S is for Succession
Salinization: the deposition f solid salts on the ground surface following the evaporation of water from poor irrigation methods
Saltation: small stones bounce or leap-frog along the channel bed
Salt marsh: low-lying coastal wetland mostly extending between high and low tide
Scavengers: organisms that consume dead animals or plants
Scree: deposits of rock fragments found at the foot of rock outcrops
Secondary consumers: meat eaters
Secondary effects: the after-effects that occur an indirect effect of the eruption on a longer timescale
Secondary energy: manufactured sources of power such as electricity or petroleum
Secondary industry: the manufacture of raw materials – e.g. cars, T.V.s
Sedimentary rocks: most commonly rocks formed from the building up of sediment on the sea floor
Segregation: occurs where people of a particular ethnic group chose to live with others from the same ethnic group, separate from other groups
Seismic waves: energy waves that radiate out from the earthquake focus
Selective logging: the cutting down of selected trees, leaving most of the trees intact
Self-help schemes: sometimes known as assisted self-help (ASH), this is where local authorities help the squatter settlement residents to improve their homes by offering finance in the form of loans or grants and often installing water pipes
Semi-arid: the climate of an area that receives between 250 and 500mm of precipitation per year
Separatism: a move, by a minority group or a region within a country, towards greater independence or ‘separation’ from the country that governs them
Sere: a stage in the development of the vegetation of an area over a period of time
Seral progression: the move from one sere to another
Service sector: economic activity that does not produce goods but provide services, including services to companies such as marketing, advertising, banking or services to individuals such as leisure, tourism, financial or transport services
Shield volcano: a broad volcano that is mostly made up of lava
Shockwaves: seismic waves generated by an earthquake that pass through the earth’s crust
Shoreline Management Plan: an integrated coastal management plan for a stretch of coastline in England and Wales
Short-term aid: aid given to relieve a disaster situation, e.g. people who have been made homeless and are starving after a serious flood
Sills: a horizontal intrusion along bedding planes with vertical cooling cracks. Cools rapidly on outside on contact with surrounding rocks. Cools and contracts
Site and service: this occurs where land is divided into individual plots of water, sanitation, electricity and basic track layout are supplied before building by residents begins
Slab avalanche: a large-scale avalanche formed when a slab of ice and snow breaks away from the main ice pack
Slash and burn: a form of subsistence farming practised in tropical rainforests involving selective felling of trees and clearance of land by burning to enable food crops to be planted
Spit: a finger of new land made of sand or shingle jutting out into the sea from the coast
Spring: water re-emerging from the rock onto the ground surface. Springs often occur as a line of springs (spring line) at the base of a scarp slope
Social: refers to people’s health their lifestyle, community, etc.
Soft engineering: this option tries to work with the natural river system and involves avoiding building on areas especially likely to flood, warning people of a possible flood and planting trees to increase lag time
Soil erosion: the removal of the layer of soil above the rock where plants grow
Soil moisture budget: the seasonal pattern of water availability for plant growth
Solifluction: the active layer thaws in the summer ad excessive lubrication reduces the friction between soil particles
Solution (erosion): dissolving of rocks or minerals by rainwater.
Solution (transport): the transport of dissolved minerals
Source: the origin of the river usually high up in the mountainside
Snout: the front of the glacier
Stability: balanced pressure conditions, air is unable to rise above a low level, associated with dry conditions and little cloud cover
Stack: an isolated pinnacle of rock sticking out of the sea
Stalactite: an icicle-like calcite feature hanging down from a cavern roof
Stalagmite: a stumpy calcite feature formed on a cavern floor
Stewardship: the personal responsibility for looking after things, in this case the environment. No one should damage the present or future environment
Stock: a term used to describe non-renewable resources
Stratification: layering of forests particularly evident in temperate deciduous forests and tropical rainforests
Strikes: periods of time when large numbers of employees reuse to work due to disagreements over pay or other grievances
Sub-aerial processes: processes operating on the land but affecting the shape of the coastline, such as weathering, mass movement and runoff
Subduction: occurs when two tectonic plates move towards one another and one plate slides underneath the other, moving down into the mantle. This usually involves oceanic crust sliding beneath continental crust
Subsistence farming: a type of farming where a plot of land produces only enough food to feed the family working on it. It is practised in overpopulated, land-hungry areas where there is poverty and not enough means of making a living. It is not necessarily beneficial to the environment
Substrate: the surface on which a soil forms. This is usually rock but it can also be a deposit such as river sediments, glacial till or builder’s rubble
Suburb: a residential area outside a city’s central area but within, or just outside, the city
Suburbanisation: the process of population movement from the central areas of cities towards the suburbs on the outskirts or the rural-urban fringe
Suburbanised village: a village with easy access to a large urban area much in demand. Housing estates attached to the village edges aim to fulfil this demand
Supervolcanoes: a mega colossal volcano that erupts at least 1,000km cubed of ash
Suspension: light particles carried (suspended) within the water
Sustainable communities: community (offering housing, employment and recreation opportunities) that are broadly in balance with the environment and offers people a good quality of life
Sustainable development: a way of developing that does not damage the social dynamics of a place/ecosystem, damage the economic fabric of a place/ecosystem and does not damage the environment ensuring it is available for future generations
Sustainable development: development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations
Sustainable management: a management approach that conserves the environment for future generations to enjoy as it is today
Sustainability: agricultural sustainability refers to the ability to a farmer to produce food indefinitely without causing irreversible damage to the local ecosystem
Swallow hole: an enlarged joint into which water falls
Swash: the forward movement of a wave up a beach
Syncline: the lower arc of the fold in fold mountains
Synergy: a term originally used in biology to describe the way that two organisms or two systems work together to produce a better result or output than they could alone. The term is now applied in economics when two or more companies, groups or individuals achieve mutual benefits by working closely together
