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Unit 4 Water
Properties of Water and its Role in the Envirnoment
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Surface Tension | the result of an inward pull among the molecules of a liquid that brings the molecules on the surface closer together; causes the surface to act as if it has a thin skin |
Specific Heat | the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of a material by 1 kelvin which is equivalent to 1 degree Celsius |
Mechanical Weathering | the type of weathering in which rock is physically broken into smaller pieces |
Runoff | water that flows over the ground surface rather than soaking into the ground |
Tributary | a stream or river that flows into a larger river |
Delta | a landform made of sediment that is deposited where a river flows into an ocean or lake |
Groundwater | water that fills the cracks and spaces in underground soil and rock layers |
Continental Glacier | a glacier that covers much of a continent or large island |
Valley Glacier | a long, narrow glacier that forms when snow and ice build up in a mountain valley |
Till | the sediments deposited directly by a glacier |
Climate | the average annual conditions of temperature, precipitation, winds, and clouds in an area |
Reservoir | a lake that stores water for human use |
Permeable | characteristic of a material that contains connected air spaces, or pores, that water can seep through |
Water Table | the top of the saturated zone, or depth to the groundwater under Earth's surface |
Saturated Zone | the area of permeable rock or soil in which cracks and pores are totally filled with water |
Solvent | the part of a solution that is usually present in the largest amount and dissolves a solute |
Erosion | the process by which water, ice, wind, or gravity moves weathered particles of rock and soil |
Chemical Weathering | the process that breaks down rock through chemical changes |
Stream | a channel through which water is continually flowing downhill |
Flood Plain | the flat, wide area of land along a river |
Alluvial Fan | a wide, sloping deposit of sediment formed where a stream leaves a mountain range |
Glacier | any large mass of ice that moves slowly over land |
Ice Age | time in Earth's history during which glaciers covered large parts of the surface |
Plucking | the process by which a glacier picks up rocks as it flows over the land |
Longshore Drift | the movement of water and sediment down a beach caused by waves coming in to shore at an angle |
Habitat | an environment that provides the things a specific organism needs to live, grow, and reproduce |
Eutrophication | the buildup over time of nutrients in freshwater lakes and ponds that leads to an increase in the growth of algae |
Impermeable | a characteristic of materials, such as clay and granite, through which water does not pass easily |
Unsaturated Zone | the layers of rocks and soil above the water table in which the pores contain air as well as water |