The Aquatic environment Flashcards
Water is divided into two major rooms based on the quantity of salts: freshwater and saltwater. These are further divided into a variety of systems based on water _____ and ____?
Flow and depth
The ___ ____ links all global water sources together.
Water cycle
Water cycle
The continual process by which water travels from the air to the earth surface and back again
What is the driving force of the water cycle?
Solar radiation
Precipitation
The return of water from the atmosphere to the surface
Interception
The process of water not reaching the soil
Infiltration
Water that reaches the soil surface
What does infiltration rate depend on?
Soil, vegetation, slope, precipitation intensity, etc.
Surface runoff
Occurs when soil’s or saturated and water flows across the soil surface
Some water that saturates the soil seats down until it hits in pervious clear and his collected as what?
Groundwater
Where does surface water evaporate into?
Atmosphere
What causes additional water loss?
Plants
Transpiration
The process of evaporation from plants
Evapotranspiration
The total water evaporation from the ground and plants combined
What percentage does the evapotranspiration account for of the water cycle?
15%
What factors impact plant transpiration?
Temperature, relative humidity, air movement, soil moisture, and type of plant
Because of waters polarity water has a high what?
Specific heat capacity
What is the only molecule on our planet that exist naturally and all three phases?
Water
Specific heat capacity
The amount of energy needed to raise 1 g of water by 1°C
Cohesion
The tendency of a substance to stick to itself, resisting external forces
At the surface, water molecules only interact with the other molecules below, pulling them taught like a balloon. This creates what?
Surface tension
What is also responsible for the viscosity of water?
Cohesion
Viscosity
The force necessary to separate molecules and allow an object to pass through
Because of the high density of water, many objects are subject to what?
Buoyancy(upward forces)
The density of water also profoundly changes the effect of what?
Pressure
And water, pressure increases by one atmosphere every 10 m
Lake stratification
Separation of lakes into three layers
Epilimnion
Top of the lake
Metalimnion
The middle layer (thermocline)
Hypolimnion
Bottom layer
What determines the character and structure of streams?
Water velocity
What is water velocity affected by?
Channel shape, Depth, and roughness of bottom
Water movement shapes both ____ and ______ environments
Freshwater and marine
Oxbow lake
A I-shaped body of water formed from a river cut-off
What are tides driven by
Relationship between the earth and the moon
Intertidal zone
The area between the water lines of low and high tide
Estuary
The region where fresh and saltwater meet
In estuaries is environmental variability high or low?
High Seasonal and daily variations -temperature -water level -water flow -salinity
Why can exclusively aquatic animals not survive on land?
Crushing weight (gravity) and overheating Usually use minimal energy in water
What is the difference between aquatic organisms and terrestrial organisms when it comes to water use?
Aquatic organisms are inundated with water, typically have to filter out salutes or excess water
Terrestrial organisms must retain water to prevent desiccation, efficient use of water and waterproofing
Water balance
Regulated balance of water between an organism and environment
What do trust your plans have that can hormonally control water loss?
Stoma
What is the foundation that determines all terrestrial life?
Soil
How does soil formation begin?
Rock weathering/mechanical weathering
Mechanical weathering
Mechanical destruction of rock into smaller materials
Rain, wind, and temperature combine to flake and peel surface rock
Growing roots penetrate and split rock
What are the five independent factors of soil formation
- parent material
- climate
- biotic factors
- topography
- time
What are the distinguishing physical characteristics of soil
- physical properties: color, texture, structure, moisture, and depth
- color: easily identifiable but has little impact on function
- texture: proportion of different particle sizes
Based on proportions size of sand, salt, and Clay, which is the most significant particle because it controls water retention?
Clay(holds a lot of water)
Soils are layered into:
horizons
All soils are ultimately created from bedrock. Overtime, separate layers form, creating a
soil profile
What are the layers of the soil horizons
O: organic layer
A: topsoil (mineral soil)
B: subsoil (collects minerals and clays leached from the top soil)
C: substratum (unconsolitated material)
If there is more water than pore space, we call the soil
saturated
Amount of water held in place by internal capillary forces is called the
wilting point
When soils lose water to the point where plants can no longer extract water, we call this the wilting point. This is a plant’s
minimum to sustain life
The difference between wilting point and field capacity is the
available water capacity
Ion exchange capacity is important to soil
fertility
The ability of ions to bind to soil particles depends on the number of cation and anion charged sites within the soil. The total number of charged sites on soil particles within a volume is called the
ion exchange capacity
