Groundwater vocabulary

Capillarity

Ability of a soil to draw water upward into tiny pores

Capillary Water

water held within the aerated zone of soil above the water table

Groundwater

water that infiltrates the ground

infiltrate

the action of water seeping downward through the soil

Permeability

Ability of soil to transmit water.

Porosity

%of empty space within fractured rock or soil

Runoff

precipitation that is unable to infiltrate soil so it moves over the land and into streams

Transpiration

process by which trees and plants give off water vapor and add it to the atmosphere

water cycle

model of circulation of water between oceans , atmosphere and land

Water Table

boundary at the top of the saturated zone within fractured rock or soil

Watershed

drainage basin; the geographic area which water drains into a particular stream or other water body

zone of aeration

soil above the water table where most of the interconnected pores are filled with ground water

zone of saturation

Fractured rock or soil below the water table in which the pores are filled with groundwater

Retention

water that clings to surface of sediments after infiltration( occurs most in fine sediments )

Saturated

Cannot hold more water

Unsaturated

can hold more water