Lesson 12: Surface and Groundwater

The percentage of the Earth's water that is fresh water that is not frozen is:

0.65%

The percentage of the Earth's surface that is covered by water is about:

70%

The percentage of Earth's water that is in the oceans is:

97%

A trellis drainage is a tree branchlike pattern of streams.

False

A v-shaped cross section and an irregular profile characterize a well-developed or "old" valley.

False

Alluvial fans are formed where running water flows into another body of water.

False

Along a graded stream, no sediment is eroded, transported, or deposited.

False

As long as limestone is present near the surface, karst topography will form in any climate.

False

Caves do not form in marble because it is a dense and hard rock.

False

Geysers are hot springs formed where the temperature of the water is above boiling point.

False

In hilly country the groundwater table's highest elevation occurs in stream valleys and around lakes.

False

Once an aquifer has been contaminated it "cleanses itself" rather rapidly because the contaminants adhere to rock/sediment particles.

False

The total load of a sediment a stream can carry consists of suspended load and bed load.

False

The water table is flat, featureless surface between the zones of aeration and saturation.

False

States in which extensive karst topography exists include

Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri

A 10-year flood could occur in two consecutive years or it could occur once in a 20 year period.

True

A drainage pattern typical of high mountains is radial drainage.

True

Agriculture is the primary user of groundwater in the United States.

True

Braided streams have an intricate network of dividing and rejoining channels.

True

By percentage volume most of the hydrologic cycle is limited to ocean-atmosphere transference.

True

Porosity of igneous rocks is generally less than that of sedimentary rocks.

True

Subsidence can occur as the result of extraction of oil.

True

Which of the following describes a well-developed or "old" stream valley?

a broad, flat floodplain with a meandering stream, oxbow lakes, and a graded profile

stream terraces will develop if

base level is lowered

The solid particles in a stream include

bed load and suspended load

The water table is lowered when

discharge is more than recharge

A dry surface has a higher infiltration capacity than a moist surface.

false

If rocks are porous then they are permeable too

false

Most detrital rocks are neither porous nor permeable.

false

the gradient of a stream does not change over the length of the stream

false

Within the zone of saturation, water always moves

from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure

The primary purpose of the Tennessee Valley Authority is to

generate electricity

Which of the following is most porous?

gravel

Conditions needed for the development of karst topography include

humid climate and carbonate bedrock at a shallow depth

Erosion of the streambed occurs by

hydraulic action, abrasion, dissolution

Deep, meandering canyons cut into bedrock are called

incised meanders

One of the reasons that geothermal energy is not as widely used as it could be because

it is not inexhaustible

Sheet flow is most likely to occur in areas with

low infiltration capacity

Streams of rivers possess two kinds of energy. Potential energy is the energy of:

position

The major source of groundwater is

precipitation that infiltrates the ground

An example of a rock type which could be a good aquifer is

quartz sandstone

Current production of groundwater from the High Plains Aquifer cannot be sustained because

recharge is less than discharge

Particles move along a streambed by

rolling, sliding, saltation

The ultimate base level for a stream is:

sea level

An example of a rock/sediment type which could be an effective aquiclude is

shale

A delta with long fingerlike sand bodies, each deposited in a distributary channel that progrades far seaward, such as the Mississippi River, is typically formed as in a(n) ____-dominated delta.

stream

Springs occur where

streams have cut valleys below the regional water table, where an impermeable layer intersects the surface, and where a perched water table intersects the surface

Flooding in Johnstown, PA, in 1889 was disastrous and deadly because

the town was built on a floodplain as well as the upstream dam failed, the flood wave traveled at velocities as high as 60 km/hr, and 20-25 cm of rain fell over a 24 hour period

Which of the following would be considered groundwater?

water infiltrating from precipitation, septic systems, and from the base of glaciers

A delta that has islands reworked by waves on the seaward side, such as the Nile delta, is typically formed as in a(n) ____-dominated delta.

wave