Ch.11 Key Terms

Question 1

surface water

Answer 1

water that collects on the surface of the ground.

Question 2

river system

Answer 2

the whole natural water system in a drainage basin. Water in a drainage basin usually ends up in the sea, but there are places where the water just evaporates, or flows into an inland lake.

Question 3

watershed

Answer 3

an area of land that drains or “sheds” water into a specific waterbody. Every body of water has a watershed.

Question 4

groundwater

Answer 4

water held underground in the soil or in pores and crevices in rock.

Question 5

aquifer

Answer 5

a body of permeable rock which can contain or transmit groundwater.

Question 6

porosity

Answer 6

measure of the void spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%.

Question 7

permeability

Answer 7

the state or quality of a material or membrane that causes it to allow liquids or gases to pass through it.

Question 8

recharge zone

Answer 8

The area in which water enters an aquifer.

Question 9

potable

Answer 9

safe to drink; drinkable.

Question 10

pathogen

Answer 10

a bacterium, virus, or other microorganism that can cause disease.

Question 11

dam

Answer 11

a barrier constructed to hold back water and raise its level, forming a reservoir used to generate electricity or as a water supply.

Question 12

reservoir

Answer 12

a large natural or artificial lake used as a source of water supply.

Question 13

desalination

Answer 13

a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture.

Question 14

water pollution

Answer 14

occurs when harmful substances—often chemicals or microorganisms—contaminate a stream, river, lake, ocean, aquifer, or other body of water, degrading water quality and rendering it toxic to humans or the environment.

Question 15

point-source pollution

Answer 15

any single identifiable source of pollution from which pollutants are discharged, such as a pipe, ditch, ship or factory smokestack.

Question 16

nonpoint-source pollution

Answer 16

Excess fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides from agricultural lands and residential areas. Oil, grease and toxic chemicals from urban runoff and energy production. Sediment from improperly managed construction sites, crop and forest lands, and eroding streambanks.

Question 17

wastewater

Answer 17

“used water from any combination of domestic, industrial, commercial or agricultural activities, surface runoff or storm water, and any sewer inflow or sewer infiltration.

Question 18

artificial eutrophication

Answer 18

occurs when human activity introduces increased amounts of these nutrients, which speed up plant growth and eventually choke the lake of all of its animal life.

Question 19

thermal pollution

Answer 19

a sudden increase or decrease in temperature of a natural body of water, which may be ocean, lake, river or pond by human influence.

Question 20

biomagnification

Answer 20

the concentration of toxins in an organism as a result of its ingesting other plants or animals in which the toxins are more widely disbursed.