Week 16 Vocab Flashcards
All the bodies of fresh water, salt water, ice, and snow that are found above the ground.
Surface Water
A flowing network of rivers and streams draining a river basin.
River System
The area of land that is drained by a water system.
Watershed
The water that is beneath the Earth’s surface.
Groundwater
A body of rock or sediment that stores groundwater and allows the flow of groundwater.
Aquifer
The percentage of the total volume of a rock or sediment that consists of open spaces.
Porosity
The ability of a rock or sediment to let fluids pass through its open spaces or pores.
Permeability
An area in which water travels downward to become part of an aquifer.
Recharge Zone
Suitable for drinking.
Potable
A microorganism, another organism, a virus, or a protein that causes disease; an infectious agent.
Pathogen
A structure that is built across a river to control the river’s flow.
Dam
An artificial body of water that usually forms behind a dam.
Reservoir
A process of removing salt from ocean water.
Desalination
Contamination of water by waste matter or other material that is harmful to organisms that are exposed to the water.
Water Pollution
Pollution that comes from a specific site.
Point-Source Pollution
Pollution that comes from many sources rather than from a single specific site; an example is pollution that reaches a body of water from streets and storm sewers.
Nonpoint-Source Pollution
Water that contains wastes from homes or industry.
Wastewater
A process that increases the amount of nutrients in a body of water through human activities, such as waste disposal and land drainage.
Artificial Eutrophication
A temperature increase in a body of water that is caused by human activity and that has a harmful effect on water quality and on the ability of that body of water to support life.
Thermal Pollution
The accumulation of pollutants at successive levels of the food chain.
Biomagnification
