Keywords

• Surface Storage


  Any water that is held on the surface of the earth like a lake or pond
• Precipitation


  The processes by which water reaches the soil or surface
• Groundwater Flow


  Movement of water underground
• Evaporation


  The change of state from liquid (water) to gas (water vapor)
• Infiltration


  Movement of water into soil layers
• Interception


  When vegetation prevents moisture from reaching the ground directly
• Throughflow


  Movement of water through the soil, under gravity, or parallel to the ground surface
• Surface Runoff


  Movement of water on the surface (also known as overland flow)
• Soil storage


  Water stored in between the soil particles, called the pedosphere, or soil layer
• Percolation


  The movement of water through the soil itself
• Groundwater


  Water that exists underground in saturated zones beneath the surface
• Transpiration


  Movement of water through plant cells into the atmosphere
• Channel flow


  Movement of water confined in a river or stream
• Watershed


  The dividing line between two drainage basins
• Drainage basin


  The area of land that drains into one river and its tributaries
• Confluence


  When two rivers join
• Tributary


  A small river that flows into a bigger river
• Source


  Where the river starts, usually high up a mountain
• Mouth


  Where the river ends, usually when the river flows into a sea or lake
• Velocity


  Speed of water flowing
• Discharge


  Volume of water which flows through an area in a given time
• Hydraulic action


  The power of the water when it smashes against the river banks. Air is trapped in the cracks so the rocks will break apart
• Solution (erosion)


  When the river dissolves certain types of rocks
• Attrition


  When rocks collide with each other and become smaller
• Abrasion


  When rocks grind against the river bed
• Traction


  When big and heavy rocks are rolling down the river bed
• Suspension


  Lighter sediment is carried within the water
• Saltation


  Rocks bouncing along the river bed near the source
• Solution (Transportation)


  Transport of dissolved chemicals
• River bed


  Bottom of the river channel
• River bank


  Sides of the river channel
• Lateral Erosion


  Sideways erosion on the river bed
• Vertical Erosion


  Downward erosion on the river bed