Earth Science Written Work 2 Reviewer

Hydrologic Cycle

The continuous circulation of water throughout the four Earth spheres.

Surface Run-off

The flow of water over the land surface when precipitation is no longer to be absorbed by the soil.

Infiltration

The process of water soaking into the ground and entering the soil from the ground surface.

Evaporation

The process of water being heated by solar energy, becoming a gas that rises into the atmosphere.

Absorption

The process of water being used by organisms to survive.

96.5%

The composition percentage of water in oceans.

1%

The composition percentage of water in saline lakes and groundwater.

97.5%

The composition percentage of saline water.

2.5%

The composition percentage of freshwater.

Salinity

The total amount of solid material dissolved in water.

99%

The composition of salts magnesium chloride, sodium sulfate, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, and sodium chloride make in seawater.

Surface Mixed Zone

The first layer of oceans, usually warm and uniform temperature.

Transition Zone

The second layer of oceans, where it contains the thermocline and pycnocline.

Deep Zone

The third layer of oceans, continually dark and cold and accounts for 80 percent of the water in the ocean.

Glaciers

A long-lasting accumulation of compacted snow and ice that forms on land and is slow moving.

Ice Sheet

An extension of glaciers that flows outward in all directions and covers more than 50,000 square meters.

Ice Shelf

An extension of glaciers that flows outward in all directions and covers less than 50,000 square meters.

Alpine Glaciers

A glacier that forms at all latitudes on high, snowy mountains.

Cirque Glaciers

An alpine glacier that forms in bowl-shaped depressions onto the side of mountains.

Valley Glaciers

An alpine glacier that flows through mountain valleys.

Piedmont Glaciers

An alpine valley glacier that spreads out to even low land.

Ice Fields

An alpine glacier that covers high elevation basins with only mountain peaks protruding above them.

Groundwater

A large reservoir of water that is readily available to humans and fills in the cracks and spaces of underground soil and rock.

Zone of Aeration

A zone of groundwater wherein it contains some amount of water but is mostly filled in with air.

Zone of Saturation

A zone of groundwater wherein it is fully saturated with water.

Water Table

A boundary that separates the zone of aeration and saturation.

Surface Water

A water source above land and includes streams, lakes, and other various wetlands where water from rainfall, melting snow, and ice, and ground water flows to.

Permafrost

A permanently frozen layer on or under Earth's surface with soil, gravel, and sand bounded together with ice.

Streams

Any body of flowing water within a channel.

Rivers

A large, natural stream.

Tributaries

A small, narrow stream.

Perennial Streams

A stream that runs year round even during times of drought.

Intermittent Stream

A stream that flows only when water is provided by a precipitation event.

Braided River

A river channel that is composed of several smaller channels.

Meandering River

A river channel that twists and turns and follows a winding path.

Lakes

A large, inland body of standing water that occupies a depression in the land surface.

Oligotrophic Lake

A lake with nearly pure water but low concentrations of nutrients.

Eutrophic Lake

A relatively shallow lake abundant with nutrients.

Wetlands

A region of water that is soaked or flooded for all or parts of the year.

Swamps

A wetland with lush, woody trees and vegetation in low-lying areas beside slow moving rivers.

Bogs

A wetland with water sourced from precipitation with moss as its dominant vegetation in dome shaped landscapes.

Marshes

A wetland with shallow depth around lakes, streams, and oceans where grasses and weeds are the dominant vegetation.

Mudflats

A wetland with minimal life from river outflows.

Floodplains

A wetland coming from the overflow of rivers and streams during periods of high flow.

Estuaries

A partly closed coastal body of water from streams that meet the saltwater from the sea.

Aquifers

A body of rock that can yield economically significant quantities of groundwater.

Artesian Wells

A well drilled into a confined aquifer, in which the water rises without pumping and in some cases flows to the surface.

Springs

A source of water where the water table intersects land surface and the water flows or seeps onto the surface. It usually appears as a result of high pressure and a decrease in permeability.

Regolith

A layer of rock and mineral fragments produced by weathering.

Soil

A thin layer on Earth's surface that can support life and is a part of the regolith.

