Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
and hatch, and part of their lives in the open
ocean.
Anaerobic -
Referring to the absence of oxygen
or a reducing chemical environment.
Anaerobic glycolysis -
Biochemical processes
that allow some plants to convert food into
energy without oxygen.
Aquifer -
Rock, sediment or soil that stores
and transmits ground water in economically
useful quantity.
Aquaculture -
Farming of aquatic organisms
such as i sh, crustaceans and mollusks in
coni ned or controlled environments for
food, shells, pearls, or other products.
Artesian -
Flowing well in which water rises to
the surface under its own pressure; applies
to human-made wells drilled into the ground,
not natural springs.
Atlantic period -
Middle Holocene interval of
warm, mild climate and climax forest devel-
opment in northern Europe representing the
same interval as the Altithermal or Holocene
thermal maximum (HTM).
Atmosphere -
Gaseous outer portion of the
Earth composed mainly of nitrogen and
oxygen with many other trace gases.
Autogenic -
Refers to changes that take place
within a wetland habitat caused by natural
growth and evolution due to internal forcing
factors.
Barrier island -
Long, narrow, low island con-
structed mainly of sand fronting the open
ocean on one side and separated from the
mainland by a shallow lagoon or bay on the
other side.
Bayou -
Term in lower Mississippi River basin
that generally applies to a small stream or
secondary tributary to a larger water body,
especially a sluggish or stagnant stream that
follows a winding course through alluvial
lowland, coastal swamp or marsh, river
delta or tidal estuary. Etymol: French,
boyau
- passageway; Choctaw,
bayuk
- small stream.
Beel -
Expansive low-lying seasonally l ooded
area adjacent to major l oodplains in eastern
India and Bangladesh.
Billabong -
Australian term for a riparian
wetland that is periodically l ooded by the
adjacent stream or river.
Biocontrol -
Using one species to control or
limit another species.
Biogeochemical -
Refers to the combined rela-
tionships and interactions between biologi-
cal, geological and chemical components of
the Earth's environmental system.
Biosphere -
Living organisms on or near the
Earth's surface; all microbes, plants and
animals of the air, land, and sea.
Bitter salt -
Various potassium chloride and
other extremely soluble salts that have a
bitter taste.
Blanket bog -
Growing moss and peat layer
that drapes over the landscape.
Blytt-Sernander -
Sequence of late glacial and
Holocene pollen/climatic intervals, particu-
larly in northern Europe, including the Boreal,
Atlantic, Sub-boreal and Sub-atlantic periods.
Bofedales -
Peruvian term for
puna
peatland
(see below). Characterized by vascular plants
forming large cushions and utilized for live-
stock grazing. Also known as
oconales
(Sal-
vador, Monerris and Rochefort 2010).
Bog -
Waterlogged, spongy ground, consisting
primarily of mosses and decaying vegetation
that may develop into peat. Receives only
direct precipitation; characterized by acidic
water, low alkalinity, and low nutrients.
Bog body -
Human mummy preserved by
burial and natural tanning processes in a bog.
Bolson -
Deserts of southwestern U.S. Exten-
sive, l at, alluvial basin or depression with
internal drainage from surrounding moun-
tains. Playa or temporary lake at center,
usually saline.
Boreal -
High northern latitudes, specii cally
those regions nominally covered by conifer
forest, particularly spruce forest. Also the
name for an early Holocene interval in which
climatic amelioration took place following
retreat of the last great ice sheets, particularly
in Europe.
Bottomland -
Lowland along streams and
rivers, usually alluvial land, that is periodi-
cally l ooded.
Brackish -
Water salinity intermediate between
normal marine and fresh water; typical of
coastal and tidal wetlands as well as inland
saline lakes.
