Forests
Involves cutting down all trees in a region, resulting in even-aged stands of regrowth
What is clear-cutting
Soil is made up of these three components
What are sand, silt, and clay
Type of rock: Forms when magma (liquid rock) cools and solidifies
What is igneous
Includes all of the land area that supplies water to a river system
Whtat is a watershed
trophosphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere
One significant problem caused by clear-cutting
What is soil erosion
What is the breakdown of waste, organisms, and organic material into simple molecules called
What is decomposition
• Agriculture “powered” by people and animals
• Does not require fossil fuels
• Practiced widely until the Industrial Revolution
What is traditional agriculture
Type of rock: Forms when sediments cement together or when water evaporates and leaves behind minerals;
Why is sedementary
Permeable layers of rock and soil that hold water
What is an aquifer
Composition of the atmosphere
What is 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 1% other
This replaces forested areas with some other land use, such as commercial or residential property
What is deforestation
What are the 6 soil horizons
O (litter layer), A (topsoil), E (leaching layer), B (subsoil), C (weathered parent material), R (parent material)
Agriculture that requires the use of fossil fuels
What is industrial agriculture
Type of rock: Forms when heat or pressure changes the crystalline structure of existing rock
Metamorphic
Surface water
What is the most freshwater used in the U.S.
Contains the ozone layer
Carefully controlled burning helps to reduce fuel buildup and to restore ecosystems
What are prescribed burns
The process by which material, such as topsoil, is moved from one place to another
What is erosion
Introduced new technology, crop varieties, and farming practices to the developing world in the mid- to late 1900s
What is the Green Revolution
Acid drainage
What is the outflow of very acidic water, often rich in heavy metals, from metal or coal mines. Causes water pollution
“Making” fresh water by removing salt from saltwater
What is desalination
Convection
What is the the transfer of heat by the movement of currents within a fluid
Managed by the U.S. Forest Service
What are U.S. National Forests
Loss of more than 10% of soil productivity
Desertification
An example of a pollinator
What is an insect?
Tailings
What is the waste byproduct of mining. Tailings pose environmental risks and must be carefully managed to prevent contamination.
Point-source pollution
What is water pollution from a discrete location
Causes acid rain
What is sulfuric acid and nitric acid