GY 102 Final
What is precipitation?
any type of water that forms in the Earth's atmosphere and then drops onto the surface of the Earth.
What % of freshwater is locked up in ice sheets and glaciers?
69% of the worlds freshwater is locked up in ice sheets and glaciers.
What is a drainage divide?
A boundary between drainage basins
What does a water table look like after it has been pumped?
A cone of depression forms because water cannot flow fast enough to replenish the amount of water that is withdrawn from the well. In many cones, the water table becomes steeper near the well because the water is withdrawn too fast.
What type fo aquifer is separated from the earth's surface by rocks with low permeability?
A confined aquifer
Describe a hydrograph.
A hydrograph shows the increase and decrease of water as a flood starts and ends. The higher parts of the graph signify more flow. A steep curve a more rapid change in flow rate.
What is an arete?
A jagged and steep sawtooth ridge. It is eroded on both sides
What is a glacier?
A large mass of ice resting on land or floating in the sea that formed from an accumulation of snow that recrystallizes into an ice mass.
What is a horn?
A pyaramidal peak that is glacially eroded on three sides
When is a river's peak discharge?
A river reaches its peak discharge in the spring
What is an aquifer?
A rock unit that can store and transmit water to a well or spring in useful amounts.
What is the paternoster lake?
A series of lakes along a glacial valley
What is a tarn?
A small lake formed at the base of the cirque
What is a Fjord?
A u-shaped valley now flooded when sea level rose from melting Pleistocene ice.
Where does infiltration take place?
After rain or snow lands on the earths surface. It will soak into the ground
Describe a lateral moraine
Occurs along the side of a glacier. It forms low ridges along what were the edges of the glacier
What is a hanging valley?
Occurs when the main glacier erodes deeper than the smaller side glacier. It is a great site for waterfalls.
How are sand grains transported and deposited in water?
Sand grains move via saltation in water
What does it mean to be impermeable?
To obstruct the movement of water through the substance. Clay and butter icing are impermeable substances
Where does transpiration take place?
in plants.
In relation to base level, where does less erosion occur?
less erosion occurs closer to base level
Describe the physical structure of oceans?
-3 layers -mixing zone 2% -Thermocline Transition 18% -Deep Cold 80%
What do you think are the consequences of a dam?
-A dam represents a new temporary base level for a river -The river deposits sediment, as in a distributary system -Delta builds out into reservoir and fills up basin with sediment. -Clear and cold eater released from dam, unlike pre-dam flows.
How do meanders form and move?
-The curve begin when the velocity is faster on one side; gets eroded and deepens -The deeper side carries more faster water; more erosion; forms cut bank -Inside has less water and slower water; deposition; forms point bar -Meander erodes its outside bend, increasing curvature; migrates outward and downstream -Continued erosion or overflow during a flood can cut off the meander and form an oxbow lake.
Describe the chemical composition of oceans?
-Universal solvent -Solutes- dissolved solids -seawater is a solution -Concentration of dissolved solids = salinity - Uniform globally -3.5%
What are the four kinds of aquifers?
1. Confined 2. Unconfined 3. Artisan 4. Perched
What are the three types of drainage patterns?
1. Dentric 2. Radical 3. Structurally controlled
What are the four different types of glaciers?
1. Ice Sheets 2. Cirque 3. Valley 4. Piedmont
List the three types of moraines?
1. Lateral 2. Medial 3. Terminal
What are the four types of drought?
1. Meteorological 2. Agricultural 3. Hydrologic 4. Socio-economic
What are the three times of river channels?
1. braided 2. low sinuosity 3.meandering
How does snow and ice accumulate into glaciers?
1. snow falls as individual flakes 2. Snow flakes are pressed together by the weight of other snowflakes. 3. More snow adds weight and compresses flakes into small spheres called firn. 4. Increasing depth and pressure cause snow to become crystalline ice; commonly blush from trapped air.
What is considered high porosity?
10%-30% is considered high porosity
What kind of climate is represented in the "Sample water budget: Phoenix, AZ" hydrograph?
An arid climate
What is classified as brine?
Anything above 3.5% salinity
What is classified as brackish?
