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Honors Earth Science Final: Chapter 5-Running Water and Groundwater
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Gravity
Terms in this set (68)
Capacity
The maximum load of solid particles a stream can carry
Competence
The maximum particle size a stream can transport
Sorting
The process by which like-sized particles are deposited together
Alluvium
The material deposited by a stream (occurs when material sinks or stops moving because the velocity is too low)
Base Level
The lowest point to which a stream may erode its channel
Floodplain
When a stream has cut is channel closer to base level, its energy is directed from side to side and erosion produces a flat valley floor called a _____________, covered with alluvium
Meanders
Streams that flow upon floodplains often flow in sweeping bends called __________
Cutoffs
Widespread meandering may result in shorter channel segments called __________
Oxbow Lakes
Abandoned bends
Floods
Triggered by heavy rains and/or snowmelt. Sometimes human interference can worsen or even cause these.
Groundwater
THe largest reservoir of freshwater that is readily available to humans
Zone of Saturation
Groundwater is water that occupies the pore spaces in sediment and rock in a zone beneath the surface called ____________
Water Table
The upper limit of the zone of saturation
Zone of Aeration
Above the water table, where the soil, sediment and rocks are not saturated
Porosity
The quantity that can be stored depends on the _____________ (the volume of open pore spaces) of the material
Permeability
The ability to transmit a fluid through interconnected pore spaces, controls the movement of groundwater
Aquitards
Materials with very small pore spaces (such as clay) that hinder or prevent groundwater movement
Aquifers
Material with larger pore spaces such as sand that are permeable and transmit groundwater freely
Springs
Occur whenever the water table intersects the land surface and a natural flow of groundwater results
Wells
Openings bored into the zone of saturation, withdraw groundwater and create roughly conical depressions in the water table
Cone of Depression
When there is a withdraw of groundwater, there is a conical depression in the water table formed called a __________________.
Artesian Wells
Occur when water rises above the level at which it was initially encountered
Hot Springs
When groundwater circulates at great depths, it becomes heated, if it rises, the water may emerge like this
Geysers
Occur when groundwater is heated in underground chambers, expands and some of the water quickly changes to steam
Caverns
Form in limestone at or beneath the water table when acidic groundwater dissolves rock along lines of weakness, such as joints and bedding planes
Karst Topography
Exhibits an irregular terrain punctuated with many depressions
Sinkholes
Karst topography has many many depressions called _______________
Channel
Conduit that guides the flow of water
65 Percent
Percent of water divided among lakes, streams, groundwater and the atmosphere
Profile
A cross-sectioned view of a stream from its source area (head) to the mouth. (Point downstream where the stream empties into another body of water)
97.2 Percent
The percent of water stored in oceans
Divide
Imaginary line separating the drainage basin of one stream from the drainage basin of another
Drainage Basin
The land area that contributes water to a river system
Ephemeral Streams
Streams that carry water only occasionally after a heavy rainstorm
Intermittent Streams
Streams that exhibit flow only during "wet" periods
Hydrolic Cycle
The ongoing circulation of earths water supply
Yazoo Tributary
River that forms in a flood plane and flows parallel to the main river (connects later on)
2.15 Percent
Percent of water stored in ice sheets and glaciers
Infiltration
A portion of water from precipitation that soaks in the ground
Turbulent Flow
Water moving in an erratic fashion that can be characterized as a swirling motion
Velocity
The distance that water travels in a unit of time
Laminar Flow
Very slow moving streams that flow in roughly straight paths that are parallel to the stream channel
Evapotranspiration
When we can not distinguish between the amount of water that is evaporated and the amount that is transpired by plants
Transpiration
When water that infiltrated the ground surface is absorbed by plants, which ten release it into the atmosphere
Gradient
The slope of a stream expressed as the vertical drop of a stream over a specified distance
River (Stream)
Water flowing in a channel
Runoff
When the rate of rain fall exceeds the earths ability to absorb it, the surplus water flows over the surface into lakes and streams
Discharge
The volume of water flowing past a certain point in a given unit of time
Bars
Channel deposits composed of sand and gravel
Trellis
River pattern in which tributary streams are nearly parallel to one another
Dissolved Load
Stream load consists of material in solution
Natural Levee
Mound that is parallel to channels on both banks and is formed by repetitive floods
Rejuvination
When a river takes on properties of a younger river (becomes young again)
Dendritic
River pattern of irregularly branching streams (most common river patterns)
Down Cutting
When stream erosion occurs vertically
Local Base Levels
Lakes, resistant layers of rock, and main streams that act as a base level for their tributaries
Radial
River pattern when streams diverge from a central area like spokes from a hub of a tire
Delta
Deposit of sediment into a larger body of water
Alluvial Fan
Deposit that forms where a high-gradient stream leaves a narrow valley and comes out suddenly onto a broad, flat plain, or valley floor.
Rectangular
River pattern in which many right angle bends can be seen. Develops where bedrock faults or criss cross of series of joints.
Sea Level
Ultimate Base Level
Incised Meanders
Meandering channels that flow in steep, narrow, valleys
Cut Bank
Where a river erodes laterally into a bank
Eddy
Area on a river where water flows backwards, flowing upstream
Back Swamps
Marshes formed behind levees that are characteristically poorly drained
Braided Stream
Stream where the pattern is crossing over
Meander Scar
The remnants of a dried up oxbow lake
Entrenched Meander
Meander that has experienced down cutting
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