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geology final exam Flashcards

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1
Q

What fraction of Earth’s water resources are represented by groundwater?

A

~0.6% of all water, 30.8 % of fresh water

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2
Q

How much of the freshwater available is groundwater?

A

~30.8%

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3
Q

What are two factors that determine how much water can be stored in Earth and how much can move through Earth? Define them.

A

Porosity: amount of void space that water can store
Permeability: ability of a fluid to move through pores

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4
Q

What are the best earth materials for storing and moving groundwater?

A

Alluvial materials: gravels, sands

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5
Q

How does water enter the groundwater system?

A

Permeable layers

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6
Q

What’s the water table?

A

The top surface of the saturated zone in the subsurface.

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7
Q

What do the following terms mean: aquifer, aquitard, and aquiclude?

A

aquifer: transmits fluid readily/easily
aquitard: hold water, do not readily transmit water (ex: clay, shales, etc.)
aquiclude: does not allow water to pass through.

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8
Q

What makes a good aquifer?

A

Permeability, connectivity of pore spaces (pathway for fluid to travel)

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9
Q

Confined vs unconfined aquifers

A

Unconfined: open to the surface
Confined: confining layer above the aquifer that does not allow it to be open to the surface.

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10
Q

Describe what a well is:

A

Tube in a borehole with a screen opening to the subsurface

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11
Q

Describe artesian wells…why do they exist?

A

Areas where groundwater is under pressure. This can often happen to confined aquifers.

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12
Q

What does a hydrogeologist mean by “head”? What are the two components of that measurement?

A

Elevation + Water pressure = capacity for water flow

where elevation is height above sea level, and water pressure is how high up the water is pushing toward the surface.

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13
Q

How and why does a “cone of depression” form on the water table?

A

pumping; removing the water from the system

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14
Q

Describe the most typical sources of groundwater contamination:

A

industrial (leaking tanks), agricultural (fertilizers), and municipal (waste dumps) environments, stormwater

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15
Q

How much of Earth’s water is easily accessible freshwater?

A

~0.3%

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16
Q

What causes the effects of natural water shortages to be multiplied?

A

1) Slow recharge/recovery rate, 2) economic disadvantages

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17
Q

Water has a special property that causes one side of the molecule to have a negative charge and the other to be positive. What is this property called?

A

polarity

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18
Q

What does polarity allow water to do?

A

form bonds, “universal solvent”

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19
Q

What are three additional special properties of water?

A

high specific heat (hard to heat up and cool down); lower density as a solid (ice floats); and it exists in all 3 phases regularly.

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20
Q

The hydrologic cycle is powered by the ____.

A

sun

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21
Q

What are the two major fluxes in the hydrologic cycle?

A

precipitation and evaporation.

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22
Q

What are the four factors that cause the cycle to vary in its flux from place to place?

A

latitude, elevation, climate (winds), and seasonal changes

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23
Q

Contrast “withdrawn water” with “consumed water”

A

withdrawn water: total water withdrawn from source (not necessarily water lost)
consumed water: total water withdrawn from source and not returned (water lost)

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24
Q

What two sectors use the most water on the planet?

