For ‘L’
LABES : A landslide. | |
LABYRINTHUS : An intersecting valley complex. | |
LACUS : A lake | |
LAGRANGIAN POINT : One of the solutions to the three-body problem discovered by the eighteenth century French mathematician Lagrange; the two stable Lagrangian points, L-4 and L-5, lie in the orbit of the primary body, leading and trailing it by a 60-degree arc. | |
LATITUDINAL BIODIVERSITY GRADIENT : The increase in species richness or biodiversity that occurs from the poles to the tropics, often referred to as the latitudinal gradient in species diversity. | |
LAVA : A general term for molten rock that is extruded onto the surface. | |
LAVA TUBE : A tunnel formed underneath the surface of a solidfying lava flow. | |
LEADING HEMISPHERE : The hemisphere that faces forward, into the direction of motion of a satellite that keeps the same face toward the planet. | |
LECITHIN : A major component of cell membranes containing equal amounts of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, phosphate, and choline. Lecithin is a member of the lipid group called phospholipids. Its biochemical name is phosphatidylcholine (PC). | |
LEE : The side of an object that is sheltered from the wind. | |
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LEPTONS : Leptons are indestructible and highly unreactive: they may join in the atomic party but do not dance. You cannot combine leptons to make bigger particles. Examples of leptons include: electrons, positrons, neutrinos and muons. | |
LEUKOCYTES : The white blood cells of the immune system, that defend the body against infectious diseases and foreign materials are known as leukocytes. | |
LEVEE : An embankment, continuous dike or ridge. | |
LIFE EXPECTANCY : Term usually used at birth, indicating the average age that a newborn can be expected to attain. | |
LIFE HISTORY STRATEGY : An organism's allocation of energy throughout its lifetime among three competing goals: growing, surviving, and reproducing. | |
LIGHT : The electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye is known as light. | |
LIGHTENING : A powerful flash of electricity between the negative electrical charges in clouds or between a cloud and the ground. | |
LIMB : The outer edge of the apparent disk of a celestial body. | |
LINEA : An elongate marking. | |
LINEAMENT : Linear topographic feature that may depict crustal structure. | |
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LITHOSPHERE : Equivalent in part to the crust, the lithosphere comprises of a number of tectonic plates that 'float' on the asthenosphere. | |
LOBATE : Having lobes or resembling a lobe. | |
LUMINOSITY : The radiation amount that is emitted by a star or celestial object at a given time is known as Luminosity. |