Water Cycle Vocabulary
This water cycle term is the primary way that water moves from a liquid back into the water cycle as atmospheric water vapor.
What is evaporation?
This nitrogen cycle term is when nitrogen from living organisms is broken down (typically by bacteria or fungi) and converted to ammonium.
What is decomposition?
This carbon cycle term is the breaking down of rocks, soils, and minerals (also wood & artificial materials) through contact with the Earth's atmosphere, water, and biological organisms
What is weathering?
These two things controlled the nitrogen cycle first.
What is slow volcanic processes and lightning.
This is the artificial watering of land that removes water from its natural source and often causes leaching and runoff.
What is irrigation?
This water cycle term happens when water falls down to earths surface.
What is precipitation?
This nitrogen cycle term is ammonium/ammonia converted to usable nitrogen (nitrate/nitrite) by plants.
What is nitrification?
This carbon cycle term is when fresh rock is exposed and is weathered faster than older exposed rock.
What is uplifting?
This controlled the nitrogen cycle after slow volcanic processes and lightning.
What is anaerobic organisms?
This is the removal of a wild area trees that can effect weather.
What is deforestation?
This water cycle term is water loss through the leaves of plants.
What is transpiration?
This nitrogen cycle term is the reverse of nitrogen fixation; nitrates converted to nitrogen gas, which is diffused back into the atmosphere.
What is Denitrification?
This carbon cycle term is when deep, cold water rises toward the ocean’s surface (occurs in the open ocean and along coastlines).
What is up-welling.
This currently contributes twice as much terrestrial nitrogen as natural sources.
What is human activity.
This is the change stored gravitational energy of water held behind a dam which often forms lakes and effects water on the other side of the dam.
What is hydroelectricity?
This water cycle term is water movement from the surface into the soil.
What is infiltration?
This nitrogen cycle term is the chemical processes by which atmospheric nitrogen is assimilated into organic compounds, especially by certain microorganisms as part of the nitrogen cycle and also by lightning strikes.
What is Fixation?
This carbon cycle term is when plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water.
What is photosynthesis?
This is a cause of runoff polluting lakes rivers, lakes, aquifers, and coastal areas through eutrophication.
What is inefficiently applied fertilizer?
This is a natural phenomena that traps a range of gases which capture infrared radiation.
What is greenhouse effect?
This water cycle term is water movement within the soil.
What is percolation?
This nitrogen cycle term is nitrogen converted to ammonia or ammonium by bacteria.
What is ammonification?
This carbon cycle term is the largest exchange of carbon in the carbon cycle and is the dissolving and vaporization of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and ocean surface.
What is dissolving/vaporizing?
This is a greenhouse gas that has 300 times (per molecule) the warming potential of carbon when released into the atmosphere and is responsible for the destruction of the stratosphere ozone.
What is nitrogen oxide?
The pollutants from the burning of this cuts down the amount of heat reaching the ocean, which initiates the cycling of water vapor. Researchers think it is causing the hydrolic system of the planet to "spin down".
What is fossil fuels?