UNIT 5 VOCABULARY

Catastrophic Event

A violent, usually destructive natural occurrence.

*Drought

A prolonged period of abnormally low precipitation; a shortage of water resulting from this.

*Earthquake

the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust.

*Tsunami

is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, usually an ocean.

*Flood

an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land.

*Hurricanes

A storm with a violent wind, in particular a tropical cyclone in the Caribbean.

*Tornado

a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud.

*Volcano

an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or crust, which allows hot magma, volcanic ash and gases to escape from below the surface.

*Wildfire

A large, destructive fire that spreads quickly.

Ecoregion

is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem.

Weathering

the breaking down of rocks, soils and minerals as well as artificial materials through contact with the Earth’s atmosphere and waters.

Mechanical Chemical

Erosion

is the process by which materials are removed from a region of the Earth's surface.

Deposition

is the geological process by which material is added to a landform or land mass.

Watershed

The region draining into a river, river system, or other body of water.

Aquifer

A layer of rock or soil able to hold or transmit much water.

Ground Water

is water that is found underground in the cracks and spaces in soil, sand and rock.

Porosity

the ratio of the volume of openings (voids) to the total volume of material.

Porosity represents the storage capacity of the geologic material.

Permeability

is a measure of the ability of a porous material (often, a rock or unconsolidated material) to allow fluids to pass through it.

Pollution

the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem.

Percolation

Percolation is the movement of water through the soil, and it's layers, by gravity and capillary forces.

Infiltration

the process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil