27.3+27.4 vocab Flashcards
infiltration
the process by which water enters earth and becomes groundwater
water table
the upper boundary of the saturated zone
aquifer
a rock unit that can transfer water through porespace
porosity
the percentage of total volume in the pore space
absolute dating
process of assigning a exact numerical age to an organism
relative dating
process of placing objects or events in there ordered timeline
uniformitariansim
states that the laws of nature work the same today as they did in the past
principal of superposition
states that in an undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rock layers the youngest rock will be at the top
unconformities
gaps in the rock record during which either erosion occurred or deposition was absent
fossil
remains of organisms found in the geologic rock
what percentage of water on earth is saltwater
97 percent
what percent of water on earth is fresh water
3 percent
where is the majority of fresh water found
In Glaciers
where is the smaller percentage of freshwater found
in lakes and rivers or groundwater
what is precipitation
when water vapor cools and condenses
what is runoff
water running off the land surface
what is infiltration
the process by which water enters earth and becomes groundwater
what is transpirtation
where plants release water vapor into the air through their leaves
what is evaporation
when water enters the atmosphere as water vapor
what is condensation
when water vapor collides with other vapor to form water droplets
what is the water cycle
where water on land evaporates and returns back to the land
what is an unsaturated zone for groundwater storage
a porous are where the water easily passes through
what is a saturated zone for groundwater storage
beneath the unsaturated zone where water completley fills the pore space
what is a water table
upper boundary of the saturated zone
