Hydrosphere Flashcards
Infiltration
Vertical movement of water on land
Aquifer
Zone of saturated soil
Top of aquifer/saturated zone
Water table
Recharge area
Area from which an aquifer receives its water
Groundwater discharge
Points at which groundwater resurfaces (springs)
Runoff
Water moves horizontally along land
Gravity moves runoff towards the nearest
Surface water
Drainage basin/watershed
Area from which surface waters derive surface runoff and groundwater flows
Continental divide divides country into two
Drainage basins
Main source of freshwater for humans
Surface runoff
Reservoirs
Water that backs up behind dams
Confined aquifer
Groundwater that accumulates between two impermeable layers
Artesian well
Groundwater comes to surface naturally through confined aquifer pressure
Unconfined aquifers
Water is between an impermeable layer and a permeable layer
Cone of depression
Water table drops around a well because groundwater recharge moves slowly
Water diversion
Movement if water from surface water or groundwater over some distance to its point of use
Desalinization
Produces freshwater by removing salt from saltwater and brackish waters
Thermal desalting
Seawater is boiled or evaporated and steam is drawn off as pure water
Membrane separation
Physically separates salt from water by pushing saltwater through thin filters that do not let minerals pass
Waterworks
Human systems for supplying water
Off stream uses
Water that is withdrawn from surface water or groundwater
Withdrawals
Water is removed from its source
Discharge
Water returned after use at or near its source
Consumption
Difference between quantity of water withdrawn and quantity discharged
Largest use of water worldwide
Agriculture
Largest single use of water in US
Thermal electric power
Instream uses
Water is not diverted or withdrawn from surface waters or groundwater
Hydroelectric energy
Produced by force of falling water
Water pollution
Purposeful or accidental addition of materials that contaminate water
Absolute water scarcity
Ratio of annual water availability to population
Aral Sea
Due to irrigation, volume has decreased 75%
Colorado river
Excessively dammed, increased demand for water due to population is lowering water levels
Overdraft
Rate of pumping of an aquifer exceeds rate of recharge
Ogallala aquifer
Subject of overdraft
Subsidence
Surface drops due to desaturated soil particles
Saltwater intrusion
Overdrafts allow saltwater to flow into aquifer pore spaces previously occupied by freshwater
Sewage
Waste and wastewater produced by residential and commercial users that is discharged into sewers
Pathogens
Microorganisms that cause disease
Fecal coliform count
Measures the number of coliform bacteria per 100 milliliters
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
Measures the amount of oxygen required for aerobic organisms to decompose organic material in wastewater
Heavy metals
Cause cancer, nervous system damage, and birth defects
Minamata disease
Mercury poisoning
Non point pollutants
Nutrients, organic wastes, agricultural chemicals
Sorption
Soil organic carbon can soak up agricultural chemicals
Riparian water rights
Allow a landowner to use a share of the water that flows naturally past his or her property
Prior appropriation doctrine
No one owns water in a stream
Reasonable use doctrine
Allows landowners to pump water for any beneficial use
Rule of absolute ownership
Allows landowners to pump as much water as they want
Privatization
Selling a state owned business to private investors
Drip irrigation
Slow, localized application of water just above the soil surface
Prevents evaporation
Diminishes use of fertilizer
Improves quality of returned water
Clean water act
Improve water quality
Achieve no discharge of pollutants
Primary waste treatment
Removes large solids physically
Screens, settling tanks, filters
Secondary wastewater treatment
Reduces number of pathogens and accelerates decomposition of organic wastes by enhancing the actions of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria
Tertiary wastewater treatment
Separates undecomposed organic from wastewater
Oxygen demanding agents
Organic waste, manure
Organic chemicals
Oil
Pesticides
Detergents
Cholera
Travels through untreated human wastewater
Spread by sharing contaminated water
Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea
1854 cholera outbreak
Spread from India to London by ships transporting contaminated drinking water
Guinea worm disease
3 foot worms in foot
Combustion of coal incinerators
Mercury poisoning
As bacteria and algae die, they are decomposed by
Aerobic bacteria
Bio accumulation
Organic molecules get trapped in fat cells and accumulate
Bio magnification
Chemicals that can be magnified as they pass through the food chain
What is the number one source of water pollution
Sediment pollution
Thermal pollution
Water is withdrawn, used for cooling, and returned to its original source
Septic systems
Wastewater flows into tanks
Particulate organically settle and are digested by bacteria
Water, organic material, and dissolved nutrients flow into a leaching field and percolate into the soil
Soil bacteria decompose the matter
Consolidated
Compacted sediment
Eg sandstone
Unconsolidated
Loose sediment
Eg sand
Porosity
Proportion of material that is made up of spaces
Well sorted means
Higher porosity
Poorly sorted means
Low porosity
Permeability
Capacity of water to flow through earth materials
Water table follows
Topography
Wetlands form when
Several small springs distribute water over a region underlain by a low permeability material such as clay or shale
High plains aquifer
Produces more water than any other groundwater source in the nation
Sand and gravel with some underlying sandstone
Open aquifer
Partially recharged by rain and snowmelt
Bangladesh
Widespread groundwater contamination by arsenic
Ubar
Water resources depleted, limestone shelf cracked, city caved in
Largest use of water worldwide
Irrigation
Estuaries
Provide ecosystems in bays and rivers, where fresh river water mixes with seawater
Sinkhole
Underground cavern is drained of its supporting groundwater and suddenly collapsed
Saltwater intrusion
Lowering water table lowers pressure allowing saltwater to flow into aquifer and wells
Surge flow
Uses computers to control release of water
