chapter 11

Question 1

surface water

Answer 1

water that collects on the surface of the ground.

Question 2

river system

Answer 2

the patterns formed by the streams, rivers, and lakes in a particular drainage basin

Question 3

watershed

Answer 3

an area or ridge of land that separates waters flowing to different rivers, basins, or seas.

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

as the ratio of the volume of pores to the volume of bulk rock and is usually expressed as a percentage.

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

refer to those areas where water infiltrates through the permeable rock and sediment but the saturated zone is at a depth where surface ecosystems (e.g. palustrine, lacustrine and riverine wetlands, riverine water bodies and terrestrial vegetation) are unable to access the groundwater.

Question 9

potable

Answer 9

safe to drink; drinkable

Question 10

pathogen

Answer 10

usually defined as a microorganism that causes, or can cause, disease. We have defined a pathogen as a microbe that can cause damage in a host

Question 11

dam

Answer 11

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

the process of removing salt from seawater.

Question 14

water pollution

Answer 14

is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities. Water bodies include for example lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater.

Question 15

point-source pollution

Answer 15

is a single identifiable source of air, water, thermal, noise or light pollution. A point source has negligible extent, distinguishing it from other pollution source geometries

Question 16

non point -source pollution

Answer 16

are characterized by dispersed, not easily identifiable discharge points, e.g., runoff of pollutants into a waterway, like agricultural runoff,

Question 17

wastewater

Answer 17

water that has been used in the home, in a business, or as part of an industrial process.

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

is the degradation of water quality by any process that changes ambient water temperature.

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.