Chapter 3 - Global Distribution Resources and Use

Groundwater

________ is the largest source of freshwater in the world.

Recharge Zone

________- The area above an aquifer that supplies water.

Confined Aquifer

________- a(n) aquifer below the land that is saturated with water.

Freshwater

________ is being diverted into many different purposes.

Aquifers

Geologic feature that contains water in quantities sufficient to support a spring or well.

Unconfined Aquifer

An aquifer where the upper water surface is at atmospheric pressure.

Unsaturated Zone

The zone immediately below the land surface that is not totally saturated with water.

Water Permeability

The ability of a material to allow passage through rocks with water

Water Table

The level below that ground is saturated with water.

Glaciers

Body of dense ice that only forms on land.

Ice Sheets

Masses of glacial ice that are each greater than 20,000 square miles in area

Ice Shelf

Thick floating platform of ice that forms when a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface

Sea Ice

Frozen seawater that floats of the ocean surface, primarily found in the Northern hemisphere.

Oceanic Circulation

Event where heat is transferred to the equator by ocean currents.

Great Ocean Conveyor Belt

Constant motion of warm and cold water, with cold water going to the Antarctic while the warm water goes to the Pacific; Helps regulate the amount of sea ice in polar regions.