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Water Unit
Vocabulary
Term | Definition |
---|---|
evaporation | water from the oceans and the Earth's surface changes into water vapor due to energy from the sun |
precipitation | rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls from clouds onto the Earth's land and oceans |
condensation | water vapor cools and changes into water droplets that form clouds in the atmosphere |
percolation | the downward movement of water through pores and other spaces in soil due to gravity |
runoff | precipitation that flows over land into streams and rivers |
water table | the upper surface of underground water; the upper boundary of the zone of saturation |
aquifer | a body of rock or sediment that stores groundwater and allows the flow of groundwater |
clouds | form as warm air rises and cools; water vapor changes into liquid water droplets during the process of condensation |
sonar signals | are sent from a ship to the ocean floor; the longer it takes for the sound to bounce off the ocean floor and return to the ship, the deeper the floor is in that spot |
salinity | a measure of the amount of dissolved salts in a given amount of liquid |
surface ocean currents | horizontal movement of ocean water that is caused by wind and that occurs at or near the ocean's surface |
tides | periodic rise and fall of the water level in the oceans and other large bodies of water; gravity between the Earth and the moon has the most influence on tides |
spring tides | result from the alignment of the Earth, moon, and the sun |
neap tides | occur when the sun and moon are at right angles to each other relative to the Earth |
ocean waves | caused by energy transferred to the water by wind, or an earthquake, or the moon's gravitational pull on Earth |