from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
adjective Originating or formed in a place other than where found.
adjective Ecology Not indigenous.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
adjective Originating in a place other than where it is found.
adjective geologyBuried or found in a place remote from the site of formation.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
adjective of rocks, deposits, etc.; found in a place other than where they and their constituents were formed
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Ancient Greek ἄλλος (allos, "other") + χθών (khthōn, "earth, ground")
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Examples
In terms of wealth, San Ambrosio has 24 taxons (22 species, 13.6% of them allochthonous) and San Félix has 20 taxons (19 species, 42% of them allochthonous).
If we consider only native species, the similarity percentage (Söhrensen) of the flora on the two islands is 64 %; 8 taxons are found on both islands, 15 are found only on San Ambrosio (including 11 taxons endemic to this island and two allochthonous species) and 11 taxons grow only on San Félix and of these two are endemic to this island and 7 are allochthonous.
Apparently, from the point of view of flora, environments are well preserved and to date there are three allochthonous species that have established themselves in the wild (13 %).
The two methodologies give opposite results when accounting for the input of allochthonous (produced outside) organic matter to a particular ecosystem: CO2 flux measurement gives negative NEP due to increased CO2 emission from soil to atmosphere, while weighing gives a higher accumulation of organic carbon (C) in the soil.
More generally, given that the magnitude and recurrence interval of water levels produced by ice jams often exceed those of open-water conditions, breakup is probably the main supplier of allochthonous organic material in cold-regions rivers [11].
slumry commented on the word allochthonous
You mean the rocks all over my house are allochthonous? What about the rocks in my head?
Seriously, thanks for listing this word!
July 11, 2007
joannasephine commented on the word allochthonous
material (e.g. organic matter and sediment) which enters a lake from atmosphere or drainage basin.
March 6, 2008
jmjarmstrong commented on the word allochthonous
JM looks up allochthonous looks just to see what he can see.
October 26, 2010