Question

The process of seeping of water into the ground is called _______

Answer 1

Hint: Water in the soil is used by plants in life functions and leaf transpiration, but it also can evaporate directly to the atmosphere. Below the unsaturated zone is a saturated zone where water completely fills the voids between rock and soil particles.

Complete answer:
The process of seeping of water into the ground is called infiltration.
Infiltration is the process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil. It is commonly used in both hydrology and soil sciences. The infiltration capacity is defined as the maximum rate of infiltration. The infiltration capacity decreases as the soil moisture content of soils surface layers increases. If the precipitation rate exceeds the infiltration rate, runoff will usually occur unless there is some physical barrier. Infiltration is caused by multiple factors including; gravity, capillary forces, adsorption and osmosis. Many soil characteristics can also play a role in determining the rate at which infiltration occurs.

Note:
As precipitation infiltrates into the subsurface soil, it generally forms an unsaturated zone and a saturated zone. In the unsaturated zone, the voids—that is, the spaces between grains of gravel, sand, silt, clay, and cracks within rocks—contain both air and water. Although a lot of water can be present in the unsaturated zone, this water cannot be pumped by wells because it is held too tightly by capillary forces. The upper part of the unsaturated zone is the soil-water zone. The soil zone is crisscrossed by roots, openings left by decayed roots, and animal and worm burrows, which allow the precipitation to infiltrate into the soil zone.