Term |
Definition |
Fresh water |
water that is not salty and has little or no taste, color, or smell |
Salt water |
water that contains dissolved salts and other minerals |
water cycle |
the continuous movement of water on Earth, through its atmosphere, and in the living things on Earth |
evaporation |
the process by which water changes from liquid to vapor |
condensation |
the process by which water vapor changes in to a liquid |
precipitation |
any type of liquid or solid water that falls from the clouds to Earth's surface |
divide |
a continuous high line of land from which water flows in different directions |
drainage basin |
an area into which all the water on one side of a divide flows |
turnover |
the yearly rising and sinking of cold and warm water layers in a lake |
iceberg |
a mass of ice floating in the ocean |
eutrophication |
an increase in nutrients in a lake or pond |
groundwater |
water that collects and is stored underground |
permeable |
allowing the passage of liquids |
impermeable |
resistant to the passage of liquids |
water table |
the highest part in the ground that is saturated, or completely filled with water |
aquifer |
an underground layer of permeable rock or sediment that contains water |
spring |
a flow of water from the ground |
artesian well |
a well in which pressurized water flows upward to the surface |