Cycles in Nature Vocabulary

A low-pH precipitation that forms when air pollution combines with water is called _________.

• Acid rain

• Snow melt

• Sea breeze

• Fog

An underground layer of porous rock or soil that is saturated with groundwater is called an _________.

• Aquifer

• Geyser

• Delta

• Glacier

The process of incorporating nitrogen from the soil into plants is known as _________

• Assimilation

• Transpiration

• Photosynthesis

• Respiration

A cycle through which water or a chemical element such as carbon is continuously recycled through the biotic and abiotic components in an ecosystem is called a _________.

• Biogeochemical cycle

• Photosynthesis cycle

• Nitrogen fixation

• Food web

The biogeochemical cycle through which carbon is recycled through the atmosphere, biosphere, and geosphere is called the _________.

• Carbon cycle

• Nitrogen cycle

• Water cycle

• Phosphorus cycle

The change of state from a gas to a liquid is called _________.

• Condensation

• Evaporation

• Sublimation

• Melting

A process in which denitrifying bacteria convert the nitrates in soil back into nitrogen gas, releasing it back into the atmosphere, is called _________.

• Denitrification

• Nitrification

• Ammonification

• Nitrogen fixation

Changes through time in the numbers and types of species that make up the community of an ecosystem is called _________.

• Ecological succession

• Photosynthesis

• Genetic drift

• Biomagnification

The change in a substance from a liquid to a gas by the addition of energy is called _________.

• Evaporation

• Condensation

• Sublimation

• Freezing

A nonrenewable natural resource created from the remains of formerly living organisms that can be used for energy is called _________.

• Fossil fuels

• Solar energy

• Wind energy

• Geothermal energy