Hydrosphere Vocab Terms

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Reservoir

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A large natural or artificial lake used as a source of water supply.

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Residence Time

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The average length of time during which a substance, a portion of material, or an object is in a given location or condition, such as adsorption or suspension.

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Tributary

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A river or stream flowing into a larger river or lake.

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Estuary

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The tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream.

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Dissolved Load

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The portion of a stream's total sediment load that is carried in solution, especially ions from chemical weathering.

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Suspended Load

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The portion of the sediment that is carried by a fluid flow which settle slowly enough such that it almost never touches the bed. It is maintained in suspension by the turbulence in the flowing water and consists of particles generally of the fine sand, silt and clay size.

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Bed Load

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Describes particles in a flowing fluid (usually water) that are transported along the bed. Bed load moves by rolling, sliding, and/or saltating (hopping).

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Turbidity

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The quality of being cloudy, opaque, or thick with suspended matter.

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Erosion

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The process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents; the gradual geological process of removing or diminution of something.

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Deposition

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The geological process in which sediments, soil and rocks are added to a landform or land mass. Wind, ice, water, and gravity transport previously weathered surface material, which, at the loss of enough kinetic energy in the fluid, is deposited, building up layers of sediment.