A large underground mass of solidified molten magma.
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Hydrothermal
Processes or deposits associated with hot water.
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Regolith
The solid rock particles left after weathering.
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Solute
A dissolved substance
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Alluvial
Materials such as soil or weathered rock particles deposited by a river or other flowing water.
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Placer deposits
Deposits of dense minerals carried by water e.g. tin and gold.
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Metamorphic
Rocks changed by intense heat and pressure, but without fully melting.
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Sedimentary
Materials or processes that involve material being carried by air or water then deposited.
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Reserve
The proportion of a resource that can be economically exploited with existing technology.
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Overburden
The unwanted material on top of the mineral deposit that is to be exploited.
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Cut-off ore grade
The lowest purity of ore that can be exploited economically.
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Turbidity
A measure of the cloudiness of water caused by suspended solid particles.
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Leachate
Liquids and dissolved materials such as fertilisers washed through the ground, usually downwards.
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Core
The solid and molten inner layers of the earth.
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Eutrophication
The natural nutrient enrichment of a water body. It can be accelerated by human actions such as the release of sewage effluent or the use of fertillisers that are leached into water bodies.
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Homeostasis
The combined processes that maintain balance in a living organism or the environment
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Gaia hypothesis
A theory that considers the earth to be a single, self regulating system.
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Adsorption
The attatchment of a material onto a surface.
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Detritritivores
Organisms that feed on dead organic matter, often in or on the soil, e.g.earthworms, millipedes and woodlice. They break down dead organic that can be further digested by decomposers.
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Decomposers
Micro-organisms, including many bacteria and fungi, which break down and digest dead organic matter.
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Soil structure
The characteristics of a soil based on the aggregation of soil particles into the peds.
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Ped
The basic unit of soil structure where particles of sand, silt, clay and humus from aggregates.
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Soil texture
The characteristics of a soil based on the proportions of the mineral particles that are sand, silt and clay.
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Card 2
Front
A large underground mass of solidified molten magma.
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