IGCSE Environmental Management Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards generated from the IGCSE Environmental Management lecture notes, covering core terms, definitions, processes, and concepts.

Rock cycle

A representation of the changes between the three rock types (igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic), conveying their relationships, origins, and the processes by which they are interconverted.

Weathering

The breaking down of rocks and minerals caused by water, ice, and changes in temperature.

Erosion

The movement of rock and soil fragments to different locations.

Remote sensing

A prospecting technique used to identify surface minerals using aerial photography or GPS.

Geochemical analysis

Field surveys on the ground that extract soil or rock samples via shallow drilling for laboratory testing to identify chemical components.

Geophysics

A prospecting method where seismic wave vibrations or explosive shock waves are sent into rock layers and reflected back to sensors to identify sub-surface minerals.

Resource evaluation

An estimation of the grade and tonnage of a targeted mineral deposit to determine if extraction is viable.

Feasibility study

An evaluation carried out prior to mining to assess the technical and financial risks of an extraction project.

Overburden

The layer of rock and soil overlying an economically viable mineral deposit that must be removed and stored before extraction.

Ore

A rock containing a sufficient concentration of an important element to make mining it economically worthwhile.

Greenfield sites

Areas that have never been mined before, characterized by a low strike rate for finding minerals.

Brownfield sites

Areas that have previously been mined, offering a higher strike rate for mineral discovery than greenfield sites.

Bioaccumulation

The process by which an individual organism absorbs and retains toxic substances or ions within its body over time.

Biomagnification

The progressive increase in concentration of toxic substances at higher levels of the food chain, often severely impacting top predators.

Bioremediation

A process in which living organisms, such as bacteria or plants, are used to absorb and remove toxic chemicals from a contaminated site.

Fossil fuels

Carbon-based non-renewable fuels formed over millions of years from the decay of buried organic matter under intense heat and pressure.

Electromagnetic induction

A process for generating electricity where the relative kinetic motion of a metal coil and a magnet transforms mechanical energy into electrical energy.

Tidal barrage

A small dam-like structure built across an estuary that releases trapped water through turbines during low tide to generate electricity.

Fracking (hydraulic fracking)

The extraction technique of obtaining oil or gas from shale rock by pumping high-pressure water, sand (proppant), and chemicals to break open rock layers.

Booms

Floating physical barriers used to encircle and contain marine oil slicks or protect vulnerable coastal ecosystems.

Skimmers

Mechanical devices that attract and drag floating oil off the surface of seawater into a collection container without altering the oil's physical or chemical properties.

Loam soil

A balanced soil mixture containing sand, silt, and clay that offers optimal drainage, high organic content, and a neutral $\text{pH}$.

Subsistence farming

Agricultural production focused on growing food directly to meet the immediate survival needs of the farmer and their family.

Commercial farming

Agricultural cultivation focused on growing crops or rearing livestock specifically to generate profit through market sales.

Arable farming

The cultivation of crop plants for human food consumption.

Pastoral farming

The branch of agriculture centered on breeding and rearing livestock animals.

Crop rotation

The agricultural practice of growing different types of crops sequentially in the same plot across successive years to prevent soil depletion and pest build-up.

Eutrophication

The process where excess nutrient runoff causes algal blooms, blocking light and leading to severe oxygen depletion in water bodies and aquatic animal deaths.

Desertification

The gradual degradation of fertile land into desert due to overcultivation, overgrazing, deforestation, or poor management.

Terracing

The modification of steep hillside slopes into a series of flat, step-like platforms to slow water runoff and drastically limit soil erosion.

Contour ploughing

Ploughing along the natural elevation lines (contours) of a slope to form ridges that hold back rainwater and prevent soil erosion.

Biological control

The introduction of natural predators or parasites to regulate pest populations without applying chemical pesticides.

Desalination

The industrial removal of mineral salts from seawater via distillation or reverse osmosis to produce safe, potable freshwater.

Pathogen

A general term describing any disease-causing microorganism, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

Phytoplankton

Microscopic, photosynthetic aquatic organisms floating in surface waters that form the base of marine food webs.

Upwelling

An oceanographic process where cold, nutrient-dense ocean water is driven upward to the surface by wind patterns, supporting high biological productivity.

Bycatch

Non-target marine organisms accidentally caught in commercial fishing gear during operations aimed at other target species.

Aquaculture

The commercial farming and husbandry of aquatic organisms in controlled fresh-water environments.

Mariculture

The specialized cultivation and farming of marine organisms directly within saltwater habitats.

Lithosphere

The solid outer layer of the Earth composed of the crust and the uppermost portion of the mantle.

Convection currents

Circular heat transfer motions within the mantle driven by deep thermal energy, which force tectonic plates to move across the Earth's surface.

Liquefaction

A process during an earthquake where water-saturated, loose soils lose structural rigidity and temporarily behave like a liquid.

Lag time

The time interval on a hydrograph between peak rainfall occurrence and maximum river discharge.

Photochemical smog

A secondary atmospheric pollutant mixture created when primary vehicle emissions (oxides of nitrogen and VOCs) interact with sunlight.

Acid rain

Any form of precipitation with a $\text{pH}$ value under $6$, formed when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with water vapor in the atmosphere.

Temperature inversion

An atmospheric layer condition where temperature increases with height, trapping air pollutants and smog close to the Earth's surface.

Carrying capacity

The maximum population density of a species that an environment's available resources can sustainably support.

Push factors

Adverse local conditions, such as drought, joblessness, or poverty, that compel individuals to emigrate from an area.

Pull factors

Favorable characteristics, such as abundant employment, stability, or better living conditions, that attract migrants to a new location.

Carbon sink

A growing vegetated ecosystem whose net rate of carbon uptake through photosynthesis exceeds its carbon emission through respiration.

Carbon store

A mature forest or ecosystem where carbon uptake by photosynthesis equals carbon release by respiration, resulting in a stable, contained carbon stock.

Climax community

A stable, mature ecological community that remains unchanged over time as long as regional climate conditions stay constant.