Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or relating to rain; rainy.
  • adjective Marked or formed by abundant rainfall.
  • noun An extended period of abundant rainfall, especially such a period of the Pleistocene Epoch.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Rainy; humid: relating to rain; also, very rainy; characterized by great or extensive rainfall
  • In geology, depending on or arising from the action of rain.
  • noun Eccles., a cope: so called from its use in outdoor processions, etc., as a protection from the weather.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A priest's cope.
  • adjective rare Of or pertaining to rain; rainy.
  • adjective (Geol.) Produced by the action of rain.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of, pertaining to, or produced by rain
  • adjective geology occurring through the action of rain
  • noun geology a rainy period

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin pluviālis, from pluvia, rain; see pluvious.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin pluviālis ("rainy").

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Examples

  • The Quaternary period – which covers most of the recent period of vacillation between ice ages and pluvial ages – is the exception rather than the rule.

    Wonk Room » Stumped By Science: Michele Bachmann Calls CO2 ‘Harmless,’ ‘Negligible,’ ‘Necessary,’ ‘Natural’ 2009

  • The northern parts of the hotspot in Ecuador and the Colombian Chocó are characterized by extremely wet or pluvial forests that receive eight meters of annual rainfall and have a diversity per hectare of as many as 300 tree species.

    Biological diversity in Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena 2008

  • Two principal life zones on the island are defined by Holdridge: very humid tropical forest and the same with a transition to pluvial forest.

    Coiba National Park and its Special Zone of Marine Protection, Panama 2009

  • They demonstrated that most rivers are very sensitive to temperature rises on the order of 1 to 3 ºC, and that nival (snow-dominated) rivers become less stable while pluvial (rain-dominated) rivers become more stable.

    Terrestrial Water Balance in the Arctic 2009

  • It is also one of the few places in the Neotropics with pluvial rainforest.

    Chocó-Darién moist forests 2007

  • The Mojave Playas are generally smaller in area than the Lahontan and Tonopah Playas (13h) and are not part of the broad Pleistocene pluvial basins that are found in the Central Basin and Range (13) to the north.

    Ecoregions of Nevada (EPA) 2009

  • Overall, a warmer climate is very likely to lead to a shift toward a more pluvial runoff regime as a greater proportion of the annual precipitation falls as rain rather than snow; the magnitude of the peak of spring snowmelt declines; thawing permafrost increases near-surface storage and reduces runoff peaks; and a more active groundwater system augments base flows.

    Effects of climate change on general hydro-ecology in the Arctic 2009

  • A probable shift to a more pluvial system with smaller and less intense freshet and ice breakup is very likely to decrease the frequency and magnitude of natural disturbances, and reduce the ability of flow systems to replenish riparian ecosystems, particularly river deltas.

    Key findings, science gaps, and recommendations for freshwater ecosystems in the ACIA 2009

  • From Ribera, the following vegetation classifications were lumped under yungas: mountain rim yungas (Ceja de Monte en Yungas), humid montane yunga forests (Bosque húmedo montañoso de Yungas), and subandian pluvial forests (Bosque pluvial subandino).

    Bolivian Yungas 2008

  • The following perennial tropical forest latifoliate elements were combined: low altitude pluvial, submontane pluvial, montane pluvial, typical cloud, low cloud over serpentine, low altitude evergreen mesophile, submontane evergreen mesophile, and coastal microphile.

    Cuban moist forests 2008

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