Glossary
Algae aquatic, non-vascular plants such as seaweed, pond scum and stoneworts
Altitude the vertical elevation of an object above the surface
Antarctic Convergence where the Antarctic surface water comes into contact with the sub-Antarctic surface water (which is warmer). The waters do not mix. The Antarctic surface water sinks below the sub-Antarctic surface water. This is also affected by winds.
Aurora Australis an aurora (light show) that occurs in earth's southern hemisphere called also southern lights
Bacteria microscopic plants having round, rod-like, spiral or filamentous single-celled or non-cellular bodies often aggregated into colonies living in soil, water, organic matter or the bodies of plants and animals
Biodiversity an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals
Biome a major ecological community type (tropical rain forest, grassland or desert)
Climate the average course or condition of the weather at a place, usually over a period of years as exhibited by temperature, wind velocity and precipitation
Conservation planned management of a natural resource to prevent exploitation, destruction, or neglect
Continental crust the land crust of the earth
Core samples drillings into the earth that show the layering of material in the earth's crust
Continent one of the six or seven great divisions of land on the globe
Convergence the act of moving toward each other and colliding
Crevasse a narrow opening resulting from a split or crack (as in a cliff)
Divergence the act of moving away from each other
Expedition a journey or excursion undertaken for a specific purpose
Exploitation to make use of meanly or unjustly for one's own advantage
Extinct no longer existing
Fungi any group of parasitic lower plants that lacks chlorophyll and includes molds, rusts, mildews, smuts, mushrooms and yeasts
Geology a science that deals with the history of the earth and its life especially as recorded in rocks
Glacier/ice sheet a large body of ice moving slowly down a slope or valley or spreading outward on a land surface
Global warming an increase in the average temperature of the earth
Habitat the place or environment where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives and grows
Iceberg a large floating mass of ice detached from a glacier
Insulation prevents transfer of heat, electricity or sound
International Geophysical Year an 18-month period from July 1957 through December 1958, during a period of maximum sunspot activity, designated for cooperative study of the solar-terrestrial environment by the scientists of 67 nations
Katabatic Winds the mountainous landscape channels and forces the air to flow down the slopes, and gravity causes it to strengthen; these are called inversion winds
Lichens any plant made up of an algae and a fungus growing in symbiotic association on a solid surface such as a rock.
Mosses a bryophytic plant having a small leafy, often tufted stem bearing sex organs at its tip
Native species belonging to or associated with a particular place or vicinity
Nematode worms parasitic worms in animals and plants or free-living in soil or water
Nunatak a hill or mountain completely surrounded by glacial ice
Oceanic crust the crust underlying the ocean basin
Ozone oxygen formed naturally in the upper atmosphere by photochemical reaction with solar ultraviolet radiation; it is a major agent in the formation of smogs
Penguins erect, short-legged, flightless aquatic birds of the southern hemisphere
Polar of or relating to a geographical pole or the region around it
Polar Cap/Polar Circle either of the two parallels of latitude, each at a distance from a pole of the earth equal to about 23 degrees 27 minutes
Plankton a passively floating or weakly swimming, usually minute, animal
Plate tectonics the lithosphere of the earth is divided into a small number of plates which float on and travel independently over the mantle; much of the earth's seismic activity occurs at the boundaries of these plates
Precipitation a deposit on the earth of hail, mist, rain, sleet or snow
Protozoa a unicellular animal with complex life cycles, represented in almost every kind of habitat and some of which are serious parasites of man and domestic animals
Rotifers microscopic, many-celled aquatic invertebrate animals that have the appearance of rapidly revolving wheels
South Pole the southernmost point of the earth
Species a class of individuals having common attributes and designated by a common name
Sustainable a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged
Tardigrades a microscopic arthropod with four pairs of legs that lives in water or damp moss
Threatened Species species at high risk of extinction
Treaty an agreement or arrangement made by negotiation
Tundra a level or rolling treeless plain that is characteristic of arctic and subarctic regions; consists of black mucky soil with a permanently frozen subsoil; has a dominant vegetation of mosses, lichens, herbs and dwarf shrubs
Viable capable of growing or developing
Wind chill how cold the air feels taking into account the temperature and the wind speed
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