CIE IGCSE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT//0680

Flashcards of key vocabulary from the lecture notes

Rock Cycle

A representation of the changes between the three rock types and the processes causing them.

Igneous Rocks

Rocks made when liquid magma cools to form solid rock.

Magma

Molten rock below the surface.

Lava

Molten rock when it reaches the surface.

Extrusive Igneous Rock

Igneous rock that cools quickly, forming small crystals e.g. basalt.

Intrusive Igneous Rock

Igneous rock that cools slowly, forming large crystals e.g. granite.

Sedimentary Rocks

Rocks formed by the weathering of existing rocks at the Earth’s surface.

Sediments

Small particles of rocks that accumulate into layers and get pressurised.

Metamorphic Rocks

Rocks formed from existing rock when heat and/or pressure causes changes in the rock crystals without melting it.

Prospecting

A process of searching for minerals by examining the surface of the rocks.

Remote Sensing

A process in which information is gathered about the Earth’s surface from above.

Geochemical Analysis

Analysing the chemical properties of rocks by taking samples.

Geophysics

Method to identify mineral ores present in rocks using their physical properties.

Surface Mining

Mining that includes open-cast (open-pit, open-cut) and strip mining.

Open-Pit Mining

Mining used when a valuable deposit is located near the surface.

Quarries

Open pits where building materials such as sand, gravel, and stone are removed.

Strip Mining

Mining used to mine a seam of mineral, where the overburden is removed as a thin strip, mainly used to mine coal.

Overburden

Overlying rock and soil removed during strip mining.

Sub-Surface Mining

Mining that includes deep and shaft mining.

High-Grade Ores

Ores that yield more of the required chemical elements than low-grade ores.

Low-Grade Ores

Ores that yield less of the required chemical elements than high-grade ores.

Reserves

Small deposits of low-grade ore that cannot be mined at a profit.

Environmental Impact Assessment

Assessment needed for a licence application to be approved, including a plan to keep habitat loss minimal and restore the land.

Supply and Demand

The relationship between how much of a commodity is available and how much is needed or wanted by the consumers.

Ecological Impacts

Impacts that include loss of habitat as the vegetation is cleared, affecting plants and animals.

Noise Pollution

Pollution due to machinery and explosives, disturbing animal behavior and causing hearing problems for people.

Water Pollution

Pollution where water supplies may be polluted, becoming acidic and dissolving toxic metal ions, killing aquatic organisms.

Bioaccumulation

The process by which organisms absorb ions and retain them in their body, reaching concentrations higher than that in water.

Biomagnification

The process by which concentrations increase higher up in the food chain, causing the death of top consumers.

Land Pollution

Pollution where the toxic nature of the waste doesn’t allow plant growth even years after the mining is stopped.

Air Pollution

Pollution where dust particles settle on the vegetation, not allowing sunlight to reach the leaves, reducing the rate of photosynthesis; breathing in dust can cause serious lung diseases.

Visual Pollution

Damage inflicted to landscape.

Land Restoration

Process of improving soil and planting trees after mining activities.

Bioremediation

A process of removing pollutants from waste using living organisms.

In Situ Treatment

Treatment of contaminated waste where it’s left.

Ex Situ Treatment

Removal of contaminated waste from a site to a treatment plant.

Landfilling

The process where waste is tipped into a hole, levelled off and compacted.

Sanitary Landfilling

The process where waste is used to fill the hole, but alternating layers of waste and sand are used.

Sustainable Resource

A resource that can be continuously replenished e.g. agriculture, forestry, etc.

Sustainable Development

Development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Fossil Fuels

Carbon-based fuels, formed over many millions of years ago from the decay of living matter.

Peat

Vegetation that died and formed after huge forests grew millions of years ago.

Lignite

Low-grade coal formed when peat was compressed between layers of sediments.

Turbine

A machine, often containing fins, that is made to revolve by gas, steam or air and is connected to a generator.

Generator

A machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.

Nuclear Fission

The splitting of the atom, which releases huge amounts of energy.

Fracking

Obtaining oil or gas from shale rock by splitting them open using water, sand and chemicals.

Phytoplankton

Microscopic marine algae that serve as the base of the oceanic food web.

MARPOL (Marine Pollution)

International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships.

Floating Booms

A floating barrier used to surround the oil slick, preventing it from spreading.

Detergent Sprays

Detergents that help break down the oil slick into smaller droplets, that eventually degrade, and disperse it.

Skimmers

Machines that clean the water using a material that oil easily attaches to.

