Ch. 11 Key Terms Flashcards
(20 cards)
surface water
fresh water on earth’s land surface
river system
as streams and rivers move across the land they form a flowing network of water called this
watershed
area of land that is drained by a river
groundwater
water that is found beneath earths surface in the spaces in sediment and rock formations
porosity
the percentage of the total volume of a rock that has space
permeability
the ability of rock or soil to allow water to flow through it
aquifer
an underground formation that contains groundwater is called
recharge zone
an area of earth’s surface from which water percolates down into an aquifer
potable
safe to drink
pathogens
organisms that cause illness or disease
dams
built across rivers to control river’s flow
reservoir
an artificial lake
desalination
process of removing salt from salt water
water pollution
introduction of chemical physical or biological agents into water that degrade water quality
point-source pollution
pollution discharged from a single source
nonpoint-source pollution
pollution that comes from many different sources
wastewater
water that contains waste from homes or industry
artificial eutrophication
eutrophication is accelerated when inorganic plant nutrients enter the water from sewage and fertilizer runoff
thermal pollution
occurs when power plants and other industries use water in their cooling systems and then discharge the warm water into a lake or river
biomagnification
each thing stores the pesticide in its tissues and the concentration of the pesticide that is passed on to the next organism in the food chain is increased.
