chemical hydrology

chemical hydrology

 or hydrochemistry

Subdivision of hydrology that deals with the chemical characteristics of the water on and beneath the surface of the Earth. Water in all forms is affected chemically by the materials with which it comes into contact, and it can dissolve many elements in significant quantities. Chemical hydrology is concerned with the processes involved and thus includes study of phenomena such as the transport of salts from land to sea (by erosion of rocks and surface runoff) and from sea to land (by evaporation, cloud formation, and precipitation) and the age and origin of groundwater in desert regions and of ice sheets and glaciers.