Heath.1 Flashcards
(45 cards)
Hydrosphere
The term used to refer to the waters of the Earth and, in its broadest usage, includes all water, water vapor, and ice regardless of whether they occur beneath, on, or above the Earth’s surface.
Unconsolidated Deposits
Material derived from the disintegration of consolidated rocks.
Types of unconsolidated deposits (in order of increasing grain size):
Clay, Silt, Sand, Gravel
Consolidated Rocks
Rocks that consist of mineral particles of different sizes and shapes that have been welded by heat and pressure or by chemical reactions into a solid mass.
Bedrock
A really squishy term that in hydrologic circles refers to the layer of consolidated rock that underlies the surface layer/s of unconsolidated deposits.
Primary Openings
Voids existing within any rock structure that formed at the same time that the rock itself. Think pore structure in sand, gravel, etc. Even a lava-tube would be considered a primary opening.
Secondary Openings
Voids in a rock structure that form after the rock itself was formed. Think cracks in granite or the cavern systems within limestone.
Semi-consolidated Rocks
Rocks in which openings include both pores and fractures (both primary and secondary openings).
Unsaturated Zone
The region immediately below the earth’s surface (in any given area) that contains both water and air in its primary and secondary openings.
Regions of the Unsaturated Zone (top-down)
Soil zone, intermediate zone, capillary fringe (upper part).
Saturated Zone
Sub-surface region, below the unsaturated zone in which all of the interconnected primary and secondary openings have filled with water (no-air).
aka-Ground water
Water Table (simple definition)
Basically the dividing line between the saturated and unsaturated zones.
Water Table (technical definition)
The level in the saturated zone at which the hydraulic pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure. Represented by the water level in an unused well (no cone of depression).
Hydrologic Cycle
The constant (cyclical-ish) movement of water above, on, and below the Earth’s surface.
Parts of the Hydrologic Cycle
Evaporation, Transportation (via clouds), Precipitation, Infiltration/Runoff, Groundwater Movement/Overland Flow.
Biology complicates things here…
Infiltration
The absorption/movement of precipitated water down below the earth’s surface under the force of gravity (and capillary action).
Overland Flow
Surface movement of the precipitated water that falls in excess of the ground’s infiltration rate.
Aquifer
A rock unit that will yield water in a usable quantity to a well or a spring.
Confining Bed
A rock unit that having very low hydraulic conductivity that restricts the movement of ground water either into or out of adjacent aquifers.
Unconfined Aquifer
An aquifer in which the upper surface of the saturated zone is free to rise or fall without restriction. Most often located between the Earth’s surface and the first confining bed.
Confined Aquifer
An aquifer that is bounded by confining beds from both above and below.
aka-Artesian Aquifer
Water-Table Well
A well drilled down into an unconfined aquifer.
Artesian Well
A well drilled down into an unconfined aquifer.
Potentiometric Surface
The level of the water in a tightly-cased artesian well. Generally rises above the level of the top of the aquifer due to the pressure exerted on the water within the aquifer by the weight of the overlying rock.
