ESC 1000 Earth Science 11^th-13^th Editions

Chapter 5: Running Water and Groundwater

Part K Chapter 5 Key Terms 68 Points

Fill in the blanks with the word or words that best fit the definition:

1. Alluvial Fan - A fan-shaped deposit of sediment formed when a stream slope is abruptly reduced.

2. Alluvium -Unconsolidated sediment deposited by a stream.

3. Aquifers - Rock or soil through which the ground water moves easily.

4. Aquitard - Impermeable beds that hinder or prevent groundwater movement.

5. Artesian Well - A well in which the water rises above the level where it was initially encountered.

6. Artificial Levee - are earthen mounds built on the banks of a river to increase the volume of water the channel can hold.

7. Backswamp - A poorly drain area on a floodplain that results when natural levees are present.

8. Bar – common term for sand and gravel deposits in a stream channel.

9. Base level - The level below which a stream cannot erode.

10. Bed load – Sediment that is carried by a stream along the bottom of its channel.

11. Braided Stream- A stream consisting of numerous intertwining Channels.

12. Capacity - The total amount of sediment a stream is able to transport.

13. Cavern - A naturally formed underground chamber or series of chambers most commonly produced by solution activity in limestone

14. Competence - A measure of the largest particle a stream can transport; a factor dependent on velocity.

15. Cone of Depression - A cone-shaped depression in the water table immediately surrounding a well.

16. Cut bank – the area of active erosion on the other side of a meander.

17. Cutoff - A short channel segment created when a river erodes through the narrow neck of land between meanders.

18. Delta - An accumulation of sediment formed where a stream enters a lake or ocean.

19. Dendritic Pattern - A stream system that resembles the pattern of a branching tree.

20. Discharge - The quantity of the water in a stream that passes a given point in a period of time.

21. Dissolved load – That portion of a stream’s load carried in solution.

22. Distributary - A section of a stream that leaves the main flow.

23. Divide - A imaginary line that separates the drainage of two stream; often found along a ridge.

24. Drainage Basin – The land area that contributes water to a stream.

25. Drawdown- The difference in height between the bottom of a cone of depression and the original height of the water table.

26. Erosion - The incorporation and transportation of material by a mobile agent, such as water, wind, or ice.

27. Evapotranspiration - The combined effect of evaporation and transportation

28. Flood - When the discharge of a stream becomes so great that it exceeds the capacity of the channel, it overflows its bank which is natural behavior of streams.

29. Flood Control Dams - are dams built to store floodwater and then let it out slowly

30. Flood plain - The flat, low-lying portion of a stream valley subject to periodic inundation.

31. Geyser - A fountain of hot water ejected periodically.

32. Gradient – The slope of a stream, generally measured in feet per mile.

33. Groundwater - Water in zone of saturation.

34. Hot spring - A spring in which water is 6-9°C (10-15°F) warmer than the mean annual air temperature of its locality

1. Hydrologic Cycle - The unending circulation of the earth water supply.

2. Incised Meander - Meandering channel that flows in a steep, narrow valley. They form either when an area is uplifted or when the base level drops.

3. Infiltration - A portion of water that soaks into the ground.

4. Infiltration Capacity - The maximum rate at which soil can absorb water.

5. Karst topography – a topography consisting of numerous depressions call sinkholes.

6. Laminar Flow - The movement of water particles in straight-line paths that are parallel to the channel. The water particles move downstream without mixing.

7. Meander - A looplike bends in the course of a stream.

8. Natural Levee - The elevated land-forms that parallel some streams and act to confine their waters, except during floodstage.

9. Oxbow lake - A curved lake produced when a stream cuts off a meander.

10. Permeability - A measure of material’s ability to transmit water.

11. Point bar – A crescent-shaped accumulation of sand and gravel deposited inside of a meander.

12. Porosity - The volume of open spaces in a rock or soil.

13. Radial Pattern - A system of streams running in all directions away from a central elevated structure, such as a volcano.

14. Rectangular Pattern - A drainage pattern characterized by numerous right angle bends that develops on jointed or fractures bedrock.

15. Runoff - When the rate of rainfall exceeds the earth ability to absorb it, the surplus water flows over the surface into the lakes, and streams.

16. Saltation – transportation of sediment through a series of leaps and bounces.

17. Settling velocity – The speed at which a particle falls through a still fluid. The size, shape, and specific gravity of particles influence this effect.

18. Sinkhole - A depression produced in a region where solube rock has been removed by groundwater.

19. Sorting -The process by which solid particles of various sizes are separated by moving water or wind. Also, the degree of similarity in particle size in sediment or sedimentary rock.

20. Spring - A flow of groundwater that emerges naturally at the ground surface.

21. Stalactite - The icicle-like structure that hangs from the ceiling of a carven.

22. Stalagmite – The column-like form that grows upward from the floor of a cavern.

23. Stream Valley - The channel, valley floor, and slopping valley walls of a stream.

24. Suspended Load - The fine sediment carried within the body of flowing water.

25. Transpiration - The release of water vapor to the atmosphere by plants.

26. Trellis Pattern - A system of streams in which nearly parallel tributaries occupy valleys cut into folded strata.

27. Turbulent Flow - The movement of water in an erratic fashion often characterized by swirling, whirlpool-like eddies. Most stream flow is of this type.

28. Unsaturated zone – The area above the water table where openings in soil, sediment, and rock are not saturated but filled mainly with air.

29. Water Table - The upper level of saturated zone of groundwater.

30. Well - An opening bored into the zone of saturation.

31. Yazoo Tributary - A tributary that flow a parallel to the main stream because a natural levee is present.

32. Zone of Aeration - Area above the water table where openings in soil, sediment, and rock are not saturated but filled mainly with air.

33. Zone of Saturation - Zone where all open spaces in sediment and rock are completely filled with water.

34. Longitudinal Profile – A cross-sectional view of a stream from its source area to its mouth, the point downstream where it empties into another body of water.