Readings Flashcards
depression storage
water temporarily stored on the land surface as ice and snow or water in puddles
infiltration
If the surface soil is porous some rain or melting snow will seep into the ground.
vadose zone
zone of aeration.
interflow
water flows laterally into the vadose zone
Excess vadose water is pulled downward by gravity through a process known as
gravity drainage
capillary fringe
the pores are filled with capillary water so the saturation approaches 100%, however the water is held in place by capillary forces.
The top of the zone of saturation is called…
the water table.
Water stored in the zone of saturation
ground water
Ground-water flow
water stored in the zone of saturation moves through the rock and soil layers of the earth until it discharges as a spring or as seepage into a pond, lake, stream, river or ocean.
baseflow
Ground water contribution to a stream.
Surface water
water stored in ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams
magmatic water
water contained within magmas deep in the crust. If the magma reaches the surface of the earth or the ocean floor, the magmatic water is added to the water in the hydrologic cycle. (ex- steam seem in some volcanic eruptions)
Types of water that can be located in the vadose zone
vadose water, capillary water, intermediate vadose water, soil water.
ground-water basin
the subsurface volume through which ground water flows towards a specific discharge zone.
hydrologic inputs to an area may include
precipitation, surface-water inflow (run off and overland flow), ground water-inflow, artificial import of water into the area through pipes and canals.
hydrologic outputs from an area may include
evapotranspiration, evaporation of surface water, surface water runoff, ground water outflow, artificial export of water through pipes and canals.
Since diversions have started in Mono lake how has the surface elevation changed.
It has declined substantially. A historic low was reach in the 90s, and then through rain and court orders it began to rise again. However even without the diversions it continued to decline. In the 90s it finally began to rise again.
absolute humidity
the number of grams of water per cubic meter of air
saturation humidity
At any given time the maximum moisture and air mass can hold.
Directly proportional to temperature
Condensation occurs when
An air mass is cooled and the saturation humidity value drops and the air mass can no longer hold all of it’s humidity.
Dew point
the temperature at which condensation will begin.
What errors could occur when using a class A land pan
Splash caused by heavy rainfall drinking of birds Wind movemement Pan warming up faster than land loss of heat from sides and bottom.
potential evapotranspiration
equal to “the water loss which will occur if at no time there is a deficiency of water in the soil for the use of vegetation”
An upper limit to the amount of water an ecosystem will loose by evapotranspiration.
When does the majority of evapotranspiration take place?
In the summer months
Why could the actual evapotranspiration be less than the potential
If the soil water storage capacity is limited. In months when the potential evapotranspiration is less than the rainfall, some of the demand will be met by drawing upon moisture stored in the soil. When available soil water is depleted, the actual evapotranspiration will be limited to the monthly precipitation.
Under what conditions would potential evapotranspiration be close to the actual evapotranspiration
If precipitation is constant throughout the year
