| Term | Definition |
|---|
| stream load | what the stream carries: dissolved load, suspended load, bed load |
| carrying power of a stream | indicated by total amount of sediment in the stream and by the size of the particles being moved by the stream, depends of the speed of its discharge |
| meanders and oxbow lakes | curves in a river, and lakes that formed when river changed its path |
| porus | how much space is between the grains of soil |
| permeable | how well water moves through soil or rock |
| aquifer | porous and permeable rock/soil |
| aquiclude | non-porous and impermeable rock/soil |
| water table | top of the zone of saturation |
| zone of saturation | part of ground where all pore spaces are filled with water |
| zone of airation | water table => surface, no water |
| groundwater | water in the ground |
| pollution plume | the flow of water pollution in the ground |
| artesian well | a well that flows upwards from water pressure in the ground |
| hydrostatic pressure | pressure from water, pushes in all directions |
| recharge area | the place where an artesian aquifer is re-filled with water |
| inflow | groundwater that seeps into riverbeds |
| out flow | water that seeps from river into ground |
| infiltration | the process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil |
| evaporation | liquid becomes gas and goes back into the air |
| transpiration | the evaporation of water from plants |
| runoff | water that runs off the surface |
| precipitation | rain, snow |
| spring | formed when water sits on top of an impermeable layer, a place where water flows out of the ground naturally |
| sink | a nearly permanent storage area in the water cycle |
| resevoir | stores water temporarily |
| hydrosphere | all of the earth's water |
| well | a hole or pipe drilled into an aquifer |
| cone of depression | where a well drains the water table down |
| water cycle | the repeated use and re-use of water in the environment |
| water budget | the use and replacement of water in an area |
| weather | the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place |
| factors that control the weather | air pressure, humidity, temperature, wind, seasons |
| water vapor | most responsible for greenhouse effect, water vapor enters the air by evaporation from the oceans and from water or plants on land, most water vapor is near the surface and the percentage decreases with height |
| ozone | absorbs 99% of harmful UV rays, concentrated at heights of about 10 to 50 kilometers called the Ozone layer, chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) destroy ozone |
| ionosphere | air is highly ionized, stretches from the lower mesosphere to the upper thermosphere |
| auroras | Auroras are caused by the ionized particles sent out from solar eruptions interacting with air molecules at the poles. |
| earth's energy budget | 100% comes in and 100% goes out. 30% reflects and 70% is infrared |
| greenhouse effect | The warming of the Earth's surface caused by heat held in the atmosphere |
| global warming | Increase of the green house effect, We have been using/producing more carbon dioxide, and it has been keeping the warm air at the surface longer |
| gasses in dry air | 79% nitrogen, 20% oxygen, .9% argon, .038% CO2 |
| el Niño | warm ocean current, warms surface water in pacific ocean. Caused by southern oscillation. Rains that usually reach indonesia stay over pacific ocean and upwelling stops |
| insolation | energy from the sun |
| southern oscillation | the shift of air pressure that causes el Niño |
| infrared | radiant heat energy |
| argon | a noble gas, 0.9% of atmosphere |
| carbon dioxide | greenhouse gas, produced by burning fossil fuels |
| oxygen | the gas we breath |
| nitrogen | gas that makes up 79% of the atmosphere |
| climate | the average weather conditions for a location over time |
| keeling curve | a graph made over the span of 50 years that shows the increase of carbon dioxide |
| specific humidity | How much water vapor actually is in air |
| relative humidity | How full the air is |
| dew point | The temperature at which saturation occurs |
| lapse rate | How much the temperature drops as you do up in the troposphere, 5-12 degrees |
| adiabatic temperature change | A change of air temperature caused by a change of pressure |
| four ways clouds form | localized convective lifting, orographic lifting, convergance and frontal wedging |
| layers of the atmosphere | troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere |
| factors that affect climate | latitude, proximity to ocean, seasons, wind direction, mountains, altitude/elevation |
| air pressure | The weight of the atmosphere per unit area |
| barometers | Measure air pressure: Mercury barometer and aneroid barometer |
| jet streams | fairly narrow zones of very strong winds in the upper troposphere |
| sea breeze and land breeze | cool breeze blowing off the ocean, cool breeze blowinf off the land |
| coriolis effect | object goes in a straight line but the earth moves under it, things deflected to the right |
| air mass | A huge section of the lower troposphere that has the same kind of weather throughout |
| different types of air masses | maritime and continental tropic, maritime and continental polar, continental arctic |
| fronts | The boundary between any two air masses: warm front, cold front, stationary front and occluded front |
| air mass thunder storms | form within a warm, moist air mass over land mostly in the spring and summer |
| frontal thunder storms | form in warm, moist air ahead of cold fronts, stronger that air mass thunderstroms |
| tonadoes | cold and warm fronts clash, strong winds increase with height. narrow, funnel-shaped column of spiral winds that extends downwards and thouches the ground. Last no more than an hour, accompanied by rain, lightning and hail. measured by Fujita scale of tornadoe intensity (F1-F5) |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace