geology Vocab pop quiz

Watershed

area of land where all the rain, snowmelt, and surface water drains into a common outlet

Drainage Divide

is the high ground, such as a ridge or mountain range that separate two adjacent drainage basins and determines which way water flows

Infiltration

the process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil

Tributary

are small streams that flows into a river or bigger stream.

Runoff

water that flows over the ground surface rather than soaking into the ground

confluence

a specific point where two or more rivers or streams meet and merge into a single channel.

Precipitation

Any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth's surface.

Sublimation

A change directly from the solid to the gaseous state without becoming liquid

Trunk Stream

a major river, fed by a number of fairly large tributaries; the main stream in a river system

Base level filtration (outflow)

is the imaginary horizontal surface or level to which sub-aerial erosion proceeds, ultimately controlling the erosional limit for a stream.

Evaporation

The change of a substance from a liquid to a gas

Estuary

a. mixing area, not too salty but not freshwater

Suspended Load

the fine sediment carried within the body of flowing water

Condensation

The change of state from a gas to a liquid

Turbidity

A measure of how clear water is.

Melting

The change in state from a solid to a liquid

Bed Load

sand, pebbles, and boulders that are moved along the bed of a stream and that are too heavy to be carried in suspension

Dissolved Load

The load contains dissolved materials such as sodium and calcium.

Point Bar

deposit of sediment build up by a river on the inside bend of a meander

Cut Bank

the area of active erosion on the outside of a meander

Flood Plain

the flat, wide area of land along a river

10 major reservoirs of the hydrologic system where water is "stored" temporarily or for long periods of time.

ice sheets, Oceans, Ground water, Rivers, Streams, Biosphere, Soil moister, water/fossil water

List the "fluxes" or processes by which water moves between reservoirs

Precipitation, Infiltration, Evaporation, Decomposition, Run-off, Sublimation, Melting, Base level filtration, Vulcanization