2NW 3 WK Exam Review

What type of sediment tends to be the most impermeable?

• sand

• clay

• silt

• rocks

If water can easily move between cracks of a rock, we can say that...

• water is permeable

• rock is permeable

• rock is impermeable

• water is impermeable

______ is the most permeable since water passes through it easily.

• Gravel

• Bedrock

• Clay

• Silt

What is porosity?

• The percent of volume of open spaces or pore space in rock or sediment.

• The rate that fluids pass through rock/sediment through open spaces/pores.

• The process by which surface water seeps into the ground.

• The process by which precipitation runs off into bodies of surface water.

Permeability is:

• the process by which precipitation runs off into bodies of surface water.

• the amount of water that can be poured into a beaker of earth substances such as gravel or sand.

• the percent of volume of open spaces or pore space in rock or sediment.

• the rate that fluids pass through rock/sediment through open spaces/pores.

If porosity is low then permeability is typically

• low

• high

What definition BEST describes a watershed?

• An area of land where water infiltrates the soil.

• An area water where aquatic plants and animals thrive.

• An area land where snow melts and changes into liquid water.

• An area of land where water drains it to the lowest point.

A neighborhood in a small Texas town had to be evacuated because the houses were sinking due to a problem in the aquifer. What is the most likely cause of this problem?

• Heavy rains caused oversaturation of soil foundations.

• Overbuilding in the area polluted the ground water.

• Runoff from fertilized land created a dead zone.

• Excessive removal of water weakened the ground.

Aquifer is an area of permeable rock on the land surface that holds groundwater.

• True

• False

This type of aquifer is bounded above and below by impermeable layers of rock.

• unconfined aquifer

• confined aquifer

• well

• aquitard