Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
FCSDGeo-H2Ocycle
Water Cycle & Climate vocabulary (9)
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| adiabatic | change in the temperature of a gas caused by expansion (cooling) or compression (warming) |
| angle of insolation | angle of the sun above the horizon |
| capillarity | ability of a soil to draw water upward into tiny pores |
| capillary water | water held within tha aerated zone of the soil above the water table |
| climate | average weather conditions over many years |
| continental climate | climate in which there are large seasonal changes in temperature due to the absence of nearby bodies of water that could moderate the climate |
| duration of insolation | length of time from sunrise to sunset that the sun is in the sky |
| El Nino | condition in the Pacific Ocean when seasonal upwelling of deep equatorial water does not follow its usual pattern (This can lead to unusual weather conditions over a large area.) |
| greenhouse effect | process by which infared heat waves are trapped in the Earth's atmosphere by gases such as carben dioxide and methane |
| greenhouse gases | gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor, that trap heat in Earth's atmosphere and affect Earth's climate |
| groundwater | water that infiltrates the ground |
| infiltrate | seeps into, like water into the ground |
| insolation | electromagnetic energy that Earth receives from the sun; contraction of the words "incoming solar radiation" |
| insolation-temperature lag | time delay between maximum or minimum insolation and maximum or minimum air temperature |
| leeward | downward side of a mountain range (usually the side with less precipitation) |
| maritime climate | climate in which seasonal temperature changes are moderated by a large body of water |
| permeability | ability of a soil to transmit water |
| planetary wind belts | latitude zone of prevailing wind conditions caused by uneven heating of Earth and Earth's rotation |
| porosity | energy absorbed or released in a change in state |
| radiative balance | equilibrium between absorbed radiant energy and radiant energy given off |
| reflection | process by which energy waves bounce off a surface or interface |
| runoff | precipitation that is unable to infiltrate soil, so it moves overland into streams |
| transpiration | process by which living plants release waer vapor to the atmosphere |
| vertical ray | sunlight that strikes Earth from directly overhead (the zenith) |
| water (hydrologic) cycle | model of the circulation of water between the oceans, atmosphere, and land |
| water table | boundary at the top of the saturated zone within fractured bedrock or soil |
| watershed | drainage basin; the geographic area in which water drains into a particular stream or other bodies of water |
| windward | side of a mountain range where the air is forced to rise, leading to cloud formation and precipitation |
| zone of aeration | soil above the water table in which most of the interconnected pores are filled with air |
| zone of saturation | fractured rock or soil below the water table in which the pores are filled with ground water |
Created by:
fcsdklw
Popular Earth Science sets