AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

1
AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

• EARTHS INTERDEPENDENT SYSTEMS
• AP EXAM VOCABULARY REVIEW

Answer the following questions on a sheet of
paper by matching the term with the correct
definition/description. Check your answers by the
final slide.
2

• Questions 1-6
• A. abiotic D. A horizon
• B. acid E. alkaline
• C. air mass F. aquifer
• 1. any compound that releases hydrogen ions when
  dissolved in water
• 2. related to factors or things that are separate
  and independent from living things nonliving
• 3. underground layer of porous rock, sand, or
  other material that allows movement of water
  between layers of nonporous rock or clay
• 4. formed of weathered rock, with some organic
  material often referred to as topsoil
• 5. enormous bodies of air that move as a unit
• 6. substance that absorbs hydrogen ions or
  releases hydroxyl ions

3

• Questions 7 12
• A. arable D. barrier island
• B. asthenosphere E. biological weathering
• C. atmosphere F. biotic
• 7. any weathering thats caused by the activities
  of living organisms
• 8. land thats fit to be cultivated
• 9. gaseous mass or envelope surrounding a
  celestial body
• 10. living or derived from living things
• 11. long, narrow island running parallel to
  mainland built
• by action of waves and currents
• 12. part of mantle that lies just below the
  lithosphere

4

• Questions 13- 18
• A. B horizon D. clay
• B. chemical weathering E. climate
• C. C horizon F. conduction
• 13. finest soil, made up of particles that are
  less than 0.002 mm in diameter
• 14. transfer of something through a medium or
  passage without perceptible motion of the medium
  itself
• 15. receives minerals and organic materials that
  are leached out of A horizon
• 16. weather conditions, temperature
  precipitation, that remain constant over 30 years
  or more
• 17. made up of larger pieces of rock that have
  not undergone much weathering
• 18. result of chemical interaction with bedrock
  typical of action of both water and atmospheric
  gases

5

• Questions 19 24
• A. convection D. coral reef
• B. convection currents E. Coriolis effect
• C. convergent boundary F. crop rotation
• 19. vertical movement of a mass of matter because
  of heating cooling
• 20. practice of alternating crops grown on a
  piece of land to replenish soil nutrients
• 21. plate boundary where 2 plates are moving
  toward each other
• 22. air current caused by vertical movement of
  air due to atmospheric heating cooling
• 23. erosion resistant marine ridge consisting of
  compacted coral together with algal material
  biochemically deposited magneisum and calcium
  carobnate
• 24. deflection of an object moving above the
  earth, rightward in the Northern Hemisphere and
  leftward in Southern Hemisphere

6

• Questions 25- 30
• A. delta D. drip irrigation
• B. divergent boundary E. earthquake
• C. doldrums F. El Nino
• 25. climate variation that takes place in
  tropical Pacific about every 3 to 7 years for
  duration of about 1 year
• 26. region of ocean near equator, characterized
  by calms, light winds, or squalls
• 27. usually triangular alluvial deposit at mouth
  of river
• 28. result of vibrations that release energy from
  within earth
• 29. plate boundary where plates are moving away
  from each other
• 30. method of supplying water through tubes that
  
• literally drip water onto soil at base of
  each plant

7

• Questions 31-36
• A. erosion D. Green Revolution
• B. estuary E. greenhouse effect
• C. fault F. Hadley cell
• 31. phenomenon whereby earths atmosphere traps
  solar radiation caused by presence of
  atmospheric gases such as CO2, water vapor, and
  methane
• 32. place where 2 plates lie beside each other
• 33. system of vertical horizontal air
  circulation that creates major weather patterns,
  mostly in tropical subtropical regions
• 34. part of wide lower course of river where its
  current is met by tides
• 35. process of soil particles being carried away
  by wind or water
• 36. time after Industrial Revolution when farming
  became mechanized and crop yields in
  industrialized nations boomed as farmers began
  using large amounts of chemical fertilizers and
  pesticides

8

• Questions 37 42
• A. headwaters D. horizon
• B. humus E. hurricane
• C. inner core F. insolation
• 37. molten core of earth
• 38. layer of soil
• 39. severe tropical storm originating in
  equatorial regions of Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean
  Sea or eastern regions of Pacific Ocean, that
  travels north, northwest, or northeast from its
  point of origin involves high speed winds and
  heavy rains
• 40. water from which a river rises a source
• 41. delivery rate of solar radiation per unit of
  horizontal surface
• 42. dark, crumbly, nutrient rich material that
  results from decomposition of organic material

