Chapter 10 Test Study Notes Flashcards
Why is some water salty?
The reason why some water is salty is because the concentration of dissolved salts in ocean water averages 3.5 percent.
Why is some water fresh?
The reason why some water is fresh is because it contains dissolved salts, but in amounts of less than 1 percent.
What does salinity refer to?
Salinity refers to how much salt is dissolved in water.
Where is the groundwater zone?
This freshwater storage zone exists in all soils, but the depth differs from region to region.
What’s a water table?
The upper surface of the groundwater zone is called the water table.
What’s an aquifer?
An aquifer are rocks and soil layers in the ground which exist in such a way that allows large amounts of water to collect within them naturally.
What are wells?
Most rural homes and small farms drill and use wells, which are long, hollow shafts, down into aquifers to obtain fresh water.
What’s an ice sheet?
An ice sheet is a particularly large glacier that covers the land. Only two of these huge glaciers exist on Earth, one in Greenland and one in Antarctica.
What’s a polar icecap used to refer to?
The term polar icecap is sometimes used to refer to the big ice masses at the poles.
What’s a watershed?
A watershed is an area of land where all the water eventually drains into one main water body, such as a stream, river, wetland, lake, or ocean. Activities that affect water in one part of the watershed therefore have an effect downstream in the watershed.
What’s heat capacity and what does it refer to?
Heat capacity refers to the ability of a material to absorb heat. When testing a material’s heat capacity, scientists measure how long the material takes to heat up (absorb heat) and cool down (release heat).
What are the three states of water?
Liquid, solid, gas.
Where is liquid water found?
Liquid water is found both above and below the ground.
What’s surface water and how is it collected?
Surface freshwater is the water in rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands (such as marshes and swamps). In many communities, fresh water is also collected in human-made reservoirs such as artificial lakes and water towers. Precipitation (such as rain and snow) helps keep these water bodies filled.
How is water collected underground naturally?
Underground water is called groundwater. As rainwater falls, it soaks into the soil and flows down between the soil particles. Slowly it continues draining downward through more soil and rocks until it reaches a layer that is difficult to permeate (meaning pass through). The upper surface of the groundwater zone is called the water table.
What’s solid water?
All of the solid (frozen) water on Earth is freshwater. Ocean water can freeze, but salt water requires a lower temperature than freshwater does to become ice. In Earth’s polar regions and on the tops of its high mountains, most fresh water exists in a solid state of ice and snow.
What are mountain glaciers?
In many mountain regions, temperatures are below freezing much of the year and the snow that falls never gets a chance to melt. A glacier is a mass of ice and overlying snow that moves slowly down a mountain slope under the influence of gravity.
What are ice shelves?
An ice sheet forms in the same way as a mountain glacier does, but on a much larger scale. The floating ice is called an ice shelf. Large sections of an ice shelf that break off are called icebergs. As they float, icebergs change shape, and roll over, eventually melting.
What’s gaseous water?
Water also exists in a gaseous state in the atmosphere. When liquid water evaporates from oceans, lakes, and rivers, it forms water vapor. You cannot see water vapor, but you can feel it as humidity in the air. As water vapor is carried upwards into the atmosphere, it becomes colder and condenses into droplets of water that form clouds. Plants and animals also put water vapor into the atmosphere.
What is transpiration?
Transpiration is the process of water evaporation from plant leaves. Animals also exchange water vapor during respiration (breathing).
What’s the cycling nature of water?
The water on Earth is always changing its state. Figure 10.13 shows the processes by which water changes state as it moves from Earth’s surface into the atmosphere and back to Earth again. This non-stop circulation is called the water cycle. The Sun provides the thermal energy that drives the whole cycle.
What are watersheds and how do they work?
We all live in an area that is part of a water drainage basin known as a watershed. If you put your boat in a river in Jasper, Alberta, it would end up in the Arctic Ocean. Many smaller watersheds connect to other larger watersheds and finally empty into an ocean. As water cannot flow uphill, high points in the land such as mountain ridges create natural “divides.” Mountain chains or especially long areas of high land mark the boundaries of major watersheds on the continents. For example, the Rocky Mountains act as a divide and are often referred to as the Great or Continental Divide. If you are west of the Rockies, much of the water flows to the Pacific Ocean. If you are on the east side, it flows to the other main watersheds.
How does water moderate air temperature?
As you may recall from previous studies, Earth is surrounded by an atmosphere made up of a mixture of gasses, including water vapor. This atmospheric layer extends for many kilometers above the planet. Heat from the sun passes through the atmosphere, reaching Earth’s surface. The amount of energy absorbed at any location depends on what is at the surface.
How does land and water absorb heat from the Sun?
The land absorbs heat from the Sun more quickly than the water does. The air over the land becomes warmer as some of this absorbed heat is radiated back into the air. The warmer air begins to rise, and the cooler air over the water moves in to take its place.
As the Sun goes down, the land cools off quickly, but the water does not. The water radiates some of its stored heat into the air, and this warmed air begins to rise. The cooled air over the land moves in to take the place of the rising warm air over the water.