27.3 Flashcards
(27 cards)
What percentage of water on Earth is salt water?
97%
What percentage of water on Earth is freshwater?
3%
Where is the majority of freshwater found?
glaciers is 2% of freshwater
Where is the smaller percentage of freshwater found?
lakes, rivers, and stored as groundwater
What is precipitation?
when water vapor in the air cools and condenses to form liquid water or ice crystals.
What is a runoff?
water running off the land surface going into other bodies of water.
What is infiltration?
The process by which water enters Earth and becomes groundwater below the surface.
What is transportation?
When plants release water vapor into the atmosphere through their leaves.
What is evaporation?
When water enters the atmosphere as water vapor.
What is condensation?
Where water vapor molecules collide with other water vapor molecules to make water droplets causing precipitation.
What is the water cycle?
The water cycle is where water from the land enters the atmosphere an eventually returns back to land.
What is an unsaturated zone for groundwater storage?
A porous area where water easily passes through.
What is a saturated zone for groundwater storage?
Beneath the unsaturated zone, where water completely fills the pore space.
What is a water table?
The upper boundary if the saturated zone very permeable.
What does it mean if sediment is permeable?
The more permeable sediment is the easier it is for water to pass through it, means it is for water to infiltrate it.
What is an aquifer?
A rock unit that can transfer water through its pore space.
What is the name of the Great Plains Aquifer?
Ogallala Aquifer
How many states does the Great Plains Aquifer run through?
8 states
What are the names of the states that the Great Plains Aquifer runs through?
South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas
What is an aquitard?
A layer of sediment that does not let water pass through, traps water.
How are water springs formed?
Where the water table naturally meets the Earth’s surface.
What is an artesian well?
Wells drilled into pressurized aquifers, when aquifer is sandwiched between , pressure causes water to flow up the well.
What is a cone of depression?
Where the direction flows towards the well causes the cone of depression.
The process of assigning an exact numerical age to an organism, an object, or event.
Absolute dating.
