Unit 1.B Flashcards by Kaitie Klein

What percent of earths water is in the oceans

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Where is majority of freshwater located

Frozen in ice caps and glaciers

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What percent of water is used for agricultural sectors

~70

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What is an aquifer

Water stored underground in sand and bedrock through which groundwater flows

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What is a water table

The uppermost level at which water satuates the rock and soil

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What is a recharge area

Supplies water to aquifer through infiltration and percolation of precipitation

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What is the Ogallala aquifer

Largest aquifer in the U.S.
Beneath Great Plains

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Removing excessive ground water can cause:

Cones of depression near the withdrawn well

Salt water intrusion near coastlines

Sink holes, land subsidence

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What happens in Primary Treatment for waste water

Physical separation

Screening and grit removes most suspended solids

Primary clarifiers separate liquids and solids

Solids go to digestion and turn to sludge

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What happens in Secondary Treatment for waste water

Anaerobic bacteria is used to digest the waste

Secondary clarifiers remove bacteria from liquids

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What happens in Tertiary Treatment for waste water

Chemical and physical processes aimed at removing special pollutants

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What happens in Disinfection for waste water

UV light or chlorine is used to kill pathogenic bacteria and viruses

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After being treated, where does waste water go

Into local surface water or pumped into aquifers

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What is industrial waste

Waste produced by mining, agriculture, etc providing us with goods and services

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What is municipal solid waste (MSW)

Waste produced by homes and businesses

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What are hazardous wastes

Wastes that are poisonous, chemically reactive, flammable, dangerous

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What is the composition of MSW for the U.S.

Paper
Food wastes
Plastic

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Where does most trash in the U.S. go

Landfills

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What are open clump landfills

Fields and holes in the ground for trash

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What are sanitary landfills

Spread MSW in layers, cover and compact with clay, dries trash, reduces leachate leakage

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What are landfill issues

Anaerobic conditions slow decomposition rates

Anaerobic conditions produce methane which is flammable and a greenhouse gas

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Where are most incinerators found

Europe

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What are incinerators/waste-to-energy-burn plants

Burns trash to boil water and generate electricity

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What are plastics

Variety of materials made of polymer-containing compounds

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Plastics are a type of petrochemical, what is that

Means it is most often generated from natural gas or petroleum

What are microplastics

Floating just below the surface trapped in vortexes of rotating ocean currents

What percent of open waters have floating plastic debris with plastic on the seafloor

What is primary recyclling

Closed loop, using materials again for the same purpose

What is secondary recyclling

Open loop, waste materials are converted into different products

What is planned obsolescence

Objects are designed to be trashed rather than fixed or reused

What is traditional waste management

Treats all wastes by burning, burying, or shipping them to focus on object's end and getting rid of it

What is integrated waste management

Emphasizes waste reduction b4 its even produced

What is source reduction

Using less materials in design and manufacturing that would become waste, prevent waste generation

What is cradle-to-cradle

Approach to manufacturing, a circular economy. No waste leftover

What is the Basel Convention

Bans the export of hazardous wastes, plastics, and e-waste to other countries without permission

What is the Superfund Act/CERCLA

Cleans up hazardous waste sites

What is the Toxic Release Inventory/TRI

Published to notify residents of storage and release of toxic chemicals in their regoin

What is the Resource Conservation and Recoverey Act/RCRA

Established cradle-to-grave system of recordkeeping and permitting for generation, transport, treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous wastes

What is the lithosphere

The outermost, cooler, rigid of rock on earths surface. Where the tectonic plates are

What is the asthenosphere

The layer on top of the mantle that consists of hot, molten rock. In motion

Oceanic crust properties

Underwater More dense bc of a greater amount of metals Floats lower on the asthenosphere

Continential crust properties

Less dense Made of silicate rock Floats higher on the asthenosphere

Where do convection currents occur within earth

Asthenosphere

What do convection currents do related to earths surface

They force themselves through tectonic plates which force the plates to either collide or diverge

What is subduction

A more dense tectonic plates goes underneath a less dense tectonic plate

What occurs when a continental plate and an oceanic plate converge Where/world example

Trenches South america/Andes mountains

What occurs when an oceanic plate and an oceanic plate converge Where/world example

Islands Southeast Asia- japan and indonesia

What occurs when a continental plate and a continental plate converge Where/world example

Nonvolcanic mountains Himalayas

What occurs when an oceanic plate and an oceanic plate diverge Where/world example

Mid ocean ridges Iceland and mid-atlantic ocean ridge

What occurs when a continental plate and a continental plate diverge Where/world example

Rift valleys African rift valley

What occurs when a continental plate and a continental plate transform into eachother Where/world example

Earthquakes and fault lines San Andreas fault line

What is a reserve

A known quality of resource that can be economically recovered

What is ore

Concentration of mineral from which valuable materials can be extracted

What are gangue minerals/tailings

Material extracted with the ore that has no value and is considered waste

What is placer mining

Obtaining minerals from river sediments

What is subsurface mining

Used when ores are more than 100m below earths surface. Dig straight down and then towards ores.

What are the types of surface mining

Strip, open-pit, and mountaintop removing

What is strip mining

Mining in a straight line when ore is parallel to earths surface. Spoils, removed overburden, is returned to hole and topsoil is replaced

What is open-pit mining

Digging a large hole in the ground if ore runs horizontal and vertically beneath earths surface, removing layer by layer.

What is mountaintop removal mining Where is it commonly done

Uses explosives to access ore within a mountain Appalachian mountains

What is acid mine drainage

Sulfuric acid produced by anaerobic bacteria acting on sulfur compounds in mining waters. Releases toxic heavy metals from soil or bedrock