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| Corrosive precipitation due to the solution of atmospheric sulfuric acid in rain, which makes it acidic. Although it is generally considered human-made, it can also be natural, as from volcanic activity. |
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| A generally convex-upward fold that has older rocks in its core. (Contrast with syncline.) |
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| Fuels that are manufactured from plant materials; for example, grain alcohol (ethanol) is made from corn. |
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| An impermeable stratum that caps an oil reservoir and prevents oil and gas from escaping to the ground surface |
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| The melting of an atomic-reactor fuel containment vessel as a result of runaway atomic fission that generates extreme heat. |
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| : A self-sustaining nuclear reaction that occurs when atomic nuclei undergo fission. Free neutrons are released that split other nuclei, causing more fissions and the release of more neutrons, which split other nuclei, and so on. |
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| Isotopes with nuclei that are capable of being split into other elements (see fission). |
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| The rupture of the nucleus of an element into lighter elements (fission products) and free neutrons spontaneously or by absorption of a neutron. |
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| The combination of two nuclei to form a single heavier nucleus accompanied by a loss of some mass that is converted to heat. |
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| nuclear waste) An underground vault in terrain area free from geologic hazards. Repositories in salt mines, granite, and welded tuff have been studied. |
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| Energy derived from circulating hot water and steam; usually associated with cooling magma or hot rocks. |
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| high-level nuclear wastes |
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| Mostly radioactive elements in spent fuel with long half lives |
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| A chemical compound made from hydrogen and carbon atoms; may be solid, liquid or gaseous. |
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| A carbonaceous residue in sediments that has survived bacterial metabolism. It consists of large molecules from which hydrocarbons and other compounds are released on heating. |
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| Wastes generated in research labs, hospitals, and industry. Shallow burial in containers is sufficient to sequester this waste. |
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| Soluble; capable of mixing. |
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| An energy or material resource that once used is not available for reuse in human time spans. Coal, oil, and metallic minerals are examples. |
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| The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries |
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| Ocean thermal energy conversion. |
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| Atmospheric haze that forms when automobile-exhaust emissions are activated by ultraviolet radiation from the sun to produce highly reactive oxidants known to be health hazards. |
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| A radioactive gas emitted in the breakdown of uranium. |
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| A coal’s carbon content depending upon its degree of metamorphism. |
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| An energy or material resource that continually renews itself as it is being consumed. Timer, solar energy, wind, and water are examples. |
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| Those portions of an identified resource that can be recovered economically. |
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| A permeable, porous geologic formation that will yield oil or natural gas. |
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| A column or plug of rock salt that rises from depth because of its low density and pierces overlying sediments. |
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| Production of oil or gas by artificially stimulating a depleted reservoir with water, steam, or other fluids in order to mobilize the remaining hydrocarbons |
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| Purposely deflecting a drill hole from the vertical in order to tap a reservoir not directly below the drill site. The deflecting tool is a whipsock |
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| The geologic formation in which oil and/or gas originate. |
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| An accumulation of oil that results from a change in the character (permeability) of the reservoir rock, rather than from structural deformation. |
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| synthetic fuels (synfuels |
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| ): A manufactured fuel; for example, a fuel derived by liquefaction or gasification of coal. |
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| A sand body that is large enough to hold a commercial reserve of asphalt or other thick oil. It is usually surface excavated to remove the thick hydrocarbons |
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| Unstable (radioactive) elements of atomic numbers greater than 92. |
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| An exploratory well drilled for oil or gas on a geologic feature not yet proven to be productive; or in a zone that has never produced. |
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