Definitions chapter 3: The aquatic environment

Question 1

Water Cycle/Hydrological Cycle

Answer 1

Movement of water between atmosphere and Earth by way of precipitation and evaporation

Question 2

Interception

Answer 2

The capture of rainwater by vegetation, from which the water evaporates and does not reach the ground

Question 3

Infiltration

Answer 3

Downward movement of water into the soil

Question 4

Surface Runoff

Answer 4

The excess water that flows across the surface of the ground when the soil is saturated during heavy rains

Question 5

Groundwater

Answer 5

Water that occurs below Earth’s surface in pore spaces within bedrock and soil, free to move under the influence of gravity

Question 6

Precipitation

Answer 6

All the form of water that fall to Earth; includes rain, snow, hail, sleet, fog, mist, drizzle, and the measured amounts of each

Question 7

Transpiration

Answer 7

Loss of water vapor from a plant to the outside atmosphere

Question 8

Evapotranspiration

Answer 8

Sum of the loss of moisture by evaporation from land and water surfaces and by transpiration from plants

Question 9

Specific Heat

Answer 9

Amount of energy that must be added or removed to raise or lower the temperature of a substance by a specific amount

Question 10

Cohesion

Answer 10

The ability of water molecules, because hydrogen bonding, to stick firmly to each other, restricting external forces to break these bonds

Question 11

Surface Tension

Answer 11

Elastic film across the surface of a liquid, caused by the attractive forces between molecules at the surface of the liquid

Question 12

Thermocline

Answer 12

Layer in a thermally stratified body of water in which temperature changes rapidly relative to the remainder of the body

Question 13

Epilimnion

Answer 13

Warm, oxygen-rich upper layer of water in a lake or other body of water, usually seasonal

Question 14

Hypolimnion

Answer 14

Cold, oxygen-poor zone of a lake, below the thermocline

Question 15

Diffusion

Answer 15

Spontaneous movement of particles of gasses or liquids from an area go high concentration to an area of low concentration

Question 16

Upwelling

Answer 16

In oceans and large lakes, a water current or movement of surface waters produced by winds that brings nutrient-loaded colder water to the surface; in open oceans, regions where surface currents diverge deep waters, which rise to the surface to replace departing waters

Question 17

Intertidal Zone

Answer 17

Area lying between the lines of high and low tide