Saltation: small stones bounce or leap-frog along the channel bed
Salt marsh: low-lying coastal wetland mostly extending between high and low tide
Scavengers: organisms that consume dead animals or plants
Scree: deposits of rock fragments found at the foot of rock outcrops
Secondary consumers: meat eaters
Secondary effects: the after-effects that occur an indirect effect of the eruption on a longer timescale
Secondary energy: manufactured sources of power such as electricity or petroleum
Secondary industry: the manufacture of raw materials – e.g. cars, T.V.s
Sedimentary rocks: most commonly rocks formed from the building up of sediment on the sea floor
Segregation: occurs where people of a particular ethnic group chose to live with others from the same ethnic group, separate from other groups
Seismic waves: energy waves that radiate out from the earthquake focus
Selective logging: the cutting down of selected trees, leaving most of the trees intact
Self-help schemes: sometimes known as assisted self-help (ASH), this is where local authorities help the squatter settlement residents to improve their homes by offering finance in the form of loans or grants and often installing water pipes
Semi-arid: the climate of an area that receives between 250 and 500mm of precipitation per year
Separatism: a move, by a minority group or a region within a country, towards greater independence or ‘separation’ from the country that governs them
Sere: a stage in the development of the vegetation of an area over a period of time
Seral progression: the move from one sere to another
Service sector: economic activity that does not produce goods but provide services, including services to companies such as marketing, advertising, banking or services to individuals such as leisure, tourism, financial or transport services
Shield volcano: a broad volcano that is mostly made up of lava
Shockwaves: seismic waves generated by an earthquake that pass through the earth’s crust
Shoreline Management Plan: an integrated coastal management plan for a stretch of coastline in England and Wales
Short-term aid: aid given to relieve a disaster situation, e.g. people who have been made homeless and are starving after a serious flood
Sills: a horizontal intrusion along bedding planes with vertical cooling cracks. Cools rapidly on outside on contact with surrounding rocks. Cools and contracts
Site and service: this occurs where land is divided into individual plots of water, sanitation, electricity and basic track layout are supplied before building by residents begins
Slab avalanche: a large-scale avalanche formed when a slab of ice and snow breaks away from the main ice pack
Slash and burn: a form of subsistence farming practised in tropical rainforests involving selective felling of trees and clearance of land by burning to enable food crops to be planted
Spit: a finger of new land made of sand or shingle jutting out into the sea from the coast
Spring: water re-emerging from the rock onto the ground surface. Springs often occur as a line of springs (spring line) at the base of a scarp slope
Social: refers to people’s health their lifestyle, community, etc.
Soft engineering: this option tries to work with the natural river system and involves avoiding building on areas especially likely to flood, warning people of a possible flood and planting trees to increase lag time
Soil erosion: the removal of the layer of soil above the rock where plants grow
Soil moisture budget: the seasonal pattern of water availability for plant growth
Solifluction: the active layer thaws in the summer ad excessive lubrication reduces the friction between soil particles
Solution (erosion): dissolving of rocks or minerals by rainwater.
Solution (transport): the transport of dissolved minerals
Source: the origin of the river usually high up in the mountainside
Snout: the front of the glacier
Stability: balanced pressure conditions, air is unable to rise above a low level, associated with dry conditions and little cloud cover
Stack: an isolated pinnacle of rock sticking out of the sea
Stalactite: an icicle-like calcite feature hanging down from a cavern roof
Stalagmite: a stumpy calcite feature formed on a cavern floor
Stewardship: the personal responsibility for looking after things, in this case the environment. No one should damage the present or future environment
Stock: a term used to describe non-renewable resources
Stratification: layering of forests particularly evident in temperate deciduous forests and tropical rainforests
Strikes: periods of time when large numbers of employees reuse to work due to disagreements over pay or other grievances
Sub-aerial processes: processes operating on the land but affecting the shape of the coastline, such as weathering, mass movement and runoff
Subduction: occurs when two tectonic plates move towards one another and one plate slides underneath the other, moving down into the mantle. This usually involves oceanic crust sliding beneath continental crust
Subsistence farming: a type of farming where a plot of land produces only enough food to feed the family working on it. It is practised in overpopulated, land-hungry areas where there is poverty and not enough means of making a living. It is not necessarily beneficial to the environment
Substrate: the surface on which a soil forms. This is usually rock but it can also be a deposit such as river sediments, glacial till or builder’s rubble
Suburb: a residential area outside a city’s central area but within, or just outside, the city
Suburbanisation: the process of population movement from the central areas of cities towards the suburbs on the outskirts or the rural-urban fringe
Suburbanised village: a village with easy access to a large urban area much in demand. Housing estates attached to the village edges aim to fulfil this demand
Supervolcanoes: a mega colossal volcano that erupts at least 1,000km cubed of ash
Suspension: light particles carried (suspended) within the water
Sustainable communities: community (offering housing, employment and recreation opportunities) that are broadly in balance with the environment and offers people a good quality of life
Sustainable development: a way of developing that does not damage the social dynamics of a place/ecosystem, damage the economic fabric of a place/ecosystem and does not damage the environment ensuring it is available for future generations
Sustainable development: development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations
Sustainable management: a management approach that conserves the environment for future generations to enjoy as it is today
Sustainability: agricultural sustainability refers to the ability to a farmer to produce food indefinitely without causing irreversible damage to the local ecosystem
Swallow hole: an enlarged joint into which water falls
Swash: the forward movement of a wave up a beach
Syncline: the lower arc of the fold in fold mountains
Synergy: a term originally used in biology to describe the way that two organisms or two systems work together to produce a better result or output than they could alone. The term is now applied in economics when two or more companies, groups or individuals achieve mutual benefits by working closely together