Xeriscaping
Planting plants that don’t require watering
Gray water
Slightly dirty water from sinks
riparian zones
areas of transition between aquatic and upland ecosystems
streams, rivers, bogs, lakes
bank stabilisation
roots of vegetation hold soil in place, improving stream bank stability
tree roots are most effective
forested riparian zones have wider streams, grassy ones have narrow and deep ones
course particulate organic matter
food source for bugs
wider and shallower streams have more surface area to support
benthic organisms
best width of buffers
50 ft
woburn case
children diagnosed with lukemia after their mothers drank water from two polluted wells while they were pregnant
dendritic drainage patterns
characteristic of areas where geology is relatively uniform
gradient
slope of a stream
stream discharge
volume of water flowing past a specific point in a given period of time
carrying capacity
maximum sediment the stream can carry
as discharge goes up,
carrying capacity goes up
as discharge drops,
carrying capacity drops
erosion produces
stream load (combination of bed load, suspended load, dissolved load
a stream channel migrates across a flood plain in
the direction of erosion
meanders
broad curves in a stream
levees
raised embankments along a stream channel constructed to protect neighboring lands from rising floodwaters
ramsar convention
treaty intended to preserve and protect more than 321 acres of wetlands around the world
wetland classification
must be saturated with water, have poorly drained soils, and aquatic plants
how do wetlands get their water
precipitation
surface water inflow
ground water inflow
OBL vegetation
plants that occur almost always
bull rush
tera thumb
rice cut grass
FACW vegetation
plants that occur usually
canary grass
FAC vegetation
plants that occur sometimes
honey locust
primary wetlands indicators
inundated watermarks drift lines sediment deposits drainage patterns
secondary wetlands indicators
oxidized root channels
water stained leaves
local soil survey data
FAC neutral test
wetlands soil THING TO REMEMBER THE HORIZONS
Oh An Early Bird Crushed Ralph
clay
smallest particle size
water drains slowly
soil stays wet for long periods of time
silt
intermediate size particles
well drained, holds nutrients
ideal for plant growth
sand
largest size particles
water drains quickly
poor storehouse for nutrients
feels gritty
atomospheric deposition of chemicals is considered
a no point source of pollution
what type of water system is most susceptible to damage
standing water system
turbidity is increased due to
sediment pollution
dark water may impair
photosynthetic activity
hardness
levels of magnesium and calcium ions in the water
BOD will rise in presence of
decomposing organic matter
what temperature of water retains the most DO
cold water
is more light or less light better for higher DO levels
more light because more photosynthesis
does turbulence increase or decrease DO levels
increase because of mixing atmospheric oxygen into the water
mayfly, dobsonfly, and caddisfly larvae are indicative of
excellent water quality
blood worms, leeches, and pouch snails are indicative of
poor water quality
fecal coliform counts
indicates contamination with human or animal wastes that may contain pathogenic organisms
e coli inhabits
human intestine
oxygen sag curve
illustrates changes that occur in a flowing system where oxygen demanding wastes are added
when BOD increases,
DO decreases
greatest pollutant by volume in aquatic systems
sediment pollution
causes of erosion
mining, deforestation, overgrazing, and agriculture
sediment increases
turbidity
impairs photosynthesis
waterborne diseases include
typhoid, cholera, hepatitis A, polio,schistosomaisis
a body of water low in nutrients is called
oligotrophic
body of water high in nutrients is called
eutrophic
eutrophication
process of a body of water proceeding from nutrient poor state to eutrophic state
cultural eutrophication
humans exacerbate the rate at which the water becomes eutrophic
caused by excess nutrients from fertilizer runoff or sewage
algal blooms increase
BOD and decrease DO
red tide
proliferation of certain species of dinoflagellates
toxin is an irritant to human eyes and respiratory systems
inorganic pollutants include
metals, acids, bases, salts
heavy metals include
mercury, lead, tin, cadmium
heavy metals tend to
bioaccumulate and biomagnify
heavy metals come from
mining, mine waste, smelting
mercury is added to atmosphere by
coal combustion
nonmetallic salts are dangerous because
they are solluable in water
synthetic organic chemicals include
DDT, dioxins, PCBs
what kind of rocks can buffer acids in ecosystems
limestone and other carbonate rocks
hotter water decreases
DO
what happens when humans remove existing vegetation from around a body of water
water warms
half of US drinking water is derived from
groundwater
effect of nitrates on humans
impairs blood’s ability to carry oxygen
superfund act
cleanup of hazardous waste sites
activated sludge process
mixes effluent from primary treatment with bacteria and oxygen to promote decomposition of wastes
tertairy treatement
running water through a wetland to remove nutrients
which two wastewater treatment stages are biological
II and III
nitrates are
inorganic pollutants
oxygen demanding agents are
organic waste
inorganic plant nutrients
nitrogen and phosphorus
water soluable inorganic chemicals
acids, toxic metals
organic chemicals
oil, pesticides, detergents
waterborne bacteria
e coli
explosive emissons
waterborne protozoans
giardia
explosive emmisions
waterborne human viruses
hep A
hep E
rotavirus
norwalk virus
sources of organic matter
bogs, swamps, leaf fall, vegetation,
pulp mills, meat packing plants, wastewater treatment plants,
agricultural and urban runoff
many metals are
released from rocks when weathered
lead poisoning
causes miscairrages, learning disabilities
nonmetalic salts
selenium and arsenic
soluable salts in desert soils
limestone areas are buffered from acidity because
it is basic in nature
as bacteria and algae die, they are decomposed by
aerobic bacteria
septic systems
wastewater flows into tanks , where particulate organics settle and are digested by bacteria
sorption
contaminants bind to soil particles
wetland soils have low
hydraulic conductivity
