Lesson 5

Question 1

Hydrology

Answer 1

• Hydrology is the science that looks at understanding, describing, and predicting how water moves through the landscape and through the atmosphere.

Question 2

Headwaters

Answer 2

• Source of where water comes from

- Many rivers’ headwaters are from mountains

Question 3

Gradients

Answer 3

• Slopes of rivers

- The gradient is steep near the headwaters in the mountains

Question 4

Water Towers

Answer 4

• Water towers are essentially large, elevated tanks of fresh water.
- Mountains are sometimes referred to a water towers of the world

Question 5

Watershed

Answer 5

• The land that drains into a common water body is called a watershed.
- Watersheds slow runoff during precipitation events, regulate the release of water and also play a crucial role in cleaning and filtering our water supplies

Question 6

Inflitration

Answer 6

• The soils in a watershed act as a sponge soaking up precipitation in a process called infiltration

Question 7

Frontal Rainfall

Answer 7

o There can be frontal rainfall where low pressure systems move in from elsewhere and are forced to travel over the mountains
- Can last a very long time

Question 8

Convective Storms

Answer 8

o These storms tend to form in afternoons and evenings from strong daytime heating on the landscape which causes evaporation, and eventually condensation as the water vapour rises and cools.
- Much shorter in duration

Question 9

Temperature Profile

Answer 9

• Usually when talking about snow, and the temperature of the ground it falls on
• The temperature profile of the snow pack is an important consideration when thinking about run off into streams and rivers.

Question 10

Albedo

Answer 10

snow generally has a high albedo, which is a measure of the reflectivity of its surface.

Question 11

Positive Feedback

Answer 11

o Positive feedback is a scientific concept that describes a cycle where one event causes another event to occur. With the second one reinforcing the first, causing it to become greater, and so on and so on.

Question 12

Airbourne Particulate

Answer 12

 Airborne particulate, including soil, dust, smoke, and organic material, which falls with the snow is exposed and increasingly concentrated as snow melts. This particulate matter makes the snow up here sooty. Darker snow is less reflective and so more heat from the sun is absorbed, further warming the snowpack.

Question 13

Rock Flour

Answer 13

the large amount of rock flour or very fine sediment that’s formed by the grinding actions of glaciers as the move over the rocky bed surface, which is incorporated into the runoff, may also influence which species live in glacier fed streams and rivers.

Question 14

Grounwater

Answer 14

• Groundwater is water that fills the pore spaces and fractures in rocks and sediment.

Question 15

Saturated Zone

Answer 15

The saturated zone is where all available fractures and pore space is filled in the sediment and the rock.

Question 16

Water Table

Answer 16

• On top of the saturated zone is called the water table.

Question 17

Transpiration

Answer 17

The process by which water is taken in by the plants and evaporated out of their leaves and stems.

Question 18

Diurnal

Answer 18

Daily

Question 19

Trunk Valley

Answer 19

o In some mountains, where several glaciers flow off an ice cap in a adjunct vallies, they eventually terminate in the same mean, or trunk valley.

Question 20

End Moraines

Answer 20

As glaciers retreat their melt water can become trapped behind their end moraines, which are large piles of rubble that glaciers bulldoze up as they advance.

Question 21

Glacial Lake Outburst Floods

Answer 21

 If these lakes overflow, or the moraine dam bursts, it can also cause catastrophic flooding downstream. These types of events are known as glacial lake outburst floods.

Question 22

Naludi

Answer 22

• They gave the name Naludi, or Fish Stop, to the Lowell Glacier, because it interrupted salmon migrations when it surged across the river. When the glacial dam eventually broke, its release created a massive flood, washing away everything in its path on its way to the Pacific Ocean.

Question 23

Legacy Pollutants

Answer 23

o Because these contaminants are no longer in use, and have accumulated in glaciers, they are referred to as legacy pollutants.