abyssal
Overview page. Subjects: Ecology and Conservation — Earth Sciences and Geography.
Applied to the deepest part of the ocean, below about 2000 m. The abyssal zone covers approximately 75% of the ocean floor. Compare bathyal; neritic.
acidophile
Overview page. Subjects: Ecology and Conservation — Earth Sciences and Geography.
An extremophile (domain Archaea) that thrives in environments where the pH is below 5.0.
acme zone
Overview page. Subjects: Earth Sciences and Geography — Ecology and Conservation.
Informally, a body of strata that contains the maximum abundance of a particular fossil taxon occurring within the stratigraphic range of that taxon, and after which the zone is named.
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activity
Overview page. Subjects: Earth Sciences and Geography — Ecology and Conservation.
A broadly used term which refers to the rate or extent of a change associated with some substance or system. For example, it may be the tendency of a metal high in the electromotive series...
actualism
Overview page. Subjects: Ecology and Conservation — Earth Sciences and Geography.
The theory that present-day processes provide a sufficient explanation for past geomorphological phenomena, although the rate of activity of these processes may have varied. The theory was...
adobe
Overview page. Subjects: Ecology and Conservation — Earth Sciences and Geography.
A silty clay, often calcareous, found in dry, desert-lake basins. This fine-grained sediment is usually deposited by desert floods which have eroded wind-blown loess deposits. The term is...
adret
Overview page. Subjects: Earth Sciences and Geography — Ecology and Conservation.
Applied to the south-facing slopes of Alpine valleys, which receive a high degree of insolation as a result of their aspect. Cultivation and settlement patterns often favour such slopes....
aeolianite
Overview page. Subjects: Ecology and Conservation — Earth Sciences and Geography.
General term for the sedimentary products of wind (aeolian) deposition.
aerodynamic roughness
Overview page. Subjects: Ecology and Conservation — Earth Sciences and Geography.
An uneven flow of air caused by irregularities in the surface (which may be that of a solid or of air of different density) over which the flow takes place.
Aerosols and Their Impact on Radiation, Clouds, Precipitation, and Severe Weather Events
in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science
P ublished online September 2017 .
Article. Subjects: Biomes and Habitats; Earth Sciences and Geography. 12792 words.
Aerosols (tiny solid or liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere) have been in the forefront of environmental and climate change sciences as the primary atmospheric pollutant and...