A

industrial and agriculture

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25
For each of these two sectors, give examples of products that consume the most water.
automobiles and beef
26
Domestically, what uses the highest proportion of water on a daily basis? Second highest?
Toilets; showers; then faucets
27
Water is not evenly distributed around the world. What factors influence the supply of water in a place?
weather, surface geology, subsurface geology.
28
The impacts of water shortages can be immense. What are four impacts that are commonly seen around the world?
economic loss, famine, refugees, and wars
29
Where is most of Earth's freshwater held, and how much is held there?
Glaciers/permanent snow: ~68.9% of freshwater, actual amount ~24,000,000 km cubed
30
How much is held by lakes and streams?
0.3% or ~100,000 km cubed
31
Discharge of the Nile vs the Amazon and why they differ?
2,830 meters cubed/second vs 209,000 meters cubed/second. Basin size and average precipitation causes differences in discharge amounts.
32
What is a drainage basin and divide? Given an example.
drainage basin: the land area drained by a stream and its tributaries divide: the boundary (ridge) separating one drainage basin from another. One example is the Rocky mountains.
33
Streams have a beginning called the ____, and an end called the _____. Eventually they all reach the lowest level to which they can flow, called the _____.
headwaters; mouth; and base level (ocean)
34
A stream profile shows the elevation of a stream along its course. Why does profile matter?
Slope affects velocity. Velocity controls competence (ability to carry sediment)
35
In headwaters of a stream, what is the dominant process?
Erosion/transport
36
Downstream, when gradients are reduced, what happens to the sediment in a stream?
Deposits
37
What are two typical shapes of streams in low gradient areas?
Braided (tons of multiple smaller streams within each other) and meandering (back and forth curves: lab stream) streams
38
What happens to a stream when base level rises or increase? When it lowers or decreases?
Streams aggrade (grow) in response to base level rises. Streams degrade (cut down) in response to base level rise base level declines.
39
What is a floodplain?
broad, flat valley floor covered in sediment from floods.
40
What are two reasons why floods occur?
precipitation, low elevation. lack of vegetation, law of infiltration (runoff)
41
What is an artificial levee?
Structure built above the floodplain to retain flood waters.
42
Describe how artificial levees attempt to control flooding.
Increasing the volume the channel can hold (adding height to the sides of the channel so that water would have to reach higher levels before flooding.)
43
How do artificial levees result in more flooding of certain areas?
failures, changes to water flow upstream
44
Create a list of pros and cons involving levees and channelization of rivers.
pros: can prevent flooding, can create controlled floodplains for new areas of agriculture, and urban development. cons: affect stream mechanics, decrease recharge, create new flood risks, and change sediment transport.
45
What are two advantages of dams in the Tennessee Valley?
hydroelectric power and flood protection
46
What are two disadvantages of dams?
changes ecosystems and changes sediment transport
47
What % of large rivers worldwide are dammed?
~50%
48
What can we do to keep people from building in a floodplain?
show them where it is, increase rates to live there, regulate the area.
49
What is a 100-year flood?
Floods with a 1% chance to occur in a given year.
50
What are some solutions to urban flooding, like that we experience in Third Creek? Is UT doing anything about it?
Redirect stormwater, more green space, more permeable pavement, "green roofs" (vegetation), "rain gardens" UT redirects stormwater.
51
What are 5 benefits to society of surface water systems?
Industry, Ag, Domestic, Recreation, Nature, Municipal
52
Where do we get our drinking water in Knoxville?
The Tennesse River
53
Who manages the drinking water in Knoxville?
KUB (Knoxville Utilities Board)
54
What are the four main steps to getting clean drinking water to your tap?
Coagulation and flocculation: chemicals with + charge are added to water to bind with - charged pollutants and form larger particles called flocs sedimentation: flocs settle out; water clears filtration: clear water is passed through filters disinfection: a disinfectant (chlorine, chloramine) added to kill anything remaining; water is pumped away, stored, and distributed.
55
What are three reasons why people choose bottled water?
taste, substitute for other beverages, or concerns for tap water safety.
56
What are two issues regarding the source of bottled water?
resources are in arid locations where there are issues with drought and recharge
57
What % of bottled water is tap water?
~45% of bottled water is tap water. The other 55% is spring or mountain water.
58
What act protects the source waters for the nation?
Clean Water Act
59
What agency sets standards for drinking water quality?
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
60
What act gives the Federal government the right to protect drinking water specifically?
The Safe Drinking Water Act.
61
Who oversees bottled water safety and truthfullness?
The Federal Drug Administration (FDA)
62
How do scientists classify water pollution? What are the three factors to consider?
Composition: what is it made of and what are its properties. Source: where did it come from Fate: where does it end up
