Chapter 10: A World of Water Flashcards
What does mean that water is a closed system?
Water doesn’t leave or enter the system
What surfaces can water not go into?
Water surfaces can it?
Impermeable surfaces
Porous surfaces
Run- off
What happens when the when water hits an impermeable surface, or when there is a heavy rain fall and the ground doesn’t have time to soak it up.
Why would run-off travel far?
Because of streams and rivers.
What direction does water move
downhill
Where do rivers begin?
On mountains and steep slopes moving fast and down to create valleys
Where does water end up? Why?
In a lake or ocean because they are the lowest point of elevation.
How do fast moving rivers flow? How do slow moving rivers travel?
Fast moving rivers in a straight line, slow moving rivers make an S shape
How is stuff carried in a river?
A fast moving river picks stuff up while a slow moving river deposits it.
What is a flood plain?
Bordering a river or stream, a generally flat area of land that is naturally subject to flooding; made up largely of soil deposits from the flood.
Why are flood plains important?
They make fertile land for farming
Why are flood plains dangerous?
During flooding season they can destroy buildings and there inhabitants if they don’t clear out in time
Give 3 ways floods can be caused
Meltwater
Removing natural vegetation
Heavy rainfall
Change of streams
What is melt water?
Snow that melts
Give two ways people can increase floods
Give two ways people can decrease floods
Plant trees
>Sand bag
>Create places for the water to go ex. the red river flood way
>Leeve (pretty much the same thing as the above)
What provides a river with it’s water?
Drainage Basin
What is a basin formed in a crest hill or mountain called?
A drainage divide
How many drainage basins are there in north america? What are they called? What major body of water does their water drain into?
5
Pacific, Arctic, Hudson Bay, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico
Pacific Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Hudson Bay, Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico
What is mean discharge? What is it measured in?
The average volume of water flowing from a river into an ocean. It is measured in m3/s
What bad stuff can get carried down stream?
Fertilizers, pesticides, vegetation/soil, waste chemicals, garbage
What is precipitation?
Rain and Snow
What happens to most precipitation?
It sink into the ground through pores and cracks
When does water become ground water?
When it reaches impermeable rock.
What is an aquifer?
An area of porous rock with a water system flowing through it
