The water cycle, groundwater and aquifers, and surface water systems from an intro Earth science course.
30 cards · basic cards · AI-written, checked twice. Edit anything.
- What are the four main processes of the water cycle?
- Evaporation, transpiration, precipitation, and runoff (or infiltration)
- Define evapotranspiration
- The combined loss of water from soil and plants to the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration
- What is infiltration?
- The process by which water enters soil and subsurface materials from the surface
- What is runoff in the water cycle?
- Water that flows over the land surface toward streams, rivers, and lakes
- Define the water table
- The upper surface of the zone of saturation, below which all pores are filled with water
- What is an aquifer?
- A body of saturated rock or sediment that can store and transmit groundwater in usable quantities
- Define porosity
- The percentage of a rock or sediment that consists of pores (void spaces)
- Define permeability
- The ability of rock or sediment to transmit water through its pores
- What is the difference between a confined and an unconfined aquifer?
- An unconfined aquifer has a water table in direct contact with the atmosphere; a confined aquifer is bounded above by a low-permeability layer (aquitard)
- What is hydraulic conductivity?
- A measure of the ease with which water flows through rock or sediment
- Define groundwater recharge
- The process by which water from the surface infiltrates downward and replenishes the groundwater system
- What is groundwater discharge?
- The process by which groundwater emerges or flows out of the subsurface onto the land surface or into surface water bodies
- Define a watershed
- The land area that drains surface water and groundwater into a stream, river, lake, or other water body
- What is stream discharge?
- The volume of water flowing through a stream channel per unit time, usually measured in cubic meters per second
- What is base flow?
- The portion of stream discharge that comes from groundwater discharge during periods with no rainfall