Quadrat -a square frame with a measured grid of wire within it used to lay over surfaces and enable systematic sampling.

Quality of life -a component of development. At a basic level it involves such measures as access to water, food, health and education etc. At higher levels, it may include freedom of speech and religious worship. Various attempts have been made to quantify it. Best known is the PQLI -Physical Quality of Life Index -which uses infant mortality, literacy and life expectancy to score countries out of 100.

Quarry -open-air works where rock is removed for commercial use.

Quartz -a mineral commonly found in continental crust.

Quaternary -a period of geologic time lasting from 1.6m years ago to the present.

Quaternary sector - those types of economic activity involving high technology and information services which have appeared in the last thirty years and do not fit neatly into the secondary or tertiary sectors.

Quota -a limit to production or trade. May be determined by volume or value.