
heliostats
large solar collectors that provide heat to drive steam turbines to produce electricity
136
photovoltaic cells
convert solar radiation directly into electricity
137
geothermal energy
heat energy from the earth's interior is used to generate energy
138
tidal energy
using kinetic energy in the oceans' tides
139
hazardous wastes
discarded toxic materials that pose a threat to human health and environment
140
waste stream
steady flow of varied waste from domestic garbage, industrial, commercial, and construction refuse
141
open dumps
low value land sites, abandoned mines, swamps, floodplains
142
gyres
vast circulating ocean current resulting from earth's rotation
143
Great Pacific Garbage Patch
millions of tons of plastic, best known floating debris field, discovered in 1997
144
sanitary landfill
excavated pit filled with waste and covered with soil
145
leachate
water flows through garbage or hazardous wastes to form this
146
midnight dumping
illegal dumping of wastes
147
Love Canal
Hooker Chemical Co. toxic waste dump; school and houses built on top; 1974-78 50% of babies had birth defects
148
Times Beach, Missouri
Dioxins sprayed on roads to keep dust down, levels 300x greater than danger level for long term exposure
149
Bhopal, India
Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) leaks, killing 3,000, disabling 30,000, injuring 25,000
150
Chernobyl
#1 hazardous waste disaster
151
Carcinogens
cancer causing agents
152
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)
chemicals in old electrical transformers
153
Superfund
created in 1980 to clean up worst hazardous waste dumps, today bankrupt
154
secure landfills
must include clay/plastic liner, clay dike and cap, leachate collection and drainage, system monitoring wells to check for leaks
155
Deep well injection
wastes are pumped into bedrock 2,000 ft below groundwater zone
156
Lust
old underground tanks leaking, polluting groundwater
157
NIMBY/Not in My Backyard
neighborhoods resisting incinerators, garbage transfer stations, landfills
158
Fernald, Ohio
secret Cold War uranium processing plant heavily pollutes area
159
demanufacturing
tearing apart discarded electronics to recycle reusable components
160
E-waste
discarded electronics, one of the greatest sources of toxic material going into developing countries
161
Brownfields
abandoned land not used to its potential due to possible pollution problems
162
Earth First
1980s group of radical environmentalists taking active (and illegal) steps to protect the environment
163
Ecoterrorism/Ecotage
sabotage in the name of the environment
164
Green party
environmental political party
165
Cost benefit ratio
expense of action compared to gain provided
