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24 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Water cycle |
The continuous movement of water between the atmosphere,the land, and the oceans. |
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Evapotranspiration |
The total loss of water from an area, which equals the sum of water lost by evaporation from soil and other surfaces and water lost by transpiration from organisms |
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Condensation |
The change of state from a gas to a liquid |
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Precipitation |
Any form of water that falls to Earth's surface from the clouds; includes rain, snow, sleet, and hail |
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Desalination |
A process of removing salt from ocean water |
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Tributary |
A stream that flows into a lake or into a larger stream. |
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Watershed |
The area of land that is drained by a river system |
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Stream load |
The material other than the water that are carried by a stream. |
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Discharge |
The volume of water that flows within a given time |
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Gradient |
The change of elevation over a given distance |
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Meander |
One of the bends, twist, or curves in a low-gradient stream or river |
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Braided streams |
A stream or river that is composed of multiple channels that divide and rejoin around sediment bars |
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Delta |
A fan-shaped mass of rock material deposited at the mouth of a stream |
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Alluvial fan |
A fan-shaped mass of rock material deposited by a stream when the slope of the land decreases sharply |
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Floodplain |
An area along a river that forms from sediments deposited when the river overflows it's banks |
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Groundwater |
The water that is beneath Earth's surface |
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Aquifer |
A body of rock or sediment that stores groundwater and allows the flow of groundwater |
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Porosity |
The percentage of the total volume of a rock or sediment that consist of open spaces |
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Permeability |
The ability of a rock or sediment to let fluids pass through its open spaces, or pores |
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Water table |
The upper surface of underground water; the upper boundary of the zone of saturation |
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Artesian formation |
A sloping layer of permeable rock sandwiched between two layers of impermeable rock and exposed at the surface |
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Cavern |
A natural cavity that forms in rock as a result of the dissolution of minerals; also a large cave that commonly contains many smaller, connecting chambers |
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Sinkhole |
A circular depression that forms when rock dissolves, when overlying sediment fills an existing cavity, or when the roof of an underground cavern or mine collapses |
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Karst topography |
A type of irregular topography that is characterized by caverns, sinkholes, and underground drainage and that firms in limestone or other soluble rock |
