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Series Glossary
indigenous:
growing or living naturally in a
particular region or environment.
inorganic:
compound of minerals rather than
living material.
kerogens:
a variety of substances formed
when once-living things decayed and broke
down, on the way to becoming natural gas
or oil.
leachate:
liquid containing wastes.
mineralogists:
scientists who study minerals
and how to classify, locate, and distinguish
them.
nonrenewable resources:
natural resources
that are not replenished over time; these exist
in fixed, limited supplies.
ore:
naturally occurring mineral from which
metal can be extracted.
ozone:
a form of oxygen containing three
atoms of oxygen in a molecule.
porous:
allowing a liquid to seep or soak
through small holes and channels.
primordial:
existing at the beginning of time.
producer gas:
a gas created (“produced”) by
industrial rather than natural means.
reclamation:
returning something to its
former state.
reducing agent:
a substance that decreases
another substance in a chemical reaction.
refine:
to make something purer, or separate it
into its various parts.
remote sensing:
detecting and gathering
information from a distance, for example,
when satellites in space measure air and
ground temperature below.
renewable:
a substance that can be made, or a
process used, again and again.
reserves:
amounts in store, which can be used
in the future.
runoff:
water not absorbed by the soil that
flows into lakes, streams, rivers, and oceans.
seismology:
the study of waves, as vibrations
or “shaking,” that pass through the Earth’s
rocks, soils, and other structures.
sequestration:
storing or taking something to
keep it for a time.
shaft:
a vertical passage that gives miners
access to mine.
sluice:
artificial water channel that is
controlled by a value or gate.
slurry:
a mixture of water and a solid that can’t
be dissolved.
smelting:
the act of separating metal from
rock by melting it at high temperatures
subsidence:
the sinking down of land
resulting from natural shifts or human
activities.
sustainable:
able to carry on for a very long
time, at least the foreseeable future.
synthesis:
making or producing something by
adding substances together.
tailing:
the waste product left over after ore has
been extracted from rock.
tectonic:
relating to the structure and
movement of the earth’s crust.
watercourse:
a channel along which water
flows, such as a brook, creek, or river.