27.3 Flashcards
What is the percentage of water on Earth is salt water?
97%
What percentage of water on Earth is freshwater?
3%
Where is the majority of freshwater found?
glaciers
What is the smaller percentage of freshwater found?
lakes, rivers, and stored as ground water
What is precipitation is?
When water vapor cools and condenses
What is runoff?
Water running off a land surface
What is infiltration?
Waters enters Earths and becomes groundwater
What is transpiration?
Plants release water vapor into the atmosphere through leaves
What is evaporation?
When water enters the atmosphere as water vapor
What is condensation?
Water vapor collides with other water vapors
What is the water cycle?
when water on land goes into the atmosphere and then returns back to Earth
What is an unsaturated zone for groundwater storage?
A porous area where water passes easily
What is a saturated zone for groundwater storage?
Where water completely fills the pore space
What is a water table?
The upper boundary of the saturated zone
What does it mean if sediment is permeable?
The more permeable sediment is the easier water can pass through
What is the aquifer?
a rock unit that can transfer water through its pore space
What’s the name of the Great Plains Aquifer?
Ogallala Aquifer
How many states does the Great Plains Aquifer run through?
Eight
What are the names of the states that the Great Plains Aquifer runs through?
South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas
What is an aquitard?
keep water confined e.x. Shale layers
How are water springs formed?
Where the water table naturally meets Earth’s surface
What is an artesian well?
when we drill into a pressurized aquifer
What is a cone of depression?
The direction that water flows directed down towards the well
The process of assigning an exact numerical age to an organism, object, or event
Absolute Dating
