27.3 and 27.4 Flashcards
what is the process called in which water enters earth and becomes ground water
infiltration
what is the upper boundary of the saturated zone called?
the water table
a rock unit that can transfer water through its pore space is called an ____
aquifer
the ____ of a material is the percentage of of the materials total volume that is pore space
porosity
what is the process of assigning an exact numerical age to an organism, an object or an event
Absolute dating
is the process of placing objects or events in their proper order in time
relative dating
what states the laws of nature operated today as they did in the past
principle of uniformitarianism
what states that in an undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rocks, the youngest rocks will be on top and the oldest rocks will be at the bottom
principle of superposition
____ are gaps in the rocks record during which either erosion occurred or deposition was absent
uncomformities
remains or traces of organisms found in a rocks record are called
fossils
what percentage of water on earth is saltwater
97%
what percentage of water on earth is fresh water
3%
where is the majority of freshwater found
2% found in glaciers
where is the smaller percent of fresh water found
1% found in lakes, rivers, and stored as groundwater
what is precipitation
what water vapor in the air cools and condenses to form liquid water or ice crystals
forms of precipitation are rain snow sleet and hail
what is runoff
where water runoff of the land surface
what is infiltration
the process by which water enters Earth and becomes groundwater below the surface
what is transpiration
When plants release\ water vapor into the atmosphere through their leaves
what is evaporation
when water enters the atmosphere as water vapor
what is condensation
when water vapor collides with other water vapor molecules to form water droplets
eventually the water droplets will become heavy enough to fall as precipitation
what is the water cycle
when fresh water moves from the land, to the atmosphere and back to the land in a cycle
what is an unsaturated zone for groundwater storage
a porous area where water easily passes though
what is the saturated zone for ground water storage
beneath the unsaturated zone were 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 it is the easier water can infiltrate through the ground
what is an aquifer
a rock unit that can transfer water through its pore space
what is the name of the great plains aquifer
ogallala aquifer
how many states does the great plains aquifer run through
8 states
what are the names or the states that the great plains aquifer runs through
south Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas
what is an Aquitard
are layers that keep water confined and does not let water through
how are water springs formed
where the water tables naturally meet earths surface
what is an artiesian well
where we drill into a pressurized aquifer
what is a cone of depression
its where the water flows in a direction down towards the well in a cone shape
