The layers of gases that surround Earth or another planet.

Process by which sedimentary rock is formed from sediments being glued together by mineral deposits.

Small frozen masses of ice, dust, and gases that travel a definite path through the solar system.

To receive a characteristic (genes) from an ancestor.

Abiotic: Nonliving features of an ecosystem such as climate, light, soil chemistry, and water availability.

Flat areas on the ocean floor formed by the deposition of sediment.

The change that occurs in an object's speed or direction in a certain period of time.

A substance that donates hydrogen ions. Any compound that produces hydrogen ions (H+) in water thereby reducing the pH of water to a value below 7.

A characteristic, arising from natural selection, that that improves a population's chance of survival and reproduction.

The distance from the midpoint to the maximum point (crest) or to the minimum point (trough) of a wave. The distance that a wave rises and falls from its normal rest position.