Environmental Science Review Sheet :: essays research papers

ENVIORMENTAL SCIENCE REVIEW SHEET 1) Mutation- a random change in one or more genes of organisms. Mutations may occur spontaneously in nature, but exposure radiation and/or other chemicals vastly increase their number and degree. 2) Natural selection- the process whereby the natural factors of environmental resistance tend to eliminate those members of the population that are least well adapted to cope and thus, in effect select those best adapted for survival and reproduction. 3) Speciation-the evolutionary process whereby populations of a single species separate and, though being exposed to different forces of natural selection, gradually develop into distinct species. 4) Selective pressure-An environmental factor that causes individuals with certain traits, which are not the norm for the population, to survive and reproduce more then rest of the population. The result is a shift in the genetic makeup of the population 5) Selective breeding- breeding of certain individuals because they bear certain traits and the exclusion from breeding of others. 6) Tectonic plates- huge slabs of rocks which make up the earths crust. 7) Igneous rock- produced under conditions involving intense heat; "igneous rock is rock formed by solidification from a molten state; especially from molten magma"; "igneous fusion is fusion by heat alone. 8) Metamorphic rock- Pertaining to, produced by, or exhibiting, certain changes which minerals or rocks may have undergone since their original deposition; -- especially applied to the recrystallization which sedimentary rocks have undergone through the influence of heat and pressure, after which they are called metamorphic rocks. 9) Sedimentary rock- rock formed from consolidated clay sediments 10) Aquifer- An underground bed or layer of earth, gravel, or porous stone that yields water. 11) Capillary water- water that clings in small pores, cracks, and spaces against the pull of gravity, like water held in a sponge. 12) Aquitard- 13) Condensation- collecting of molecules from the vapor state to form the liquid state, as for example, water vapor condenses on a cold surface to from water droplets. 14) Desalinization- process that purify seawater into high quality drinking water via distillation or micro-filtration. 15) Infiltration- the process that water soaks into the solid as oppose to running off the surface. 16) Groundwater- water that has accumulated in the ground completely filling and saturating all pores and spaces in rock and/or soil. Groundwater is free to move more of less readily. It is the reservoir for springs and wells and is replenished by infiltration of surface water. 17) Percolation- the process of water seeping through cracks and pores in the sold or rock.