Anything below 33.5% salinity
What is the terminus of the glacier?
At lower elevation, ice melts faster than it is replenished, causing glaciers to terminate
What is the lowest level to which a river can erode?
Base level. Sea level is the ultimate base level.
Interpret the "sample water budget: Phoenix, AZ" hydrograph?
Because the line with the open circle is higher than the precipitation line we can tell that precipitation is less than the demand that drives evaporation
Describe cirque glaciers
Cirque glaciers are a bowl-shaped depression on the side or near mountains. They have a high slope.
Where does condensation take place?
Clouds
How are cobbles and boulders transported and deposited in water?
Cobbles and boulders mostly roll and slide during high flows of water
Can contamination be filtered out of groundwater?
Contamination can be filtered out if it has flowed slowly. However if the contamination is quick flowing it cannot be filtered out.
How does groundwater contamination move?
Contamination largely moves with groundwater down the water table.
What type of ice appears blue? Deeper or surface ice?
Deeper ice appears more blue
Earth's total water is ____% saline (in the ocean) and ____% freshwater.
Earth's total water is 96.5% saline and 3.5% freshwater.
True or False? The best kind of drinking water comes from artisan aquifers.
False. Artisan aquifers have no implications on the quality of water. Water from artisan aquifers can actually be more salty tasting.
True or False? Perched water sits below the main table?
False. Perched water/perched aquifers sit above the main table
How are fine particles transported and deposited in water?
Fine particles can be carried along by floating in water
Fresh surface water is made up of ___% lakes, ____% swamps, and ___% rivers.
Fresh surface water is made up of 87% lakes, 11% swamps, and 2% rivers.
Freshwater is made up of ____% ice caps, ____% ground water, and the other ____% is called surface water.
Freshwater is made up of 69% ice caps, 30.1% ground water and the other 0.9% is called surface water.
Describe water use from the 1950's to present day
Generally, water use reached its peak around the 1980s and then leveled out while the population has steadily increased with time.
Where do glaciers form?
Glaciers form in areas of permanent snow (high latitudes and high elevations)
How do we track and remediate groundwater contamination?
Ground water contamination can be tracked by studying ground water conturing tables and contamination. Ground water contamination can be remediated by drilling wells to intercept plume, to pump and treat the water.
What happens to ground water when it comes up on a groundwater divide?
Ground water will flow in different directions when it comes along a divide.
Describe ice sheet glaciers
Ice sheet glaciers are regionally continuous masses of ice. Some cover thousands of square kilometers
How do streams interact with the water table?
In a river lower than the water table will gain water from in the inflow of ground water. In a river higher than the water table will lose ground water. Additionally, a mound of groundwater can accumulate below a stream higher than the water table because water will flow into the subsurface.
Describe a terminal moraine
It forms at the snout of the glacier, marking the farthest downhill extent
Describe a medial moraine
It is a sediment-rice belt in the center of the glacier. Formed further up -ice where two branches of the alpine glacier joined.
What is a hydrologic drought?
It is associated with the effects of periods of precipitation shortfalls on the surface or the subsurface water supply
What is a cirque?
It is formed in part by plucking of rocks by the glacier. The accumulation causes the depression
Define Porosity:
It is the amount of open pore space something has; how much something can store.
Where is most of the world's fresh water located?
Most of the worlds freshwater is locked up in ice sheets and glaciers.
Most of the world water is in a ______ form.
Most of the worlds water is in a saline form in the ocean.
How does you express porosity in writing?
Porosity is expressed in percents
Explain the soil-water balance equation
Precipition is equal to actual evapotranspiriation, plus the surplus, plus or minus the change in soil moisture storage
Where does precipitation take place?
Rain or snow traveling from the clouds on to the earth
What does porosity depend upon?
Size, shape, orientation, and the degree of compaction of mineral grains.
What causes floods?
Snowmelt, local precipitation, regional precipitation, ice dams, volcanic eruption, and dam failure.
How are soluble ions transported and deposited in water?
Soluble ions are dissolved in water and carried along.
What is a meteorological drought?
The basis of the degree of dryness and the duration on the dry period
What order do the seasons go on the year long river discharge hydrograph?
