AP Environmental Science Princeton Review

Abiotic

Related to factors or things that are separate and independent from living things; non-living.

Acid

Any compound that released hydrogen ioins when dissolved in water. Also, a water solution that contains a surplus of hydrogen ions.

Air mass

Enormous bodies of air that move as a unit.

A horizon

A soil horizon; the layer below the O horizon. It is formed of weathered rock, with some organic material; often referred to as topsoil.

Alkaline

A basic substance; chemically, a substance that absorbs hydrogen ions or releases hydroxide ions; in reference to natural water, a measure of the base content of the water.

Aquifer

An underground layer of porous rock, sand, or other material that allows the movement of water between layers of nonporous rock or clay. They are frequently tapped for wells.

Arable

Land that's fit to be cultivated.

Asthenosphere

The part of the mantle that lies just below the lithosphere.

Atmosphere

The gaseous mass or envelope surrounding a celestial body-especially the one surrounding the earth which is retained by the celestial body's gravitational field.

Barrier island

A long, relatively narrow island running parallel to the mainland, build up by the action of waves and currents and serving to protect the coast from erosion by surf and tidal surges.

Biological weathering

Any weathering that's caused by the activities of living organisms.

Biotic

Living or derived from living things.

B horizon

Soil horizon; it receives the minerals and organic materials that are leached out of the A horizon.

Chemical weathering

The result of chemical interaction with the bedrock that is typical of the action of both water and atmospheric gases.

C horizon

A soil horizon; it is made up of larger pieces of rock that have not undergone much weathering.

Clay

The finest soil, made up of particles that are less that 0.002 mm in diameter.

Climate

Weather conditions, especially temperature and precipitation, that remain constant over 30 years or more.

Conduction

The transmission or conveying of something through a medium or passage, especially the transmission of electric charge or heat through a conducting medium without perceptible motion of the medium itself.

Convection

The vertical movement of a mass of matter because of heating and cooling; this can happen in both the atmosphere and the earth's mantle.

Convection currents

Air currents caused by the vertical movement of air due to atmospheric heating and cooling.

Convergent boundary

A plate boundary where two plates are moving toward each other.

Coral reef

An erosion-resistant marine ridge or mound consisting chiefly of compacted coral together with algal material and biochemically deposited magnesium and calcium carbonates.

Coriolis effect

The observed effect of the Coriolis force, especially the deflection of an object moving above the earth, rightward in the Northern Hemisphere, and leftward in the Southern Hemisphere, as away from the equator.

Crop rotation

The practice of alternating the crops grown on a piece of land to replenish soil nutrients-for example, corn one year, legumes for two years, and then back to corn.

Delta

A usually triangular alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river.

Divergent boundary

A plate boundary at which plates are moving away from each other. This causes and upwelling of magma from the mantle to cool and form new crust.

Doldrums

A region of the ocean near the equator, characterized by calms, light winds, or squalls.

Drip irrigation

A method of supplying irrigation water through tubes that literally drip water onto the soil at the base of each plant.

Earthquake

The result of vibrations that release energy from within the earth. They often occur as two plates slide past one another at a transform boundary.

El Niño

A climate variation that takes place in the tropical Pacific about every three to seven years, for a duration of about one year.

Erosion

The process of soil particles being carried away by wind or water. Erosion moves the smaller particles first and hence degrades the soil to a coarser, sandier, stonier texture.

Estuary

The part of the wide lower course of a river where its current is met by the tides.

Fault

The place where two tectonic plates meet each other.

Green Revolution

The time after the Industrial Revolution when farming became mechanized and crop yields in industrialized nations boomed as farmers began using large amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Greenhouse effect

The phenomenon whereby the earth's atmosphere traps solar radiation, caused by the presence in the atmosphere of gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane, that allow incoming sunlight to pass through but absorb heat radiated back from the earth's surface.

Hadley cell

A system of vertical and horizontal air circulation that creates major weather patterns, predominately in tropical and subtropical regions.

Headwaters

The water from which a river rises; the source.

Horizon

A layer of soil.

Humus

The dark, crumbly, nutrient-rich material that results from the decomposition of organic material, which is also a product of composting organic waste.

Hurrice (typhoon, cyclone)

A severe tropical storm originating in the equatorial regions of the Atlantic Ocean of Caribbean Sea or eastern regions of the Pacific Ocean, that travels north, northwest, or northeast from its point of origin, and usually involves high speeds winds and heavy rains.

Inner core

The molten core of the earth.

Insolation

The delivery rate of solar radiation per unit of horizontal surface.

Jet stream

A high-speed, meandering wind current, generally moving from a westerly direction at speeds often exceeding 400 km (250 miles) per hour at altitudes of 15 to 25 km (10 to 15 miles).

Land degradation

Deterioration of land quality (topsoil, organisms, vegetation, water quality), usually caused by its exploitation.

La Niña

A cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America, occurring periodically every 4 to 12 years and affecting Pacific and other weather patterns.

Lithosphere

The outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle, approximately 100 km (62 miles) thick.

Loamy

Soil composed of a mixture of sand, clay, silt, and organic matter.

Mantle

The layer of the earth between the crust and the core.

Monoculture

The cultivation of a single crop on a farm or in a region or country; a single, homogenous culture without diversity or dissension.

Monsoon

A wind system that influences large climatic regions and reverses direction seasonally.

