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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | |
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First Edition Preface Second Edition Preface Acknowledgments
Section G G index 271-279 of 425 terms
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gravitational head—The potential energy per unit weight of fluid due to its elevation above an arbitrary datum.
gravitational instability—Same as buoyant instability.
gravitational potential energy—The potential energy a body has by virtue of its position in the gravitational field of other bodies. See gravitation, potential energy.
gravitational potential—The negative of the gravitational potential energy per unit mass. The gradient of the gravitational potential is the gravitational field. See gravitation; compare geopotential.
gravitational stability—See buoyant instability.
gravitational tide—An atmospheric tide due to gravitational attraction of the sun or moon. The semidiurnal solar atmospheric tide is partly gravitational; the semidiurnal lunar atmospheric tide is totally gravitational. See thermal tide, tide-producing force.
gravitational water—Water in the larger, noncapillary pores of the soil that is free to drain because there is insufficient tension to hold the water against the force of gravity; it generally flows from the soil in the first 24 hours following its appearance in the soil profile. See also detention storage, field capacity, retention storage.
gravitational wave—Same as gravity wave.
gravity correction—See barometric corrections.
gravity current—A flow driven by horizontal pressure gradients, due typically to the flow of a fluid of one density intruding into an ambient fluid of different density. In nonrotating fluid, the head of the current travels with uniform horizontal speed in which g′ is the reduced gravity, H is the current depth, and C is a constant of order unity. Sea breezes, landslides, and some instances of cold water formation are common manifestations of gravity currents in geophysical circumstances.
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