Water Resources and Pollution Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering water resources, hydrological concepts, and environmental pollutants based on the lecture notes.

Legacy sediments

Sediments or soil structures that are the result of pioneering efforts of early settlers who deforested areas and constructed mill ponds.

Watershed (drainage basin)

The land area where water collects and eventually empties into a body of water.

Organic chlorides

Organic compounds used in pesticides, Teflon, and PVC pipes.

Aquifer

An accumulation of water in the ground because the water moving downward through soil comes in contact with clay or other nonporous material.

Point sources

Sources of pollution that have discrete locations and are therefore relatively easy to identify and control.

Water pollution

Any physical, biological, chemical, or radiological change in water that negatively affects the health and survival of humans or other organisms.

Rain shadow

Dry area on the leeward side of a mountain.

Estuary

A transition between the land and sea where freshwater and saltwater intermix.

Dead zones

Aquatic areas with low oxygen concentration and few organisms; usually caused by bacteria decomposers consuming the majority of oxygen while breaking down masses of dead algal cells.

Zone of saturation

Where groundwater resides, underneath the zone of aeration.

Algal blooms

A rapid population increase of algae, usually due to an over enrichment of nutrients.

Volatile organic compounds (VOC)

A hazardous group of compounds used, for example, in paints and oils. They evaporate from these products and become gases in the atmosphere.

First order streams

Headwater streams with no upstream tributaries.

Thermal pollution

The release of artificially warm water into the environment.

Zone of aeration

Relatively shallow area of ground made of soil and air. Water percolates down through this zone before reaching the water table.

Hexavalent chromium

An inorganic pollutant used in anti-corrosion coatings, leather tanning, wood preservatives, textile dyes, and stainless steel production.

Bisphenal A (BPA)

Plasticizer in food and beverage plastic containers, and in the epoxy resins of food-containing cans; an organic pollutant and endocrine disruptor.

Water table

The top of the groundwater in the zone of saturation.

Desalination

Creating freshwater from saltwater; removing the salt from saltwater.

Phthalate

Organic compound used to increase the flexibility of plastics; an endocrine disruptor.

Cultural eutrophication

Eutrophication due to nutrients arising from human activities.

Levees

Embankments for preventing flooding.

Groundwater

Water in the saturated zone of the ground. The water table marks the top of this zone.

Wetland

Land areas where soil is seasonally or permanently saturated with water.

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

A system controlled by the Environmental Protection Agency and used to regulate and prevent pollution discharge into navigable waters.

Non-point sources

Pollution sources that are diffuse and therefore difficult to identify and control.