River Vocabulary Science 1

Point and Non-Point Source Erosion Point Source Pollution: you can see exactly where the pollution is coming from. Ex: pipe from a factory, oil spill Non-Point Source Pollution: you can’t see where the pollution is coming from. Ex: runoff from roads or farms, acid rain Point Source Non-Point Source

Habitat Assessment Survey of a river showing habitat quality for organisms and human alterations of a river Good river habitat (little human interference) Bad river habitat (lots of human influence)

Riffle, Run, Pool Riffle: fast, shallow area of a river Run: fast, deep area of a river Pool: slow, deep area of a river

Channel and Bedrock Channel: main part of river Bedrock: Solid rock beneath river

Embeddedness, Bank Erosion and Sediments Embeddedness: degree to which rocks are covered by sediment Bank Erosion: soil eroding into a river Sediments: small dirt particles like sand, silt and clay

Runoff, Watershed, Turbidity Runoff: sediments or other particles running into a river when it rains Watershed: area from which water runs into a river or lake Turbidity (Transparency): clarity of the water

Eutrophication, Riparian Zone Eutrophication: the process of algae blooming and organisms dying Riparian Zone: area of plant life along the sides of rivers

Organic Waste and Thermal Pollution Thermal Pollution: hot water being released by a power plant or factory into a river or lake Organic Waste: waste from organisms

Macroinvertebrates Macroinvertebrates: invertebrates that tend to live at the bottom of a river (under rocks) and can indicate water quality