Part 1: Water, Soil, Mineral and Rock, and Energy Flashcards
the proportion of void space in the material (holes or cracks),
unfilled by solid material, within or between individual mineral grains and is a
measure of how much fluid the material can store
porosity
measure of how readily fluids pass through the material. It is
related to the extent to which pores or cracks are interconnected, and to their
size—larger pores have a lower surface-to-volume ratio so there is less frictional
drag to slow the fluids down
permeability
is a volume of rock or soil above the
impermeable material that is water-saturated, in which water fills all the
accessible pore space
saturated zone
water in the saturated zone
ground water
rock or soil above the saturated zone in
which the pore spaces are filled partly with water, partly with air
unsaturated zone
water in the unsaturated soil
soil moisture
is all of the water occupying pore space below the ground
surface this includes ground water, soil moisture, and water in unsaturated
rocks.
subsurface water
is the top surface of the saturated zone, where the saturated
zone is not confined by overlying impermeable rocks
water table
is the processes of infiltration and migration or percolation by which
ground water is replaced
recharge
occurs where ground water flows into a stream,
escapes at the surface in a spring, or otherwise exits the aquifer
groundwater discharge
is a rock that holds enough water and transmits it rapidly enough to be
useful as a source of water
aquifer
is a rock that may store a considerable quantity of water, but in
which water flow is slowed, or retarded
aquitard
was used to describe an extreme aquitard, a rock that is essentially
impermeable on a human timescale
aquiclude
when the aquifer is directly overlain only by permeable
rocks and soil
unconfined aquifer
is bounded above and below by low permeability rocks
(aquitards)
confine aquifer
If a well is drilled into a confined aquifer, the water can rise
above its level in the aquifer because of this extra hydrostatic (fluid) pressure
artesian system
represents the height to which the water’s pressure would raise
the water if the water were unconfined
potentiometric surface
is a circular lowering of the water table immediately
around the well in an unconfined aquifer.
cone of depression
If the aquifer rocks are no longer saturated with water, they may become
___________ from the weight of overlying rocks. This decreases their porosity,
permanently reducing their water-holding capacity, and may also decrease their
permeability
compacted
Fresh water falling on land does not mix so readily with saline ground water at
depth because water in the pore spaces in rock or soil is not vigorously churned
by currents or wave action
saltwater intrusion
is a common way to provide more land for construction.
This practice can interfere with recharge, especially if surface runoff is rapid
elsewhere in the area.
filling in wetlands
are a partial solution to the problem of areas where
groundwater use exceeds natural recharge rate, but they are effective only
where there is surface runoff to catch, and they rely on precipitation
recharge basins
Rock types such as carbonate rocks or beds of rock salt or gypsum, chemical
sediments deposited in shallow seas, are extremely soluble in water.
Dissolution of these rocks by subsurface water, and occasional collapse or subsidence of the ground surface into the resultant cavities, creates a
distinctive terrain known as ________
karst
Rainwater is not considered
as ____________ because it contains dissolved chemicals of various kinds,
especially in industrialized areas with substantial air pollution
pure water
is one of the parameters used in describing water
quality, the sum of the concentrations of all dissolved solid chemicals in the
water.
total dissolved solids (TDS)
simply contains substantial amounts of dissolved calcium and
magnesium
hard water
DENR A.O. 2016-08 also known as
water quality guidelines and general effluent standards
3 ways of extending the water supply
conservation
interbasin water transfer
desalination
Water is wasted in home use every day by long showers, inefficient plumbing,
insistence on lush, green lawns even in the heat of summer, and in dozens of
other ways
conservation
__________ of seawater would allow parched coastal regions to tap the vast
ocean reservoirs.
desalination
involves heating or boiling water full of dissolved minerals. The
water vapor driven off is pure water, while the minerals stay behind in what
remains of the liquid
distillation
People persist in settling and farming in areas that may not be especially well
supplied with fresh water, while other areas with abundant water go
undeveloped.
interbasin water transfer
the water is passed through fine filters or membranes to
screen out dissolved impurities
filtration system
those materials capable of supporting plant
growth. It also implies little transportation away from the site at which the soil
formed.
