U4 M19-23
An area where tectonic plates move sideways past each other.
Transform Boundary
The preparation of soil through a variety of activities including plowing but also including stirring, digging, and cultivating.
Tilling
Unwanted waste material created during mining including mineral and other rock residues that are left behind after the desired metals are removed from the ore.
Mine tailings
Energy sources that are bought and sold, such as coal, oil, and natural gas.
Commercial energy sources
A nuclear reaction in which a neutron strikes a relatively large atomic nucleus, which then splits into two or more parts, releasing additional neutrons and energy in the form of heat.
Fission
Rock that forms when sedimentary rock, igneous rock, or other metamorphic rock is subjected to high temperature and pressure.
Metamorphic rock
A pesticide that targets species of insects and other invertebrates that consume crops.
Insecticide
A measure of the area of land and water an individual, population, or activity requires to produce all the resources it consumes and to process the waste it generates.
Ecological Footprint
An energy source with a finite supply, primarily fossil fuels and nuclear fuels.
Nonrenewable energy source
Solid or liquid particles suspended in the air. Also known as soot.
Particulate Matter
All the land in an area that drains into a particular stream, river, lake, or wetland.
Watershed
An area surrounding a well that does not contain groundwater.
Cone of depression
The largest quantity of a renewable resource that can be harvested indefinitely.
Maximum sustainable yield (MSY)
A precursor to coal, made up of partly decomposed organic material, including mosses.
Peat
The application of an electric current to water molecules to split them into hydrogen and oxygen.
Electrolysis
The heating effect of increased pressure on air as it sinks toward the surface of Earth and decreases in volume.
Adiabatic heating
Allowing animals to graze outdoors on grass for most or all of their lifecycle.
Free range grazing
A shortened term for biological control, it uses biological organisms to control agricultural pests.
Biocontrol
The maximum electrical output of something such as a power plant.
Capacity
The greatest quantity of energy used at any one time.
Peak Demand
A reversal of wind and water currents in the South Pacific.
El nino
The cost or benefit of a good or service that is not included in the purchase price of that good or service, or otherwise accounted for.
Externality
A methodology for managing forests so they provide wood while also providing clean water, maximum biodiversity, and maximum carbon sequestration in both trees and soil.
Sustainable forestry
A device that can be turned by water, steam, or wind to produce power such as electricity.
Turbine
Construction technique designed to take advantage of solar radiation without active technology.
Passive Solar Design