63
Why is water so easily polluted?
Most pollutants find their way into natural waters (surface and groundwaters); inevitable given dissolving power of water, and its tendency to flow downhill
64
Describe the difference between point and non-point sources of pollution. Give examples of each.
Point sources: any contamination that enters the environment from an easily identifiable and controlled place such as industrial discharges (sewers) Non-point sources: harder to identify and harder to address; nutrients, urban runoff, animal waste, and silt from agriculture.
65
What are two unintended consequences of pumping too much groundwater?
Saltwater intrusion and subsidence (land decreases in height - think power pole with dates on it from ppt)
66
How and why does a "cone of depression" form on the water table?
Pumping a well creates an artificial force on groundwater; if faster than recharge, a cone of depression is created.
67
Where is the majority of waste produced?
more developed countries
68
What is included in the "solid waste" category?
municipal solid waste, construction waste, and special waste; waste from mining, industry, and agriculture.
69
What is municipal solid waste?
the trash put out for the garbage collectors.
70
What are some traditional waste management options?
burn (incineration): converts into particulates and gas; sends most into atmosphere Storing the waste: dumps, impoundments, and sanitary landfills Disposal: injecting or burial deep underground
71
What is the goal of incineration?
volume reduction
72
What is resource recovery?
Using waste as an input material to create valuable products as new outputs
73
What are the challenges with incineration?
Ash disposal and the concentration of hazardous materials such as heavy metals and dioxin
74
Distinguish between open dumps and sanitary landfills:
open dumps: first approach to waste concentration; still a common form of waste disposal and create a variety of environmental problems. Sanitary landfills: closed dumps constructed to control possible effluents.
75
What are the two main effluents from sanitary landfills that must be controlled?
leachate and methane
76
Disposal of waste deep underground is an alternative to putting them in landfills or water supplies. What are the concerns?
potential groundwater contamination, earthquake generation, and adequate monitoring
77
Oceans are a vast area that can absorb a lot of waste. What's the problem with dumping waste in the ocean today? Where does a lot of the garbage end up?
cumulative effects of long-term pollution were ignored; most garbage ends up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
78
What is the connection between e-waste and jobs in less developed countries?
Some less developed countries will import garbage from more developed countries to generate jobs and revenue
79
What are the challenges for laborers processing e-waste in less developed countries?
long term health hazards
80
What are the 5 levels of the "waste management hierarchy?"
source reduction; reuse products; recovery and recycling; waste treatment and incineration; and storage/disposal
81
What is the most beneficial type of waste management, and how do we achieve that?
reducing consumption of non-degradable materials; use alternative methods and products (substitution), change manufacturing processes to eliminate waste, and consume less.
82
Distinguish between close loop and open loop recycling and give examples of materials appropriate for each:
closed loop: material can be recycled back into itself (metals, batteries, computers, glass) open loop: materials must be downcycled into a lower grade (paper, plastic)
83
What is the economic issue with recycling paper?
Subsidies to logging companies make virgin timber cheaper than recycled paper.
84
Describe challenges and benefits of recycling glass and alluminum:
only takes 1/3 of the energy to make new bottles from recycled glass, the material is cheap and raw; however, there are high transportation costs. recycling aluminum saves vast amounts of energy because of the energy intensive process required for raw bauxite to be mined and made into pure aluminum (saves energy)
85
Plastic waste is becoming a larger and larger problem. Describe what plastic is and where it comes from?
Plastic is the name for a wide variety of synthetic material that exhibits similar characteristics; they are polymers (compounds linked together to form long chains), plus plasticizer additives for flexibility; plastics are also organic compounds as they are made from coal, tar, natural gas, and petroleum byproducts.
86
What are the challenges with recycling plastic waste?
Open loop system: difficulty with getting different types of plastic to mix together, each type of plastic has different polymer molecules and additives that may have issues being compatible with each other; recyclers have to sort the plastic which adds costs, energy, and time.
87
What do the numbers mean on recylable plastic containers? Which are the most difficult to recycle?
The Plastic Code System: numbers are higher for those plastics more difficult to recycle (more energy input to recycle them)
88
What is a viable way to deal with organic waste, so it doesn't end up in a landfill producing methane?
Composting; breakdown of organic wastes by soil microorganisms
89
Where does your campus food waste go?
It goes to the Industrial Composting Facility on campus.

Geography Final (11 decks)

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