Humus

Decomposers that produce matter rich in nutrients.

Subsistence Agriculture

Cultivation of food to meet the needs of the farmers and their families.

Commercial Agriculture

Cultivation of food with the main aim of selling it for cash.

Arable Farming

Production of plants for consumption by humans.

Pastoral Farming

Production of animals or animal-related products.

Crop Rotation

The principle of growing different types of plants in different plots each year.

Legumes

Plants that have nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their root nodules.

Fallow

Land that is ploughed but left barren for a period to restore soil fertility and to avoid surplus production.

Organic Fertilisers

Fertilisers which use natural resources and supply organic matter.

Inorganic Fertilisers

Fertilisers which meet a particular need and are easier to store.

Overhead Sprinklers

A method of irrigation which is easy to setup and can cover a large area from one sprinkler.

Clay Pot Irrigation System

A simple irrigation techonology that is easy to check the amount of water and ensure high efficiency.

Trickle Drip System

A automated irrigation system that which efficienty places water directly at the base of the plant.

Flood Irrigation

An inexpensive irrigation system that can cover large areas quickly but inefficiently with water.

Pest

An animal that attacks or feeds upon a crop plant.

Pesticide

A substance used to control pests.

Weed Control

Weed-killing chemicals are known as herbicides.

Fungicides

The most common treatments of fungal diseases with chemicals.

Biological Control

The finding of natural predators as an alternative to insecticides.

GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms)

Organisms where the DNA of one organism is inserted into another.

Hydroponics

The growing plants without soil, with the nutrients the plant needs dissolved in water.

Spray Drift

When herbicides stay longer in the soil and may affect the next crop causing heavy rainfall and leaching of the chemicals into nearby lakes.

Leaching

The process of nutrients being dissolved and washed away with water.

Eutrophication

The process of excess water containing dissolved fertilisers drain into nearby lakes and rivers, leading to large quantities of nutrients.

Salinisation

The process of salt content of the soil can increase via irrigation water soaking into great depths, dissolving in the water, and remaining at the surface.

Terracing

A method to prevents the erosion of soil by rainwater on steep slopes where water is held in the flat terraced areas, causing less risk of run-off and more chance of infiltration.

Contour Ploughing

The ploughing of land along the contour in a parallel way so that ridges and troughs run along the contour to hold water and prevents large torrents of water running down the slope.

Bunds

Artificial banks at the edges of growing spaces to hold back water on a terrace to increase the quantity and fertility of the soil.

Windbreaks

A permeable barrier used to reduce the impact of wind on an area, decreasing its speed and thus, the amount of wind erosion.

Intercropping

A method of mixed cropping where rows of a different crop are grown between the rows of the main crop, maximizing the use of space and other resources.

Organic Fertilisers

Are slow acting reducing the risk of eutrophication, a waste product saving on disposal costs, ready present on many farms minimizing transport costs, don't require energy for manufacturing, and also improves soil structure.

Aquifers

Water stored in porous rocks under the ground.

Artesian Aquifer

An aquifer in which the water is under pressure.

Potable

Safe to drink.

Reservoirs

An artificial lake used as a source of water supply, usually created behind a dam or by the side of a river (bank-side reservoir).

Desalination

Removal of salt from seawater.

Physical Water Scarcity

Not enough water to meet both human demands and those of ecosystems to function effectively.

Economic Water Scarcity

Caused by a lack of investment in water infrastructure or insufficient human capacity to satisfy the demand of water in areas where the population cannot afford to use an adequate source of water.

Sewage

Waste matter that is rich in organic matter where microbial organisms can thrive in it, and thus has to be treated.

Agrochemicals

A combination of pesticides, herbicides and fertiliser used in agricultural practices

Biomagnification

Increases concentration of a toxic substance (e.g. mercury and pesticides) in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain, causing illness.

Bioaccumulation

The accumulation of a toxic chemical in the tissue of a particular organism.

pH

A measure of acidity or alkalinity with a range from very acidic, 1, to very alkaline, 14, with 7 being neutral.

Eutrophication

Increase in nutrients, such as nitrates and phosphates, in a water body causes algae bloom (rapid growth of algae).

Water-Borne Disease

Disease that is spread by consuming contaminated water due to poor sanitation and untreated sewage, or by washing food, pots and pans, or hands and face in dirty water.

Water-Bred Disease

Disease where the carrier breeds in water and spreads the disease by biting its victims.

Surface Currents

The movement of the surface water of the sea in a constant direction.

Prevailing Wind

The direction from which the wind nearly always blows in a particular area.