A World of Water

• Most of the important concepts are written in red font.

A World of Water

• A discussion to name the 5 major oceans, including:
  • Naming three seas
  • Naming the 5 Great Lakes
  • 2 major Canadian rivers
  • Finding the location of the 2nd largest water reserve
  • Determining if the 2nd largest water reserve is fresh or salt water
  • Locating the deepest part of the oceans
• Earth is referred to as the "Blue Planet" because of its water content.
• Water is essential for life and the survival of the planet.
• 97% of the water on Earth is saltwater, making it unfit for consumption.
• Life relies on the smaller supply of freshwater sources, such as lakes, rivers, and ponds.

Why We Need Water

• The body cannot exist without water.
• Approximately 65% of body mass is water.
• Water is lost daily through sweat and breath.
• About 2.5 Litres of water needs to be taken in every day to replace what is lost.
• Water is vital for the functions vital to life.

How We Use It

• Water is used in a multitude of ways that can be separated into categories

Importance of Water for Humans

• Water is essential for:
  • Survival
  • Hygiene
  • Agriculture
  • Industry
  • Leisure

Distribution of Water

• Approximately 97% of the water on Earth is saltwater.
• Most of the 3% of freshwater is frozen in ice caps and glaciers.
• About 0.5% of Earth's freshwater is liquid, with the majority underground.
• The remaining water, around 270,000 km³, must sustain all life on Earth.
• Potable water is suitable for drinking.

Calculating Water Volume

• If 1L (1000 mL) of water represents all water available on Earth, the volume of each type of water can be calculated.
• Consider the sources for salt water and freshwater.

Water Availability

• The water cycle ensures a fairly constant total amount of water on Earth.
• Freshwater distribution is unequal globally and 5 countries hold more than half of all renewable fresh water.

Water Quality and Quantity

• The characteristics of water that make it suitable for various uses is water quality.
• The amount of water is water quantity.

Water Origin

• The amount of water in the atmosphere has remained constant for billions of years.
• The molecules you may ingest have existed for that long and may have once been ingested by dinosaurs.

Freshwater Responsibility

• Fresh water is available in Canada.
• Canada must manage its fresh water supply carefully to avoid depletion.
• Conserve water by considering the effects on people, industry, and the environment.

Water Management

• Water management requires balancing the water needs of different things.
• It involves the the people and industry with the needs of wildlife and the environment.
• Clean and plentiful fresh water systems are vital.
• Proper management requires knowing the quantity and source of water
• Understanding water use and negative impacts from pollution and overuse is important.
• Use the image to find at least 10 ways water is used, or list 5 more ways water is not found in the image.
• Consider how to separate these uses into 2 categories.

Sacred Relationship with Water

• A discussion of the importance of water in daily life.
• Importance of water to Indigenous Peoples.
• Significance of water to Cree and Blackfoot elders.
• Understanding the importance of water.

Freshwater Accounts

• Freshwater accounts for less than 1% of the Earth's water.
• Freshwater can be divided into two types.
  • Surface water: Water above ground.
  • Groundwater: Water below the ground.

Lakes and Ponds

• Lakes and ponds are large bodies of standing water.
• Lakes and ponds differ in depth, not size.
  • Ponds: Sunlight reaches the bottom.
  • Lakes: Sunlight doesn't reach the bottom.
• Clarity affects whether light reaches the bottom.
• Clarity is determined by the amount of matter suspended in the water.

Wetlands

• Wetlands occur in low-lying areas.
• Wetlands are saturated with water most of the time.
• Marshes (shallow, less than 1m) are examples of wetlands.
• Wetlands provide habitats for many different plants and wildlife.

Streams and Rivers

• Both are fast-flowing waterways.
• Faster waterways hold more oxygen.
• Oxygen dissolves into water in rapids or waterfalls.
• Flowing water differs in speed and temperature.
• Meandering rivers are located on flat terrain, reducing water flow and causing the river to curve.

Watersheds

• Watersheds are also called drainage basins.
• A watershed is an area of land that drains into a body of water, such as a river, lake, or ocean.
• Water runs downhill from streams and surface run-off into a large body of water.
  • Run-off: Water that doesn't soak in or evaporate flows on Earth's surface.
• A watershed includes land, water, and habitats (streams, lakes, forests, groundwater, wetlands).

Water Flow in Alberta

• In North America, water flows into the Pacific Ocean, Hudson Bay, or the Gulf of Mexico.

