Freshwater is water that contains very little salt and is drinkable for humans and wildlife. Freshwater is found in rivers, lakes, streams, water wells, aquifers, waterfalls, and icebergs as well as snow and the polar ice caps.

1. Water Vocabulary
Kella Randolph
Copyright 2019

2. Surface Water
• Surface water is the water that
remains on Earth’s surface and is
visible as streams, rivers, oceans,
etc.
https://www.eea.europa.eu/airs/2017/natural-capital/surface-waters/image_large

3. Ground Water
Ground water is water that enters the
ground from precipitation or runoff through
the process of infiltration.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Groundwater.png/450px-Groundwater.png

4. River Basin
• A river basin is the area
surrounding a river and its tributaries
that drain into that river.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Rodriguez%2CRizaljf5917_09.JPG/1200px-Rodriguez%2CRizaljf5917_09.JPG

5. Aquifer • An aquifer is an underground area that is permeable and
contains water.
http://opengeology.org/textbook/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wa-aquifer_types-1.gif http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R687Z6TnILI/T7no58D4ASI/AAAAAAAAAGk/Cox-kyv4Rxw/s1600/aquifer.jpg

6. Freshwater
• Freshwater is water that contains very little salt and
is drinkable for humans and wildlife. Freshwater is
found in rivers, lakes, streams, water wells, aquifers,
waterfalls, and icebergs as well as snow and the polar
ice caps.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

7. Saltwater
• Saltwater is water that contains a higher level of salts, such as
the oceans and certain lakes, such as The Dead Sea and in Utah,
The Great Salt Lake.
https://sdsimonson.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/beautiful-coral-reef1.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Pacific_elevation.j
pg/1200px-Pacific_elevation.jpg

8. Estuary
• An estuary is an area where freshwater from rivers flows into saltwater from the ocean. The mixed water is called
brackish because it has more salt than river water but less salt than ocean water.
• Image: https://files.mtstatic.com/site_4038/191/0?Expires=1574022473&Signature=f~-0ARFdlPXTWcZCWRyDQmkwtZREyjXyZRumxISsao0Janns1~rP74ZcWeOXvxlKetQ-IyS3gmWKVSSYhNJXgO~CUr6k1USr7Qsu8vFpP5CnkPcVvLG7J9PSBLB38MXSl8GU0Ty-
X2p3438BRIi0ohiuyVQ-hWucovxi-ZpT5u4_&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJ5Y6AV4GI7A555NA

9. Ocean Currents
• Ocean currents are not ocean waves. Ocean currents are
the movement of ocean water in streams from one area to
another. Sea water within the current is moving faster than
surrounding ocean water. It may also have a different level of
salinity and a different temperature. The Gulf Stream is one
ocean current.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8009/7402445224_7183a42880_b.jpghttp://www.thegeographeronline.net/uploads/2/6/6/2/26629356/4648314_orig.jpg

10. Watershed
• A watershed is an area of land that catches and moves all of
the precipitation that falls on it (this precipitation then flows
toward a river, stream, lake, or the ocean. Much of the
precipitation is absorbed by the ground (infiltration) in the
watershed and goes down to become part of the groundwater.
http://i1.wp.com/www.gisresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/watershedSchematic.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Rodriguez%2CRizaljf5917_09.JPG/19
20px-Rodriguez%2CRizaljf5917_09.JPG

11. Freshwater Spring
• A spring is a water source that is bubbling up from
an underground source such as an aquifer. The spring
may have enough water flowing to create a pond, a
lake, or a stream.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Periodic_Spring_%28fro
m_the_bottom%29.JPG/1200px-Periodic_Spring_%28from_the_bottom%29.JPG

12. Salinity
• Salinity refers to the amount of salt
that is in a body of water. Seawater is
saturated with dissolved salts, so it has
a higher salinity than brackish water in
an estuary.
• Left: harvesting salt from seawater
https://mrunal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/g5p6.jpghttps://farm3.staticflickr.com/2167/2445632709_6926a37b89_z.jpg
https://mirjamglessmer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/cropped-4a428feb-95b0-42d0-91de-14f7b07fccc5.jpg

13. Brackish Water
• Brackish water is water having more salinity than freshwater, but
not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater with
fresh water together, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil
aquifers.
https://terpsinoe.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/anchialine-pool.gifhttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Spartina_alterniflora.jpg/1200px-
Spartina_alterniflora.jpg

14. Floodplain • A floodplain is the area around a river that is often flooded as
water in the river rises.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/215/483784431_beb0fae332_z.jpg http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/01/41/52/1415222_45602961.jpg

15. Infiltration
Infiltration is the process by
which water on the ground
surface enters the soil and
rock material under the
surface of the ground.
https://www.americangeosciences.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/Groundwater_GovtNewfoundland.jpg?itok=3I_rxefH