Meteoric water is the water derived from

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

(snow and rain). This includes water from lakes, rivers, and icemelts, which all originate from precipitation indirectly. While the bulk of rainwater or meltwater from snow and ice reaches the sea through surface flow, a considerable portion of meteoric water gradually infiltrates into the ground. This infiltrating water continues its downward journey to the zone of saturation to become a part of the

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characte ...

Overview

Most

is meteoric water. Other forms normally do not play a significant role in the hydrologic cycle. Non-meteoric forms of groundwater are connate water and magmatic water, also termed

juvenile water Magmatic water, also known as juvenile water, is an aqueous phase in Equilibrium chemistry, equilibrium with minerals that have been dissolved by magma deep within the Earth's crust and is released to the atmosphere during a Volcanism, volcanic eru ...

. Connate water is trapped in rock

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as e ...

at the time of formation. Because rock containing connate water is typically formed from

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wor ...

sediments Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...

, connate water is normally saline. Magmatic water rises from great depth accompanying

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natura ...

intrusion In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...

and affects

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proce ...

. In other words, meteoric water is the water that has fallen as rain and has filled up the porous and permeable shallow rocks, or percolate through them along bedding planes, fractures, and permeable layers.

History

The word "meteoric" (as in the sense of direct

atmospheric An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A ...

origin) is used here from the same root as

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...

. The term is from a Greek word which originally referred to astronomical discussions. However, after the publication of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

's book ''Meteorology,'' which discussed what we today call

earth sciences Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

, the term was eventually used to describe any notable changes appearing in the sky (including meteors, originally thought to be weather phenomena).

References

{{cite web , title= Glossary of Meteorology , publisher=

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance th ...

, url=http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/ , accessdate=2006-05-13 Precipitation

Overview

History

See also

References