Hydrology Lecture Notes Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards based on hydrology lecture notes.

Hydrologic cycle

The cycle of water through the Earth’s system including oceans, lakes, streams, earth's atmosphere, and ice.

Colorado River water crisis

A situation where large dams trap water and canals/pipelines route water to consumers, regulated by the Laws of the River (1920) which allocates water to states based on volume.

Eutrophication

The process where nutrients from fertilizers and sewage cause algal blooms, which then deplete water’s oxygen.

Salinization

The process where evaporation exceeds addition, and irrigation leaches soil salts, diverting freshwater inputs.

Recharge area

Any area where water enters the ground.

Discharge area

The region where water returns to the surface.

Porosity

The percentage volume of open space in sediments and bedrock.

Permeability

The degree of pore connectivity in sediments and bedrock.

Cone of depression

A three-dimensional surface that develops due to overuse of groundwater.

Karst Terrain

A landscape characterized by a large number of sinkholes.

Subsidence

The sinking or collapsing of the ground surface downward.

Runoff

Water flowing from an area as a response to gravity.

Stream

Any flowing body of water in a channel.

Headwaters

The source of a stream, located at the top of the stream system.

Tributary

Smaller streams that flow into a mainstream.

Delta

Fan-shaped deposit at the mouth of a river where it empties into a body of water.

Capacity

The total quantity of sediment a stream can carry.

Competence

The maximum clast size a stream can carry.

Alluvium

Material that is being carried and then deposited, forming the river bed.

Floodplains

Areas wider than the stream channel, often containing fertile soil, that are subject to flooding.

Baselevel

The elevation below which a stream surface will not drop.

Natural levees

Formations that develop as water slows and spills into the floodplain, preventing water from spilling over.

Distributaries

Small channels across a delta.

Oxbow Lake

An abandoned meander of a stream.

Drainage Divide

Elevated land separating drainage networks.

Stream Order

A system for classifying streams based on their size and tributaries; higher the number, the bigger the stream.

Discharge

The water volume passing a cross-section area of a stream.

Flood stages

The levels when water rises above a stream bank.

Lag time

The time between the peak of rainfall and the peak of discharge in a stream.

Monsoon

A large-scale seasonal shift in a region’s winds, typically caused by differences in land and water temperatures, leading to heavy rainfall.

Recurrence interval

The estimated time interval between floods of a given magnitude.