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
What is the zone of saturation? What is the top of the zone of saturation called?
A layer of saturated porous rock. The top of it is called the watertable
What impacts the water table?
Weather
How is a well made?
By digging deep enough to find the watertable
What is ground water that flows to the surface called? How a re springs formed
A spring, a spring is formed when land drops significantly
How to hot water springs occur?
When the ground water comes in contact with molten material.
Bog
Wet, spongy ground with soil composed mainly of decayed vegetable matter
Marsh
A tract of low wetland, often treeless and periodically inundated, generally characterized by growth of grasses, sedges, cattails and rushes
Swamp
A tract of wet spongy land often having growth of certain types of trees and other vegetation, but unfit for cultivation
Fen
Lowland covered wholly or partially with water
Slough
an area soft, muddy ground
How do wetlands develop?
When lakes fill in from sediment brought to them by rivers and then deposited into the still waters. As sand and gravel settle the lake becomes shallower. Vegetation grows.
Why can wetlands not be ‘used’ be people?
The water is not drinkable nore is it fit for cultivation.
What have people normally done to wetlands? Why is this a bad idea?
Drained them or filled them in. This is bad because wetlands are home to many species and naturally filter pollutants out of the water.
Why are towns and cities built by water?
- drinking
- transportation
- food
- fishing
- recreation
- agriculture
- hydro-electricity
- getting rid of treated water
What happens to water than doesn’t run off or get absorbed?
It is evaporated
What is the water cycle?
The never ending cycle of evaporation -> condensation -> precipitation
How much of the suns energy is used in the process of evaporation?
One quarter of the suns energy that reaches earth
Where does most evaporation occur and the most precipitation fall?
The ocean
Where is most of the world’s fresh water found?
In glaciers and ice sheets
How much liquid water is fresh?
0.5% of all the earths water, most of it is ground water
Whats happens when water evaporates?
Salt and toxins are removed
What is acid rain composed of?
sulphuric and nitric acids
What forms of energy do not pollute?
- natural has
- solar power
- wind power
What percent of your body is water?
65%
