ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY UNIT 3

AQUIFER

A store of groundwater that accumulates under the ground on top of layers of impermeable rock.

CONDENSATION

The process by which water vapour becomes liquid such as when water drops form a cloud.

DISCHARGE

The volumen of water flow in a river over a certain period of time.

DROUGHT

An extended period of very low rainfall, causing water shortages.

EVAPORATION

The process during which liquid water turns into water vapour.

EVAPOTRANSPIRATION

The sum of the transport of water into the atmosphere by evaporation and plan transpiration.

FLOW

The volumen of water in a river.

FRESH WATER

The water at the polar regions and in glaciers, lakes or rivers, representing about 3% of the Eart’s water.

GROUNDWATER

Water that is found under the Earth’s surface.

HYDROGRAPH

A chart that shows how much water a river carries in one year.

HYDROSPHERE

The mass of water on Earth, inluding seas, rivers, groundwater and water vapour.

LAKE

A large body of water surrounded by land contained in an inland basin.

MEANDER

A bend in a river.

OCEAN CURRENT

A large mass of water that moves across an ocean.

PLUVIOMETER

An instrument for measuring the amount of precipitation in a place during a specific period.

PRECIPITATION

The amount of water that falls in a place, as rain, snow or hail.

RIVER

A continuously flowing current of water that flows into the sea, a lake or another river.

RIVER REGIME

The characteristics of a river’s flow over a year.

SALINITY

The proportion of salt disolved in a solution.

SALTWATER

The water found in oceans and seas, with a high concentration of disolved salts that represents around 97% of the Earth’s water.

SEWAGE

Waste matter that is carried away by water.

TIDE

The daily raise and fall of sea levels, caused by the gravitational influence of the Moon and the Sun.

TRIBUTARY

A river that flows into another river.

TSUNAMI

A huge tidal wave caused by an earthquake on the ocean floor.

WATER CYCLE

The continuous movement of the water on Earth as it flows between the atmosphere, oceans and continents.

WAVE

The circular movement of water on the surface of oceans and seas, caused by the wind.