16 Questions
What percentage of the Earth's surface is covered with water?
70%
What is the term that refers to how much salt is dissolved in water?
Salinity
What is the process of water turning into vapour?
Evaporation
What percentage of freshwater is ice?
76%
What is the process of ice turning into water?
Melting
What is the term that refers to an area of land that drains into one large main water body?
Watershed
What is the average depth of the oceans?
3.2km
What is the process of solid ice turning directly into water vapour?
Sublimation
What process occurs when water vapour turns into liquid?
Condensation
What is the term for water that exists underground?
Groundwater
What is the estimated proportion of the world’s freshwater that lies underground?
One-third
What is the term for the area where water fills all the air spaces in the soil and in tiny cracks in the rock?
Groundwater zone
What is the term for an underground freshwater reservoir that stores large amounts of water?
Aquifer
What happens to rainwater as it falls into the soil?
It soaks into the soil and flows down between the soil particles
What is the term for a natural spring that forms when groundwater reaches the surface?
Natural spring
What happens to water in the groundwater zone?
It fills all the air spaces in the soil and in tiny cracks in the rock
Study Notes
Key Concepts
- There are three states of water: liquids, solids, and gases.
- 70% of the planet is covered with water, mostly saltwater, contained in oceans.
- Freshwater exists on Earth's surface, under its surface, and in the atmosphere.
Earth's Supply of Water
- There are two kinds of water: freshwater and saltwater.
- Saltwater makes up 97% of all the water on Earth, leaving less than 3% as drinkable freshwater.
- Some freshwater is stored in ice.
3 States of Water
- Liquids: water
- Solids: ice
- Gases: water vapor
- Evaporation: water turns into vapor when heated.
- Freezing: water turns into ice when cooled.
- Condensation: water vapor turns into liquid when cooled.
Liquid Water
- 70% of Earth is made up of water.
- 3% of the water is freshwater.
- 76% of freshwater is ice.
- 23% of freshwater is groundwater.
- Oceans are massive bodies of surface saltwater.
- Surface freshwater is common in Canada.
- Precipitation helps keep water bodies filled.
Definitions
- Evaporation: process of water turning into vapor.
- Melting: process of ice turning into water.
- Sublimation: process of solid ice turning into water vapor.
- Condensation: process of water vapor turning into liquid.
- Deposition: process of vapor changing directly into ice or solid.
Underground Water
- More of Canada's freshwater exists underground than on the surface.
- This underground water is called groundwater.
- One-third of the world's freshwater lies underground.
- Groundwater zone: area where water fills all the air spaces in the soil and tiny cracks in the rock.
- Water table: upper surface of the groundwater zone.
- Aquifer: underground freshwater reservoir.
Simplified Underground Water
- Rainwater falls and goes through soil particles.
- It stops at dense rock or clay layers and forms a water table.
- Below the water table is the groundwater zone.
- Above the water table is a mix of water and air in soil particles.
- All soil has a groundwater zone, but depth varies by region.
Learn about the three states of water, the distribution of freshwater and saltwater, and the percentage of freshwater on Earth.
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