GC: n

CT: Percolation is the movement of water though the soil, and it’s layers, by gravity and capillary forces. The prime moving force of groundwater is gravity. Water that is in the zone of aeration where air exists is called vadose water. Water that is in the zone of saturation is called groundwater. For all practical purposes, all groundwater originates as surface water. Once underground, the water is moved by gravity. The boundary that separates the vadose and the saturation zones is called the water table. Usually the direction of water movement is changed from downward and a horizontal component to the movement is added that is based on the geologic boundary conditions.

S: http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/info/water_cycle/hydrology.cgi (last access: 27 February 2015)

N: 1. 1610s, from Latin percolationem (nominative percolatio), noun of action from past participle stem of percolare “to strain through, filter,” from per- “through” + colare “to strain,” from colum “a strainer” (see colander).
2. Downward motion of water through the soil or a snow layer.
3. Percolation does not include “flow in large openings such as caves”.
4. The word “infiltration” means that the water moves into a substance (ground) under the influence of gravity whereas the word “percolation” means that the water flows through a porous substance.
5. In the fields of Hydrology and Hydrography, the loss of water by infiltration into the soil from a canal or other body of water is called “seepage” or “loss by percolation”. French equivalent: perte par infiltration. Spanish equivalengt: pérdidas por infiltración.
6. In the fields of Hydrology and Hydrography, the escape of water downward through the soil or the water emerging from a rock or the ground along a line or surface is also called “seepage”. French equivalent: suintement. Spanish equivalent: rezume (from verb rezumar).
7. In the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Computer Programs and Programming, “percolation” is, in error recovery, the passing of control from a recovery routine to a higher-level recovery routine along a pre-established path.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=percolation&searchmode=none (last access: 27 February 2015). 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7. TERMIUMPLUS; FCB.

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CR: renewable energy, leaching.