Surface Water Notes PDF

Surface Water Notes  Water cycle Hydrosphere The water on and in Earth’s crust Oceans About 97 percent of the hydrosphere is contained in the oceans. Freshwater The water contained by landmasses makes up only about 3 percent of the hydrosphere. Water...

Surface Water Notes  Water cycle Hydrosphere The water on and in Earth’s crust Oceans About 97 percent of the hydrosphere is contained in the oceans. Freshwater The water contained by landmasses makes up only about 3 percent of the hydrosphere. Water Cycle The water cycle is a never-ending, natural circulation of water through Earth’s systems. Run Off Runoff is water flowing downslope along Earth’s surface. Runoff might reach a stream, river, or lake, it might evaporate, or it might accumulate as puddles Soils that contain grasses or other vegetation allow more water to enter the ground because of the roots. The steeper the slope, the faster the water flows. Infiltration Infiltration is water that infiltrates Earth’s surface becomes groundwater. For water to enter the ground, there must be large enough spaces in the soil and rock to accommodate the water’s volume. Stream Systems Head waters is the region where water first accumulates to supply a stream. Falling precipitation accumulates in small gullies at higher elevations and forms briskly moving streams. Moving water carves a narrow pathway into the sediment or rock called the stream channel. Stream banks hold the moving water within them. Stream Systems Tributaries are rivers that flow into other streams A watershed is all of the land area whose water drains into a stream system Check this out!!!!  Floods A flood occurs when water spills over the sides of a stream’s banks onto the adjacent land. A floodplain is the broad, flat area that extends out from a stream’s bank and is covered by excess water during times of flooding. When rivers overflow their banks, the floodwater deposits sediment. Over time, sediment accumulates along the edges of a river, resulting in natural levees.  Stream Deposition When streams lose speed, deposition of sediment occurs. Alluvial fans are fan-shaped, sloping depositional features that form when water flows down steep slopes onto flat plains. Alluvial fans are composed mostly of sand and gravel. A delta is a triangular deposit that forms where a stream enters a large body of water  Lakes Natural lakes, bodies of water surrounded by land, form in different ways in surface depressions and in low areas. Some lakes form when stream flow becomes blocked by sediment from landslides or other sources. Other lakes, such as moraine-dammed lakes, cirque lakes, and kettle lakes, have glacial origins.  Lakes Eutrophication is the process by which bodies of water become rich in nutrients that stimulate excessive plant growth Although this is a natural process, it can be sped up with the addition of nutrients, such as fertilizers, that contain nitrogen and phosphorus.  Lakes A wetland is any land area that is covered with water for a part of the year. Wetlands play a valuable role in improving water quality by serving as a filtering system that traps pollutants, sediments, and pathogenic bacteria contained in water sources. Wetlands include environments commonly known as bogs, marshes, and swamps, which have certain soil types and support specific plant species.