Infiltration — Science definition
Defined in 2 courses:
- Water entering spaces in soil or other ground material. (Science 6: Matter, Energy & Earth Systems)
- Water soaking into the ground rather than running across it; vegetation and soil pore space increase it. (Life Science & Scientific Inquiry)
Where it is taught
- The Water Cycle: Pathways, Stores & Drivers — Water, Air, Weather & Climate, Science 6: Matter, Energy & Earth Systems, Grade 6
- Human Activities, Habitat & Environmental Evidence — Ecological Evidence & Environmental Design, Life Science & Scientific Inquiry, Grade 7
In use
On the ground, water either runs off the surface into streams and rivers, or soaks into the soil and rock by infiltration, where it becomes groundwater and moves slowly downhill underground.
The Water Cycle: Pathways, Stores & Drivers
Infiltration is water soaking into the ground; an impervious surface — roof, road, compacted ground — prevents it, sending water to runoff instead.
Human Activities, Habitat & Environmental Evidence
Questions using infiltration
Problem 1
Which statement correctly uses infiltration in The Water Cycle: Pathways, Stores & Drivers?
- Every water particle follows one identical circular route.
- infiltration: Water entering spaces in soil or other ground material.
- A cloud is simply a mass of visible water vapor.
- One illustrative result establishes every real condition and needs no further evidence.
Answer and explanation
infiltration: Water entering spaces in soil or other ground material.
Water entering spaces in soil or other ground material. 35 + 25 + 20 = 80 mm, so the listed terms match the input under the model. Increased storage is not an outgoing flow. If unrecorded groundwater entered or left, the account would need that transfer; balance here does not prove every real pathway was measured.
Taught alongside
- transpiration
- evidence
- system boundary
- uncertainty
- habitat fragmentation
- impervious surface
- outcome
- tradeoff