Direction Determination of Water

• The Continental Divide determines where the water will end up.
  • On the west side, water will flow into the Pacific.
  • On the east side, water flows into Hudson Bay or the Gulf of Mexico.
  • Mountain range resulted from plate tectonics.
• Canada has 5 major drainage basins: Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, Hudson Bay, Gulf of Mexico.
• Headwaters are the upstream areas of a watershed, and mouth is the the end or outflow of it.

Humans Affecting Watersheds

• Human activity can alter the direction that water flows.
• Human activities that affect watersheds include paving roads, and logging.

Correction for Watersheds

• A watershed is a geographical area where all WATER from precipitation and melted snow drains DOWNHILL into the same body of water. The water moves through a NETWORK of drainage pathways, both underground and on the SURFACE, encompassing streams and RIVERS. Watersheds are separated by areas of HIGH elevation, such as RIDGES and mountains, with BASINS creating the dividing lines.

Water Run-off Definition

• Run-off is water that does not soak into the ground or evaporate. It instead flows across Earth's surface.

Run-Off & Erosion

• Erosion is the action of surface processes that removes and transports soil, rock, or dissolved material from one area to another.
• Run-off is a key contributor to erosion.
• Plants and roots act like sponges to hold water.
• Plants and roots prevents the loss or erosion of soil.

Factors Affecting Run-Off

• Affecting if rain will soak into the ground or run off:
  • Amount of precipitation
  • Time the rain takes to fall
  • Slope of the land (steep slopes results in run-off)
  • Amount and type of vegetation (tends to hold water and slow run-off, prevents soil erosion)
• Wetlands, forests, and prairies capture and store more water with urban areas resulting in run-off.

Runoff & Erosion Dynamics

• Rivers carry mud and silt to deposition places where the river flattens and slows down.
• V-shaped valleys are formed in high places of the drainage basin with fast rivers.
• At lower parts, deposits cause fan-shaped deltas.

River Bend Dynamic

• Around the inside of a river bend, water is slower and deposition occurs.
• Around the outside of a river bend, water is faster and erosion occurs.
• Erosion happens at the bottom of a river when sediment and sand are hit by faster moving water.

River Flow Monitoring

• Watershed managers study drainage basins by measuring stream flow.
• Stream flow measures water discharged by a watershed.
• Stream flow is measured in m³/s and varies seasonally.
• River water volume shapes the surrounding landscape, considering speed and timing.

The Importance of Monitoring Sediment

• Sediments transport pollutants by carrying toxic chemicals.
• Scientists determine pollutant sources by studying sediment.
• Scientists assess pollutant impacts on the aquatic environment.
• Sediment from fish habitats carries toxic agricultural and industrial chemicals.
• Farming and construction increases soil erosion.
• Sediment impacts water delivery and can cause wear out pumps and turbines.

Reducing Erosion & Stream Sediment Load

• Lots of sediment is lost from building sites during construction.
• Rivers can be dredged.
• Plant native vegetation and reinforce with logs on their banks.

Watersheds and Groundwater

• Approximately 25% of Albertans rely on groundwater for irrigation, domestic needs, and livestock.
• Groundwater systems are connecting pores.
• Soil and rocks can be permeable (allowing water to pass through) or impermeable.
• Permeable soils will allow water to fill in the spaces and eventually become saturated.

Groundwater Systems

• Earth has large layers of underground water.
• Underground water is "sandwiched" between permeable and impermeable layers.
• Aquifers are layers where water underground is held.
• The water table is located at the top of the aquifer.
• Porous rock is full of water below the top layer.

Aquifer Applications

• Humans use wells and pumps to access groundwater.
• A well must reach below the water table.
• Used groundwater is replaced by precipitation, but must be used carefully.
• The water mustn't be used at a faster rate than it is naturally being replaced.
• The oldest well on earth dates back to 8100 BCE.
• Underground storage of water are referred to as aquifers and can be found all over the world.
• In the past water from aquifers was much cleaner and safer than the surface from the pollutant filtration. As now aquifers have been polluted and unsafe for drinking by agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides, landfills, leaking in tanks, and accidental spills.

Groundwater Contamination

• Groundwater carries soluble contaminants: toxic dumps or spills.
• Groundwater contaminates from:
  • Point sources (defined area): Leaking gas/septic tanks, accidental spills
  • Nonpoint sources (wide area): Runoff from farms (pesticides, fertilizers)
• Hydrogeologists study groundwater.

