GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Aquifer: A body of rock that is sufficiently permeable to conduct groundwater and to yield economically significant quantities of water to wells and springs.

Cretaceous: A geological period having a duration of approximately 70 million years, from 135 to 65 million years.

(Aquifer) Depletion: The act of reducing or exhausting groundwater.

Fault: A fracture or fracture zone along which there has been displacement of the sides relative to one another parallel to the fracture.

Joint: A surface of fracture or parting in a rock, without displacement.

Karstic limestone: A limestone that has been dissolved by water to form sinkholes, caves, caverns and other solution features.

Pervious: Said of a rock that allows water and other liquids or gases to move through it.

Pleistocene: A geological epoch that began 2 million years ago and lasted until 10,000 years ago.

Pliocene: A geological epoch that began 5.1 million years ago and lasted until 2 million years ago.

Precipitation: Water that falls to the surface from the atmosphere as rain, snow, hail, or sleet.