Lesson Three Flashcards
How much of the earths surface is covered in water?
70 percent
What is the hydrological cycle?
the exchange of water among reservoirs
What are reservoirs?
are any collection of water, (oceans, lakes, rivers, ground water)
what powers the hydrological cycle?
solar power
What is turnover time?
time required for the entire volume of a particular reservoir to be renewed - this will vary with the reservoir as they replenish at different rates (determined by size and rate of exchange)
How is water spread out in the earth?
97 percent is saltwater, 1 percent is freshwater, and most of the freshwater is trapped within glaciers at 65 percent
what four things that affect water environment?
light, temperature, water movements, and chemical factors (salinity, oxygen)
what is the hydrological cycle?
water evaporates, then condenses into clouds, then it snows or rains when the cloud can no longer hold any more water particles, and the cycle repeats
How does water flow in places of solute concentrations?
Water flows from area of low solute concentrations to high solute concentration
What are the three different turn over rates?
atmosphere about every nine days, river water two to three weeks, and the ocean about three thousand one hundred years
What are the five oceans?
Artic, atlantic, indian, pacific and southern
What do currents do in the ocean?
transports, heat, nutrient, oxygen, and organisms
What are Gyres?
this is a large scale circular oceanic current that moves right (clockwise) in the northern hemisphere and left (counter clockwise) in the southern hemisphere.
What happens when the salt concentration is to high for the organisms salt concentration
the water will leave the body and you become extremely dehydrated however many species have way to fix/contradict this
how do deep water currents occur?
they are produce as cool, high density water sinks at the poles, it moves across the ocean floor and then rises along land masses.
what are the two different types of deep water currents?
upwelling and downwelling
what is the upwelling current?
movement of deeper ocean water to the surface, occurs most commonly in along the west coast of continents and around Antarctica
what are downwelling currents?
movement of surface ocean water towards the bottom, occurs most commonly along the east coasts of continents and in the artic
What are the three horizontal zones in the oceans?
littoral or intertidal zone, neritic zone and the oceanic zone
how can oceans be divided?
by horizontal and vertical zones
what is the littoral or intertidal zones?
shallow shoreline affected by tides
what is the neritic zone?
from the coast to the margin of the continental shelf
what is the oceanic zone?
beyond the netritic
what are the five vertical zones?
epipelagic (surface to 200), mesopelagic (200-1000), bathypelagic (1000 - 4000) abyssal (4000 - 6000) and the hadal which is the deepest part of the ocean
What are the two habitat zones?
pelagic (habitat above bottom) and benthic (bottom habitats)
Photic zone
The upper layers of an ocean or lake which there is enough light to support photosynthesis (around 10m) this is where you find kelp forests and coral reefs
what is chemosynthesis and who uses it?
a biological process that uses chemical energy to create food, the organisms that use this are the ones that cannot photosynthesis due to lack of sun
What is endemic?
naturally occuring in only a single geographical region (you wont see it any where else)
what are thermoclines?
a layer of water through which temperature changes rapidly with depth (warm water is less dense that cold water)
what is thermal stratification?
the layering of the water column by temperature
what are estuaries?
these are areas in which freshwater (rivers) transition into oceans
what is a river basin?
is an area of a continent or island that is drained by a river drainage network
What are the three segments you find in the river?
Pool - deeper segments, longer water residence time and slow flow. Riffle - shallower segments, short water residence time, and fast flow. Run - intermeddle depth segment, connects riffles, and pools.
What is a riparian zone?
a transition between the aquatic environment of a river and the upland terrestrial community
what is the hyporheic zone?
the area below the benthic zone in which surface water meets ground water
what is the phreatic zone?
this is the area below the hyporheic zone, this is the zone that contains the ground water
what is the wetted channel and the active channel?
the wetted zone always contains water usually the centre of the river and the active zone may only contain water during high flow
what is river discharge?
a measure of the water carried by the river
what is flood pulse concept?
a theory of river ecology that identifies periodic flooding of an essential organizer of river ecosystem structure and functioning
what is the river continuum concept?
a model that predicts a change in physical structure, dominant organisms and the ecosystem processes along the length of the temperate rivers.
what is the limnetic zone?
open lake
what is the epilimnion?
warm, well lighted surface layer
what is metalimnion
zone in which temperature rapidly decreases and water density increases, thermocline (intermediate layer)
what is the hypolimnion?
the deepest layer below the epilimnion and thermocline
what is eutrophic?
lakes or ecosystems with high nutrient content and high biological production
what is dystrophic?
contains brown, acidic water with low productivity and generally low oxygen
oligotrophic?
lakes with low nutrient content, abundant oxygen and low primary production
what are the two types of peatlands
bogs and ferns
what is peat?
consists of partially decomposed plant material that builds up in poorly drained wetland habitats
what is the difference between bogs and fens?
Bogs are found in depressions in the landscape. precipitation is the only source of water into this system, they are also always acidic. Fens receive their water from groundwater or surface water.
hypoxia vs anoxia
anoxia refers to the complete lack of oxygen delivery to an organism. Hypoxia refers to when an organ experiences an insufficient oxygen delivery