soil
the loose material on the lunar surface, it encompasses all
unconsolidated material at the surface, fertile or not
regolith
indicates matter that has been transported and redeposited by wind,
water, or ice.
sediment
soil is produced by _______
weathering
is the physical
breakup of rocks without changes in the rocks’ composition.
physical weathering
involves the breakdown of minerals by chemical reaction
with water, with other chemicals dissolved in water, or with gases in the air
chemical weathering
plays a major role in the intensity of chemical weathering. Most of the
relevant chemical reactions involve water, the more water, the more chemical
weathering
climate
effects can be either mechanical or chemical. Among the
mechanical effects is the action of tree roots in working into cracks to split
rocks apart.
biological weathering
between bedrock and atmosphere is the formation resulted
from mechanical, chemical, and biological weathering, together with the
accumulation of decaying remains from organisms living on the land and any
input from the atmosphere.
blanket of soil
soil horizons
O horizon
A “
E “
B “
C “
consisting wholly of organic matter, whether living or
decomposed—growing. plants, decaying leaves, and so on
O HORIZON
below O horizon, consists of the most intensively weathered
rock material, being the zone most exposed to surface processes, mixed with
organic debris from above.
A HORIZON
below the A horizon, is also known as the zone of leaching.
Fine grained minerals, such as clays, may also be washed downward
through this zone.
E HORIZON
is also known as the zone of accumulation
B HORIZON
below the B horizon, is a zone consisting principally of very
coarsely broken-up bedrock and little else.
C HORIZON
tends to reflect compositional characteristics. Soils rich in organic
matter tend to be black or brown, while those poor in organic matter are paler
in color, often white or gray
soil color
3 types of soil texture
sand, silt, and clay
describes a soil that is a mixture of all three particle sizes in similar
proportions (10 to 30% clay, the balance nearly equal amounts of sand and
silt). Soils are named on the basis of the dominant grain size(s) present.
loam
relates to the soil’s tendency to form lumps or clods of soil
particles
soil structure
from the Latin root pedo- meaning “soil”, is the term use for
clumps
Peds
can indicate something of a soil’s composition and
perhaps its origins, which in turn may have implications for its suitability for
agriculture or construction, or its vulnerability to degradation
soil classification
comes from the prefix pedo - and the Latin words for aluminum
(alumium) and iron (ferrum)
pedalfer
is for the soil of a dry climate.
pedocal
The U.S. comprehensive soil classification, known as the _________________________ has twelve major categories (orders), which are subdivided
through five more levels of classification into a total of some 12,000 soil series.
seventh approximation
may be regarded as an extreme kind of
pedalfer.
laterite
tend to be rich in accumulated organic matter, reduced
because the decaying organic matter consumes dissolved oxygen, and soft.
wetland soils
is caused by the action of water and wind
soil erosion
______________ in the fields after a crop has been harvested and planting
cover crops in the off-season between cash crops. In either case, the plants’
roots help to hold the soil in place, and the plants themselves, to some extent,
shield the soil from wind and rain
leaving stubble
Surface runoff may be slowed on moderate slopes by ______________
contour plowing
a single slope is terraced into a
series of shallower slopes, or even steps that slant backward into the hill.
terracing
Wind can be slowed down by planting hedges or rows of trees as ___________________
along field borders or in rows perpendicular to the dominant wind direction or
by erecting low fences, like snow fences, similarly arrayed
windbreaks
alternating crops of different heights, slows near-ground wind
by making the land surface more irregular.
strip cropping
main cause of soil degradation
deforestation
is a rock in which a valuable or useful metal occurs at a concentration
sufficiently high, relative to average rocks, to make it economically worth
mining.
ore
is the term given to unusually coarse-grained igneous intrusions. In
some _______, single crystals may be over 10 meters (30 feet) long.
pegmatite
They are mined primarily from igneous rocks called
kimberlites
Ordinary table salt, known mineralogically as _____________ is one mineral commonly
mined from evaporite deposits
halite
The deposits mechanically concentrated by water are called
placers
They are rarely
the sites of primary formation of ore minerals.
streams
