Water Unit Flashcards
hydrosphere
Includes all water; groundwater, ice caps, lakes and rivers, oceans, and water vapor in the air.
evaporation
when they sun heats up water in lakes, rivers, or oceans and turns it into water vapor or steam
condensation
the process by which molecules of water vapor in the air become liquid water
precipitation
any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches earths surface.
transperation
the process where plants absorb groundwater through their roots and give off water vapor through pores in their leaves
runoff
water that flows over the ground surface rather then soaking into the ground
groundwater
water that fills the cracks and spaces of underground rock and soil -> more fresh water as groundwater than in lakes and rivers
watershed
the land area that supplies water to a river system
aquifer
an underground layer of rock or sediment that holds water
wave
the movement of energy through a body of water
tide
the daily rise and fall of earths waters on its coastlines
current
a large stream of moving water that flows through the oceans
upwelling
the movement of cold water upward from the deep ocean that is caused by wind
estuary
a costal inlet or bay where fresh water from rivers mixes with salty ocean water
nekton
free-swimming animals that can move through the water collum