Alberta Water

• Northern Alberta has fast-flowing rivers that can erode farmland.
• Southern Alberta has smaller rivers, but agricultural demand is very high.
• Alberta has developed irrigation systems.

Too Much Water

• A flood happens when a river system has too much water.
• A flood plain is flat land around a river that gets covered with water.
• Dams are built to supply tap water and control flooding to areas.
• Hydroelectricity also gets generated from dams
• Building a dam requires environmental consideration.

Building Dams

• Standards are met to protect rivers, streams, and habitats.
• River diversity may be reduced when organisms don't adjust.
• Short and long term impacts must be considered.

Oceans Coverage

• 70% of the Earth's surface is covered in oceans.
• Oceans are never still.

World's Largest River

• Oceans are thought of as static masses.
• Ocean systems carry enormous amounts of water to different places.
• The ocean is constantly moving, even under the surface.
• Oceans are vital to all life on Earth.
• Oceans drive weather patterns.
• They also provide food, oil, and minerals.
• Three types of ocean movement:
  • Waves
  • Tides
  • Ocean currents

Discussion of Water

• Fresh and salt water contain dissolved materials, particulates, and biological components.

Saltwater

• Ocean water is naturally salty.
• Ocean salt water contains 35 g of salt per 1000 g of water, or 35ppt.
• The most common salt is sodium chloride.
• Other salts include sulphates, magnesium, calcium, and potassium.
• The amount of salt is called salinity.

Saltwater Composition

• The ocean contains many minerals.
• Freshwater has the same components as saltwater.

Freshwater vs Seawater

• Many of the same substances are in both fresh and seawater.
• Freshwater contains far smaller concentrations.
• Sodium concentrations are 16,000 greater in seawater.
• Estuaries are where fresh water meets salt water.

Salt Origin

• The most salt in the ocean originates in rocks on land.
• Rivers and groundwater dissolve salts and carry them to the ocean.
• These concentration are 16,000 times less salt.
• The movement of the sea mixes these salts for consistent concentrations.
• Another major source of salt is volcanoes (adding chemicals that dissolve or spitting out rocks).

Ocean Waves

• Ocean waves are large ripples on the water caused by steady winds.
• Waves start at the open sea.
• Wave size is relative to:
  • Speed
  • Length
  • Distance wind blows across the water
• A higher wave height relates to a higher increase.
• Swells are smooth waves on calm days.
• Wave commonalities:
  • Crests
  • Troughs
  • Measure the wave height or amplitude, wavelength and frequency
• Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides on the sea floor can also create waves.

Breaking Waves

• Water at the surface revolves back to the waves origin.
• Particles pass along the energy when they meet one another.
• Wave breaks near the shore changes the shape of the ocean
• Trough slows down when friction moves against the beach, the crest stays moving at the same speed, crest moves down while the trough breaks over the top creating what is commonly known as a breaker.

Shorelines

• Waves erode shorelines and redeposit sediment along shorelines.
• Often collide with the shore and results in longshore water current along the shore.
• If the current is not carrying any sediment will erode the shoreline more, unlike it deposits more sediment.

Rocky Shores

• Currents wear along rocks and cliffs to create arches or caves.
• Overhanging rocks fall off into the water through erosion.
• Seawater increases erosion by dissolving the minerals.
• Physical and chemical rates erodes up to 1m.

Beaches

• Rock rub up against current.
• Wash back into the sea by steep shorelines.
• Calmer water with gentle slopes.
• Rate is higher than erosion is too.

Shoreline Dynamics

• In steeply-sloping shorelines, rock with rougher waters are washed back into the sea.
• Shorelines deposit only bare rock.
• Gentle slopes can be built up by smaller fragments with calmer waters.

Community Impact

• Breakwaters and seawalls are build by communities to impact less from waves to prevent erosion.
• Deposited from deposits sediment that run along shorelines.
• Seasons have impacts, waves take less sediment but over time strongs and larger waves has.
• Calmed winds.
• During time summer gentle winds redeposits and have less sediments to rebuild.

Tides

• When visiting a ocean shore tide will either be covered with water or not.
• Rise and fall depends on tidal range, it is relative to the tide.
• Water are in line such earth, moon, sun, large is relative.
• Gravitational pull impacts Sun and Moon.
• It is distant to influence tide, most gravity is impact by moon.
• Work work together such Sun, Moon pulls, during spring tides is work pulls to gravity.

Volume and Tides

• High tide it flows because the Moon faces different parts of Earth at different times.
• During tubs if move to the bath is back and force, but is has water to think.