Earth's Waters - Chapter 2
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29 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 runoff | water that flows over the ground surface rather than soaking into the ground (p43) |
| tributary | a smaller stream or river that feeds into a main river (p44) |
| watershed | the land area that supplies water to a river system (p44) |
| divide | a ridge of land that separates one watershed from another (p45) |
| erosion | the process by which fragments of soil and rock are broken off from the ground surface and carried away (p45) |
| deposition | the process by which soil and fragments of rock are deposited in a new location (p45) |
| sediment | the particles of rock and soil that are moved by water or wind, resulting in erosion and deposition (p45) |
| headwaters | the many small strams that come together at the source of the river (p48) |
| flood plain | a broad, flat valley though which a river flows (p50) |
| meander | a looping curve formed in a river as it winds through its flood plain (p50) |
| oxbow lake | the crescent-shaped, cutoff body of water that remains after a river carves a new channel (p50) |
| mouth | the point where a river flows into another body of water (p50) |
| delta | the area of sediment deposits that build up near a river's mouth (p50) |
| levee | a long ridge formed by deposits of sediments alongside a river channel (p52) |
| reservoir | a natural or artificial lake that stores water for human use (p56) |
| eutrophication | the process by which nutrients in a lake build up over time, causing an increase in the growth of algae (p57) |
| wetland | an area of land that is covered witha shallow layer of water during some or all of the year (p59) |
| glacier | a huge mass of ice and snow that moves slowly over the land (p65) |
| pores | tiny openings in and between particles of rock and soil which may contain air or water (p69) |
| permeable | characteristic of materials that allow water to easily pass through them, such as sand and gravel (p69) |
| impermeable | characteristic of materials through which water does not easily pass, such as clay and granite (p69) |
| saturated zone | a layer of permeable rock or soil in which the cracks and pores are totally filled with water (p69) |
| unsaturated zone | a layer of rocks and soil above the water table in which the pores contain air as well as water (p69) |
| water table | the top of the saturated zone, or depth to the groundwater in an aquifer (p69) |
| aquifer | an underground layer of rock or soil that holds water (p72) |
| recharge | new water that enters an aquifer from the surface (p73) |
| artesian well | a well in which water rises because of pressure within the aquifer (p73) |
| spring | a place where groundwater bubbles or flows out of cracks in the rocks (p74) |
| geyser | a type of hot spring in which the water is under pressure and bursts periodically into the air (p74) |
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