Definitions ELSS

• Ablation is the loss of ice and snow
• advection is the horizontal movement of an air mass
• catchment hydrology is processes involving water which happen in a drainage basin
• closed systems are those with no input or output of energy or material, only throughputs
• combustion is burning a substance
• convection is the vertical movement of a substance
• the cryosphere is the part of earth covered by ice
• decomposition is the part of the nutrient cycle involving the breaking down of organic material
• dew point is the temperature at which condensation occurs
• infiltration is the vertical movement of water into / through soil
• interception is water caught by vegetated surfaces before reaching the ground
• fauna relates to animals
• flora relates to plants
• flux is a flow
• fossil fuels are carbon based fuels which can be burned for energy
• groundwater is water stored underground in rocks known as aquifers
• groundwater flow is the horizontal movement of water within aquifers
• latent heat is energy absorbed or released by water when it changes state
• an open system is one in which there are inputs, outputs and throughputs of energy and material
• overland flow is the rainfall that flows over the lands surface
• percolation is the movement of water from the surface / soil into permeable rocks
• precipitation is moisture falling from clouds to the ground
• residence time is the time spent by a molecule in natural storage
• respiration is energy production using oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide
• saturated overland flow is rainfall that flows over the lands surface due to soil saturation
• sequestration is to ‘take up’ and store
• sublimation is water changing state from ice to water vapour
• throughflow is water flowing horizontally through soil
• transpiration is the loss of water from stomata of plants and often combined with evaporation as evapotranspiration
• water bodies are areas of water on land
• weathering is the in situ breakdown of rocks