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Chapter 10 vocab
Term | Definition |
---|---|
infiltration | the process by which precipitation that has fallen on land trickles into the ground and becomes groundwater |
zone of saturation | the region below Earth's surface in which groundwater completely fills all the pores of a material |
water table | the upper boundary of the zone of saturation |
zone of aeration | (above the water table) materials are moist. because they are not saturated with water, air occupies much of the pores |
perrmeability | the tendency of a material to let water pass through it |
aquifer | groundwater flows through permeable sediment and rock |
aquiclude | impermeable layers that are barriers to groundwater flow |
spring | natural discharges of groundwater |
hot spring | springs that have a temperature higher than that of a human body, which is 37C |
geyser | explosive hot springs |
cave | a natural underground opening with a connection to Earth's surface |
sinkhole | a depression in the ground caused by the collapse of a cave or by the direct dissolution of limestone by acidic water |
karst topography | irregluar topography with sinkholes, sinks, and sinking streams caused by groundwater dissolution of limestone |
stalacite | a form of dripstone that forms on a cave's ceiling like icicles and froms gradually |
stalagmite | a form dripstone that forms from water drips to the floor of a cave. it forms slowly |
well | holes dug or drilled into the groun to reach an aquifer |
drawdown | difference between that water level in a pumped well and the original water-table level |
recharge | process by which water from precipitation and runoff is added to the zone of saturation |
artesian well | fountain of water that spurts above the land surface when a well taps a deep, confined aquifer containing water under pressure |