Science Midterm Vocabulary
Vocabulary from Chap 7 -9 and 15-19
Terms
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- producers
- organisms that create food through photosynthesis and chemosynthesis
- delta
- formed when sediments are deposited as water empties into an ocean or lake
- sleet
- type of precipitation that forms when raindrops pass through a layer of freezing air near earth's surface
- loess deposits
- windblown deposits of fine-grained sediments
- impermeable
- quality of rock through which water cannot pass
- trench
- long, narrow depression or crack in the ocean floor
- drainage basin
- land area from which a stream get its water
- water vapor
- makes up from zero to four percent of the atmosphere
- groundwater
- water that soaks into the ground and collects in rock pores
- permeable
- quality of rock when pore spaces are connected and water can pass through them
- water table
- upper surface of the zone of saturation
- Gulf Stream
- The warm water of the ___2 words _____ affects Iceland's climate.
- creeps
- this slow erosion is common in areas where freezing and thawing occur
- zone of saturation
- area where all of the pores in the rock are filled with water
- convection
- transfer of heat by the flow of heated material
- areas of high pressure
- areas of descending air
- oxygen
- makes up 21 percent of the atmosphere
- surface currents
- Currents passing the easter coasts of continents are usually ___?___ because they originate at a lower latitude
- shells
- Some marine animals use calcium from ocean water to form ____
- longshore currents
- carry many metric tons of loose sediment and act like rivers of sand in the ocean
- salinity
- The density of water is affected by temperature and _______
- abrasion
- the polishing and pitting of rocks by windblown particles
- artesian well
- cool water forced to the surface by pressure
- warm
- The Gulf Stream is ______
- Sun
- source of almost all energy used by organisms in the ocean
- slumps
- erosion occurs when a strong rock or sediment lies over weaker materials
- mudflows
- this erosion occurs after a heavy rain in an are that has thick layers of loose sediment
- hail
- form of precipitation that can break windows and destroy crops
- rockfalls
- signs warning people about this kind of erosion may be posted along the road
- rill erosion
- type of erosion that begins when a small stream forms during a heavy rain
- alluvial fan
- deposit formed when a river water empty out onto a flat open plain
- sheet erosion
- happens when rainwater carries sediment, but does not flow in a channel
- floodplain
- broad, flat valley floor carved by a meandering stream
- cloud
- forms when millions of water droplets become suspended in air and collect around small dust particles
- till
- jumble of materials deposited by a retreating glacier
- fog
- stratus cloud that forms when air condenses near the ground
- stalactite
- calcite formation on the ceiling of a cave
- placer deposits
- valuable sediment dropped where rivers enter oceans
- mudflows
- the upper layer of sediments slip along clay and slides downslope
- point source
- exact origin of a pollutant
- stalagmite
- calcite formation on the floor of a cave
- cooler
- Without the Gulf Stream, the eastern United States would be _____
- rockfalls
- these happen when large blocks of rock break loose from a steep slope and start tumbling
- snow
- type of precipitation that forms when the air temperature is below freezing and water vapor changes directly to a solid
- runoff
- The salt concentration in a sample of ocean water may be affected by _____
- Coriolis effect
- Surface currents are affected by the ___?___
- geyser
- hot spring that erupts periodically, shooting water and stream into the air
- radiation
- the transfer of energy by rays or waves
- meander
- curve in a stream's channel that forms where the current is strongest
- counterclockwise
- Currents that are south of the equator move in __?____ direction
- erosion
- process that wears away surface materials pile up behind an obstacle
- gully erosion
- erosion that can develop if a rill channel becomes broader and deeper
- cave
- underground opening formed in limestone
- sinkhole
- depression that forms when the roof of a cave collapses
- areas of low pressure
- areas of less dense, warm air that can be force upward
- slumps
- this mass movement happens when loose materials or rock layers slip down along a curved surface
- roadways
- an important source of pollution
- relative humidity
- give as a percentage indicating how much water vapor is in the air on a certain day
- deposition
- dropping of sediments
- barrier islands
- deposits of sediment that run parallel to the shore
- silt
- soil washed into the ocean
- photosynthesis
- process of food-making using light, carbon dioxide, and water
- aquifer
- layer of permeable rock that lets water move freely
- mudflows
- These deposits usually form fan-shaped masses.
- dunes
- deposits formed when windblown sediments pile up behind an obstacle
- ozone
- gas made up of three oxygen molecules bonded together that occurs naturally in the upper atmosphere
- chemosynthesis
- process of food-making using elements such as sulfur and nitrogen
- salty
- The density of seawater increases when the water becomes very ___?___
- creeps
- this erosion happens when sediments move slowly down a slope
- conduction
- the transfer of energy that occurs when molecules bump one another
- deflation
- when wind blows across loose sediment, removing small particles and leaving heavier material behind
- clockwise
- The Coriolis effect causes currents north of the equator to move in a ___?___ direction
- height
- The distance from a wave trough to a wave crest is wave ____?___
- smog
- type of pollution
- spring
- place where ground water reaches the surface
- outwash
- deposit from a glacier's meltwater
- upwelling
- A(n) ______ occurs when cold water from deep in the ocean rises to the surface.
- runoff
- water that doesn't soak into the ground or evaporate but instead flows over earth's surface
- nitrogen
- the most common gas in the atmosphere
- sand
- substance made up of tiny particles of broken rocks and seashells
- dew point
- temperature at which air is saturated and condensation forms
- volcanoes
- Some substances, such as sulfur, that are dissolved in seawater come from ___?___