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Water on Earth
Locations of water
| Term | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation | Any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth's surface. | |
| Groundwater | Water that fills rocks and spaces in underground soil and rock layers. | |
| Tributary | A stream or smaller river that feeds into a main river. | |
| Watershed | the land area that supplies water to a river system. | |
| Divide | A ridge of land that seperates one watershed from another. | |
| Resevoir | A lake that stores water for human use. | |
| Wetland | A land area that is covered with a shallow layer of water during some or all of the year. | |
| Permable | A characteristic of a material that is full of tiny, connected air spaces that water can seep through. | |
| Impermable | A characteristic of a material, such as clay or granite, through which water does not easily pass. | |
| Saturated zone | A layer of permeable rock or soil in which the cracks and pores are totally filled with water. | |
| Water table | Th top of the saturated zone, or depth to the groundwater under Earth's surface. | |
| Unsaturated zone | A layer of rock and soil above the water table in which the pores contain air as well as water. | |
| Spring | A place where ground water flows to the surface. | |
| Aquifer | An undergound layer of rock or sediment that holds water. | |
| Artesian well | A well in which water rises because of pressure within the aquifer. | |
| Geyser | A fountain of water and steam that builds up pressure undergound and erupts at regular intervals. | |
| Water Cycle | The continual movement of water amoung Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surface through evaporation, condensation and precipitation. |