Water Cycle Processes and Definitions

Front

What is an unconfined aquifer?

Back

An aquifer with the water table as the upper boundary and an impermeable layer for the lower boundary.

Front

True or False: The Sun provides the heat energy that evaporates the water to drive the water cycle.

Back

True

Front

Define unsaturated.

Back

Not completely filled with water.

Front

What is precipitation?

Back

Water that falls to Earth’s surface in the form of rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Front

What is permeability?

Back

The measure of the ability of a rock or sediment to transmit water or other liquids (how connected the pore spaces are to one another).

Front

What is evaporation?

Back

The process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas due to heat.

Front

What is condensation?

Back

The process by which water vapor cools and changes back into liquid water, forming clouds.

Front

What is transpiration?

Back

The process by which water is absorbed by plants and then released as vapor through their leaves.

Front

What is the water table?

Back

The upper surface of the zone of saturation in an aquifer, where the soil or rock is fully saturated with water.

Front

What is an aquifer?

Back

A geological formation that can store and transmit water, typically composed of rock or sediment.