Water and Atmosphere Ch. 1 Flashcards
Habitat
An environment that provides the things a specific organism needs to live, grow, and reproduce.
Groundwater
Water that fills the cracks and spaces in underground soil and rock layers.
Water Cycle
The continual movement of water among Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surface through evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
Evaporation
The process by which molecules at the surface of a liquid absorb enough energy to change to a gas.
Transpiration
The process by which water is lost through a plant’s leaves.
Precipitation
Any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth’s surface as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
Permeable
Characteristic of a material that contains connected air spaces, or pores, that water can seep through easily.
Impermeable
A characteristic of materials, such as clay and granite, through which water does not easily pass.
Unsaturated Zone
The layer of rocks and soil above the water table in which the pores contain air as well as water.
Saturated Zone
The area of permeable rock or soil in which the cracks and pores are totally filled with water.
Water Table
The top of the saturated zone, or depth to the groundwater under Earth’s surface.
Aquifer
An underground layer of rock or sediment that holds water.
Artesian Well
A well in which water rises because of pressure within the aquifer.
Tributary
A stream or river that flows into a larger river.
Watershed
The land area that supplies water to a river system.
