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Geology | Lehigh River Watershed Explorations | Weather | Environmental Issues | Data Collection Activities

Glossary of terms

Abatement - to make or become less strong; to lessen the effect of something
Absorbents - Materials that pick up or adhere to chemicals
Alkaline - A substance that neutralizes acids; OH+ ions
Aerobic - an environment that has free molecular oxygen either as a gas in the atmosphere or dissolved in water; aerobic organisms require oxygen for survival.
Anoxic - without oxygen
Biomass - weight of living material
CaCO3 - Calcium carbonate; limestone
Caustic - corrosive
Daylighting - surface mining of underground mines
Eutrophication - A body of water that is nutrient rich; abundance of surface plants and algae; little or no dissolved oxygen
Effluent - water discharged from a system
Fauna - animal life; as opposed to plant life or flora
Ferrous - containing iron
GPM - gallons per minute
Hydrophobic - literally water hating; rejects water
Influent - water entering a system
Macroinvertebrate - Invertebrates that are large enough to be seen with the unaided eye; good indicators of water quality
MgO - Magnesium Oxide
Mole - SI unit for measuring a substance; equal to 0.012 kg of carbon 12.
Nitrification - breakdown of nitrogen containing organic compounds into nitrites and nitrates
Oxic - with oxygen
Oxidation - to combine or cause something to combine with oxygen
pH - the amount of acidity or alkalinity of a substance; the amount of OH+ ions
Pyrite - yellow and lustrous form of iron disulfide
Tolerance - the ability to live with; capacity to withstand
Toxicity - poisonous
Tributary - a river or stream that is a branch or offshoot to a larger downstream river
Turbidity - referring to water clarity; waters with high suspended sediment loads are highly turbid

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