Primary Minerals

A mineral in the soil derived directly from the weathering and erosion from various types of rock.

Secondary Minerals

A mineral that was not originally present but have been present by intense chemical weathering.

Clay

The finest soil made from low quartz, high secondary secondary silicate materials, and low other secondary materials.

0.002 mm or less

The size of clay particles.

Silt

The intermediate soil sized soil made from high quartz, and low primary silicate minerals and secondary materials.

0.05 mm to 0.002 mm

The size of silt particles.

Sand

The coarsest soil made from high quartz, intermediate primary silicate materials and low other secondary materials.

2 mm to 0.05 mm

The size of sand particles.

Peat

A somewhat consolidated mass of partly decayed moss, wood, and other plant parts.

Organic Fraction of Soil

It is rich in carbon and contains plants, animals, some living, some dead, and some in various stages of decay.

Porosity

The amount of pore space in a material is porosity.

35% to 40%

The porosity of sand soil.

35% to 50%

The porosity of silt soil.

50% or more

The porosity of clay soil.

Permeability

A measure of the ability of a material to allow fluids or water to flow through it.

Hygroscopic Water

Water that adheres to soil very tightly.

Capillary Water

Water that clings to the small pores between soil grains.

Gravitational Water

Water that drains out of the soil through its pores.

O-Horizon

The surface of soils that is an accumulation of organic debris including dead leaves, other plant material, and animal remains.

A-Horizon

The topsoil that is composed of dark gray, brown, or black organic material mixed with mineral grains.

E-Horizon

The middle zone or the leached zone, which is a light colored zone lacking clay and organic matter.

B-Horizon

The zone that contains little organic material but can be red due to the accumulation of iron oxide. This is the part of the soil where there is more clay content.

C-Horizon

The zone composed of weathered bedrock or unconsolidated sediment.

R-Horizon

The zone composed of unweathered bedrock.

Loam

A combination of clay, silt, and sand and is ideal for soil.

Percolation

A downward movement of water through soil and rock due to gravity.

Mineral Occurrence

A concentration of a mineral that is of scientific or technical interest.

Mineral Deposit

A concentration of minerals or a mineral occurrence of sufficient size and grade or concentration to enable extraction under the most favorable conditions. It is of economic interest.

Ore Deposit

A mineral deposit that has already been tested and is economically profitable to mine.

Mining

A process of extracting mineral resources from the surface of the Earth.

Exploration

A process that involves prospecting, drilling, and modeling of ore deposit.

Development and Design

A process that determines whether the site can be operated in an environmentally safe, economically sound, and socially responsible matter.

Construction

A process that involves building roads, processing facilities, environmental management systems, employee housing and other facilities.

Production

A process where actual mining and processing of minerals happen.

Gangue

An unwanted impurity like sand, rocky material, and earthy particles.

Closure and Reclamation

A process of closing the mine and returning the land in its original state.

Surface Mining

A mining operation that delves deep into rock to extract deposits of mineral resources that are close to the surface.

Open Pit Mining

A surface mining technique that involves digging large open holes in the ground.

Strip Mining

A surface mining technique that involves removing all the soil and rock that lies on top.

Mountaintop Removal

A surface mining technique of removing the top of the mountain to remove deposits not accessible by other techniques.

Placer Mining

A surface mining technique that extracts minerals from a placer.

Placer

A deposit of sand and gravel in the bed of a river or lake, containing particles of valuable minerals.

Underground Mining

A mining operation that refers to a group of techniques used for the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials buried deep in the Earth's crust.

Drift Mining

An underground mining technique of accessing valuable geological material by cutting into the side of the Earth.

Slope Mining

An underground mining technique of accessing valuable geological material where a sloping access shaft travels downwards towards the material.

Shaft Mining

An underground mining technique of mining straight down or almost straight down until they reach their desired depth.

Ore Processing

A process of separating grains of ore minerals from the unwanted minerals.

Tailings

A waste material left after valuable materials are extracted from crushed ore.

Comminution

A process of reducing particle size or the process of liberating the mineral from its close attachment to gangue.

Separation

A process that involves the act of creating concentrates of minerals as it is separated from gangue.