The left starts with winter, spring, summer, then fall on the right.
What is the snow line?
The lowest elevation where snow remains year round
What is permeability?
The measure of interconnectedness of pores. How well water transmits through the rock.
What is evaporation?
The process of water molecules escaping the surface of the Earth and entering the atmosphere.
What is condensation?
The process when water vapor becomes liquid. Occurs when air is so saturated with water vapor that it cannot hold anymore.
How does the slope of a water table influence groundwater flow?
The steeper the slope, the faster the flow of the ground water.
What is the zone of accumulation in a glacier?
The upper part of a glacier is where snow can accumulate faster than it melts
What does a water table look like before it is pumped?
The water table is relatively flat.
What is a socio-economic drought?
This is associated with the supply and demand of some economic goods with elements of all three droughts.
What is an agricultural drought?
This refers to circumstances when soil moisture is insufficient and results in the lack of crop growth. It is a short term drought
What does it mean to be permeable?
To allow the passage of water? Sand and sponge cake are permeable substances
What is the function of a stream?
To carry moving water through one or more channel
True or false? It is important to consider the direction of ground water flow when thinking about installing a septic tank.
True
True or false? The roughness of landscape reflects decreasing gradient of rivers?
True. The closer to base level the streams are , the lower the gradient they have
Which type of aquifer is the most common?
Unconfined aquifers are the most common.
Describe valley glaciers
Valley glaciers flow down valleys and tend to be very narrow
How is the water's competence measured?
Water competence is measured by the size of the largest particle that can be moved.
Water in the ocean accounts for ____% of the worlds water?
Water in the ocean (saline) accounts for 95.5% of the worlds water
Where does evaporation take place?
Water on earth's surface and in the ocean can undergo evaporation and travel into the atmosphere.
Water resources are linked by what?
Water resources are linked by the hydrologic cycle
What is the equilibrium line in a glacier?
When ice an snow melt off the glacier at the rate it is accumulating new ice and snow
What is a good general rule to follow when placing a well in the ground when you know there is already a septic tank?
You should place the well up hill, away from the septic tank; just be aware of what is farther up the hill.
What is a coral reef?
a colonial, build on dead skeletons. Reef is biologically derived sedimentary rock
What is a drumlin?
a feature of a continental ice sheet in which a depositional feature is created by advancing ice.
What is a kettle lake?
a feature of a continental ice sheet in which a depression is created by melting ice. Sometimes it fills with water and intersects the water table
What is an esker?
a feature of a continental ice sheet in which a winding ridge of sediment marking former position of subglacial channel within ice
What is infiltration?
a process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil.
What is salinity?
dissolved solids by volume, concentration
How is salinity expressed?
expressed as 3.5% per thousand. parts per million 35,000 ppm=35,000 mg/liter
In relation to base level, where does high erosion occur?
high erosion occurs high above base level (mountains)
Describe a radical drainage pattern
it flows outward in all directions, like off a circular mountain
Describe a structurally controlled drainage pattern
it follows tilted or folded layers, faults, and joint pattens.
Describe a dendritic drainage pattern
it is branching and tree-like, with smaller tributaries feeding into larger ones
What is bed load?
material moving on the river bed.
What is saltation?
occurs when sand grains can roll and bounce along the ocean floor
Describe piedmont glaciers
piedmont glaciers are like valley glaciers but have a broader topography.
What are wetlands?
poorly drained soils, saturated with water enough of the time to support hydrophytic vegetation
What is the soil-water balance equation?
precip = actet + surpl +/- Δstrge
How do rivers vary over time?
rivers very in discharge during the year due to snowmelt, and wet and dry seasons.
What are tributaries?
smaller subsidiary river channels that spread out discharge over time.
What is transpiration?
the process by which water absorbed by plants is evaporated into the atmosphere through plant surface.
What are factors that affect the appearance of a shoreline?
the strength of waves, storms, slope of a seafloor, hardness of bed rock, climate and vegetation, and the amount and size of sediment.
What is firn?
the transitional form between snow and ice.
How is discharge expressed?
volume/time= discharge on a hydrograph