9

• Questions 43 48
• A. jet stream D. land degradation
• B. La Nina E. lithosphere
• C. loamy F. mantle
• 43. outer part of earth, consists of crust and
  upper mantle, about 100 km (62 miles) thick
• 44. deterioration of land quality caused by
  exploitation
• 45. layer of earth between crust and core
• 46. cooling of ocean surface off western coast of
  South America, occurring periodically every 4
  to 12 years affecting Pacific other weather
  patterns
• 47. high-speed, meandering wind current,
  generally moving from a westerly direction at
  speeds often exceeding 400 km (250 miles) per
  hour at altitudes of 15 to 25 km (10 15 miles)
• 48. soil composed of a mixture of sand, clay,
  silt, and organic matter

10

• Questions 49 54
• A. monoculture D. monsoon
• B. O horizon E. plate boundaries
• C. physical (mechanical) F. prior
  appropriation
• weathering
• 49. process that breaks rock down into smaller
  pieces without changing the chemistry of the
  rock
• 50. cultivation of a single crop on a farm
• 51. wind system that influences large climatic
  regions reverses direction seasonally
• 52. upper most layer of soil made up of organic
  materials
• 53. when water rights are given to those who have
  historically used the water in a certain area
• 54. edges of tectonic plates

11

• Questions 55- 60
• A. rain shadow effect D. red tide
• B. R horizon E. riparian right
• C. salinization F. sand
• 55. coarsest soil, with particles 0.05 2.0 mm
  in diameter
• 56. low-rainfall region that exists on leeward
  side of a mountain range
• 57. right, as to fishing or to use of riverbed,
  of one who owns the land adjacent to a river or
  stream
• 58. bedrock, lies below all other layers of soil
• 59. bloom of dinoflagellates that causes reddish
• discoloration of coastal ocean waters can
  produce toxins that kill fish contaminate
  shellfish
• 60. when soil becomes waterlogged from excess
  irrigation then dries out forming layer of
  salt crystals on surface

12

• Questions 61 66
• A. silt D. Southern Oscillation
• B. subduction zone E. thermocline
• C. thermosphere F. topsoil
• 61. name for A horizon of soil
• 62. atmospheric pressure conditions corresponding
  to the periodic warming of El Nino cooling of
  La Nina
• 63. soil with particles 0.02 0.05 mm in
  diameter
• 64. layer in large body of water that sharply
  separates regions differing in temperature, so
  that the temperature gradient across the layer is
  abrupt
• 65. outermost shell of atmosphere, temperatures
  increase steadily with altitude
• 66. sites at which an oceanic plate is sliding
  under a continental plate

13

• Questions 67 72
• A. trade winds D. transform boundary
• B. tropical storm E. upwelling
• C. volcanoes F. watershed
• 67. opening in earths crust through which molten
  lava, ash, gases are ejected
• 68. region draining into a river system or other
  body of water
• 69. more or less constant winds blowing in
  horizontal directions over earths surface
• 70. process in which cold, often nutrient-rich,
  waters from ocean depths rise to surface
• 71. area where plates are moving/sliding past
  each other
• 72. cyclonic storm having winds ranging from
  approximately 48 121 km (30 75 miles) per
  hour

14

• Questions 73 77
• A. water-scarce D. wetlands
• B. water-stressed E. weather
• C. weathering
• 73. lowland area saturated with moisture such as
  a marsh or swamp
• 74. countries that have a renewable annual water
  supply of less than 1,000 m3 per person
• 75. gradual breakdown of rock into smaller and
  smaller particles, caused by natural chemical,
  physical, and biological factors
• 76. countries that have a renewable annual water
  supply of about 1,000 2,000 m3 per person
• 77. day to day variations in temperature, air
  pressure, wind, humidity, precipitation
  mediated by atmosphere in a given region

15
ANSWERS

• 1. B 15. A 29. B 43. E 57. E
  71. D
• 2. A 16. E 30. D 44. D 58. B
  72. B
• 3. F 17. C 31. E 45. F 59. D 73. D
• 4. D 18. B 32. C 46. B 60. C 74.
  A
• 5. C 19. A 33. F 47. A 61. F 75.
  C
• 6. E 20. F 34. B 48. C 62. D 76. B
• 7. E 21. C 35. A 49. C 63. A 77. E
• 8. A 22. B 36. D 50. A 64. E
• 9. C 23. D 37. C 51. D 65. C
• 10. F 24. E 38. D 52. B 66. B
• 11. D 25. F 39. E 53. F 67. C
• 12. B 26. C 40. A 54. E 68. F
• 13. D 27. A 41. F 55. F 69. A
• 14. F 28. E 42. B 56. A 70. E