FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Instantaneous load. The quantity of dissolved material carried by a strearr at the point and time indicated. Marine. Of or belonging to or caused by the sea. Mineral content. A summation of the individual values, in parts per million. of the determined dissolved chemical constituent in the water. Nonartesian ground water. Water in an aquifer that is unconfined. Parts per million (ppm). A unit weight of a chemical constituent dissolved in a million unit weights of water. Percolation. The movement of water by gravity through the pores in a rock or soil, excluding the movement through large openings such as caverns. pH. An index of the acidity of water. A value of 7 is neutral. Values above 7 indicate alkalinity-values below 7, acidity . Piezometric surface. The level to which water will rise in tightly cased wells that penetrate a given aquifer. Potential natural water loss. The maximum water loss that could occur natu- rally in a basin with optimum or full moisture supply and native vegetation. Recharge (of ground water). Intake. The processes by which water is ab- sorbed and is added to the zone of saturation. Also used to designate the quantity of water that is added to the zone of saturation. Retention. The part of storm rainfall which is intercepted, stored, or delayed, and thus fails to reach the concentration point by either surface or sub- surface routes during the time period under consideration. Runoff. That part of the precipitation that appears in surface streams, having reached the stream channel by either surface or subsurface routes. Runoff in inches. The depth to which an area would be covered if all the runoff from it in a given period were uniformly distributed on its surfaces. Seepage (infiltration). Percolation of water through the earth's crust, or through the walls of large openings in it, such as caves or artificial exca- vations. Specific conductance. Specific conductance is the measure of the capacity of water to conduct an electric current. It varies with the concentration and degree of ionization of the different constituents in solution. It may be used to estimate the mineral content but does not indicate the nature of, or the relative amounts of, the various mineral constituents. Specific yield. The ratio of the volume of water that will drain from the saturated material of the aquifer- to the volume of the material, ex- pressed in percent. Streamflow. The actual discharge of surface streams. It includes runoff modified by artificial causes. Surface water. Water that occurs above the surface of the ground. 136