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417 words used in the labs.

Find a term from the labs, understand the process behind it, and see how it appears in the landscape. Each entry connects an explanation with a real observation and a model you can explore.

Baseflow

The sustained part of river discharge supplied mainly by groundwater and other delayed stores between rainfall events.

What to look for

Groundwater emerges at a karst spring in Alabama. Water stored in connected pores and fractures can return to the surface as spring flow.

A karst spring in Alabama flows over rocks from a wooded limestone slope.
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Explore further with USGS water glossary · USGS volcano glossary · NPS glacial geology · NASA Earth facts. Photograph acknowledgements are collected on the Image credits page.