Water Pollution Part 1 Flashcards
What is an aquifer?
What are the 2 types of aquifers?
Layers of sand/gravel/rock that hold water
Confined: between aquacludes, if under pressure called artesian
Unconfined: soil is above aquifer, recharged by rain/rivers
What is an aquaclude?
Layers of solid rock or clay that prevent water from flowing
What is the ogallala?
Where is it?
Why is it shrinking?
Largest aquifer in world
Beneath South Dakota to Texas
Excessive pumping, more water is being taken than recharged
What is a cone of depression?
What can it lead to?
Water that is deformed by wells forms a cone shape around the well
Can lead to saltwater intrusion
What are sinkholes?
Slightly acidic water deteriorates rock like limestone
What is the deepest lake in the world?
Where is it?
Lake baikal (20% of world’s fresh water)
In Siberia
What is a watershed?
What are 5 benefits of a healthy watershed?
Land that drains to a river
Anchors soil, absorbs rain water, recharges aquifer, lessons downstream flooding, filters out pollutants
Why is the discharge rate?
Which river had the largest discharge rate?
Amount of water that passes through a point over a given period of time
The amazon
Before the Aswan dam was built, what did the nile river do?
Flooded regularly, depositing 4 million tons of sediment into soil, making it fertile
What are 3 benefits of the Aswan dam?
Regulates water distribution, lake Nasser looks nice, generates 10 billion KW hours per year
What are 3 consequences of the Aswan dam?
Region no longer fertile, increase in disease, archaeological artifacts are lost forever
What is the larger dam in the world?
Where is it?
The 3 gorges dam
China
What are 2 benefits of the 3 gorges dam?
Generates energy, made a nice lake
What are 3 consequences of the 3 gorges dam?
1.2 million people were relocated, villages and ecosystems flooded, built on a fault line
What are the 3 steps of municipal treatment?
Primary: remove solids
Secondary: break down organics
Tertiary: make safe to release
