The Water Planet & Hydrology Flashcards
Liquid water covers about ____% of Earth’s surface
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Most of Earth’s water is in _______
The oceans
Water that is not in the ocean can be found in ________
Ice sheets Glaciers Groundwater Lakes Streams The atmosphere
Hydrologic Cycle definition:
The constant exchange of water among the oceans, atmosphere and the continents
Water enters the atmosphere by?
Evaporation
What returns liquid water to the surface?
Precipitation
What is infiltration?
A portion of water that soaks into the ground
What is runoff?
Water that does not soak in the ground, it flows across the surface
Groundwater:
Any water that is below the surface
Where is groundwater found?
In soils or porous rocks
Groundwater can be tapped for?
Wells or to supply artesian springs
Zone of aeration:
Zone where most of the interconnected pores are filled with air
Water table:
The surface below which the ground is saturated with air
Zone of saturation:
Layer of soil where pores are filled with groundwater
Impermeable rock:
The layer where water cannot penetrate
Factors that determine whether water infiltrates:
Slope of the land
Porosity of the surface/ground
Permeable or not
Gravitational pull
Pore space:
Unoccupied or void space between sediment particles
Pore space can be filled with?
Air or water
Pore space is measured by?
Packing solid in a container to measure the total volume; water is added just to the surface filling the empty space
Porosity %:
Percentage of pore space; ability to hold groundwater
Pore space depends on?
Shape: round is more porous that angular
Packing: loosely packed is more porous than tightly packed
Mixture: sorted is more porous than unsorted
To determine permeability you can measure:
Flow time
&
Flow rate
Flow time:
Time set for a set amount of water to flow through sediment (minutes/100mL)
Flow rate:
Volume of water that flows through a given amount of sediment in a set amount of time (mL/minute)
What is the difference between flow time and flow rate?
The measurement values are reversed
What is permeability?
Measures of the flow of water through ground material
What does permeability depend on?
The size of sediment particles because it is controlled by the connectivity of pore space and surface area
Runoff exceeds…?
Permeability rate of the soil
Runoff occurs when:
Slope is too steep
Temperature is below 0c
Souk is saturated
Water retention:
The amount of water that is retained as water flows through sediments
Water is retained on the surface so the greater the surface area, ________:
The higher the water retention