O horizon

The uppermost horizon of soil. It is primarily made up of organic material, including waste from organisms, the bodies of decomposing organisms, and live organisms.

Physical (mechanical) weathering

Any process that breaks rock down into smaller pieces without changing the chemistry of the rock; typically wind and water.

Plate boundaries

The edges of tectonic plates.

Prior appropriation

When water rights are given to those who have historically used the water in a certain area.

Rain shadow effect

The low-rainfall region that exists on the leeward (downwind) side of a mountain range. This rain shadow effect is the result of the mountain range's causing precipitation on the windward side.

Red tide

A bloom of dinoflagellates of that causes reddish discoloration of coastal ocean waters. Certain dinoflagellates of the genus Gonyamlax produce toxins that kill fish and contaminate shellfish.

R horizon

The bedrock, which lies below all of the other layers of soil.

Riparian right

The right, as to fishing or to the use of a riverbed, of one who owns riparian land (the land adjacent to a river or stream).

Salinization

Occurs when the soil becomes waterlogged from excess irrigation and then dries out. As the water evaporates, the salt crystallizes and forms a layer on the soil surface. This excess of salt prevents the growth of plants.

Sand

The coarsest soil, with particles 0.05-2.0 mm in diameter.

Silt

Soil with particles 0.002-0.05 mm in diameter.

Souther Oscillation

The atmospheric pressure conditions corresponding to the periodic warming of El Niño and cooling of La Niña.

Subduction zone

In tectonic plates, the site at which an oceanic plate is sliding under a continental plate.

Thermocline

A layer in a large body of water, such as a lake, that sharply separates regions differing in temperature, so that the temperature gradient across the layer is abrupt.

Thermosphere

The outermost shell of the atmosphere, between the mesosphere and outer space, where temperatures increase steadily with altitutde.

Topsoil

The A horizon of soil is often referred to as topsoil and is most important for plant growth.

Trade winds

The more of less constant winds blowing in horizontal directions over the earth's surface, as part of Hadley cells.

Transform boundary

Also known as transform faults, boundaries at which plates are moving past each other, sideways.

Tropical storm

A cylonic storm having winds ranging from approximately 48 t0 121 km (30 to 70 miles) per hour.

Upwelling

A process in which cold, often nutrient-rich, water from the ocean depths rise to the surface.

Volcanoes

An opening in the earth's crust through which molten lava, ash, and gases, are ejected.

Watershed

The region draining into a river system or other body of water.

Water-scarce

Countries that have a renewable annual water supply of less than 1,000 m3 per person.

Water-stressed

Countries that have a renewable annual water supply of about 1,000-2,000 m3 cubed per person.

Weather

The day to day variations in temperature, air pressure, wind, humidity, and precipitaiton mediated by the atmosphere in a given region.

Weathering

The gradual breakdown of rock into smaller and smaller particles, caused by chemical, physical, and biological features.

Wetlands

A lowland area, such as a marsh or swamp, that is saturated with moisture, especially when regarded as the natural habitat of wildlife.

Ammonification

The production of ammonia or ammonium compounds in the decomposition of organic matter, especially through the action of bacteria.

Assimilation

The process in which plants absorb ammonium (NH3), ammonia ions (NH3+), and nitrate ions (NO3) through their roots.

Bioaccumulation

The accumlation of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in various tissues of a living organism.

Biological extinction

True extermination of a species. There are no individuals of this species left on the planet.

Biomagnification

The process by which the concentration of toxic substances increases in each successive link in the food chain.

Biosphere

The part of the earth and its atmosphere where living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life.

Carnivore

An animal that only consumes other animals.

Chemotroph (chemoautotroph)

An organism, such as a bacterium or protozoan, that obtains its nourishment through the oxidization of inorganic chemical compounds, as opposed to photosynthesis.

Climax community

A stable, mature community in a successive series that has reached equilibrium after having evolved through stages and adapted to its environment.

Combustion

The process of burning.

Commerical or economic extinction

A few individuals exist but the effort needed to locate and harvest them is not worth the expense.

Community

Formed from populations of different species occupying the same geographic area.

Competitive exclusion

The process that occurs when two different species in a region compete and the better adapted species wins.

Consumer

An organism that must obtain food energy from secondary sources, for example, by eating plant or animal matter.

Decomposer

Bacteria or fungi that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic matter like plant material, the wastes of living organisms, and corpses. They convert these materials into inorganic forms.

Denitrification

The process by which specialized bacteria (mostly anaerobic bacteria) convert ammonia to NO3, NO2, and N2, and release it back to the atmosphere.

Detritivore

Organisms that derive energy from consuming nonliving organic matter, such as dead animals or fallen leaves. Earthworms and many species of fungi are detritivores.

Ecological extinction

There are so few individuals of a species that this species can no longer perform its ecological function.

Ecological succession

Transition in species composition of a biological community, often following ecological disturbance of the community; the establishment of a biological community virtually barren of life.

Edge effect

The condition at which, at ecological boundaries, there is greater species diversity and biological density than there is in the heart of ecological communities.

Energy pyramid

The structure obtained if we organize the amount of energy contained in producers and consumers in an ecosystem by kilocalories per square meter, from largest to smallest.

Evaporation

To convert or change into a vapor.

Evolution

The change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals and resulting in the development of new species.