Introduction
to Water
You need to write down
the underlined words for
vocabulary!
Pretest
1.
What is the hydrologic cycle?
2.
What is porosity?
3.
What is permeability?
4.
What do we call the upper boundary of
earth that is saturated with water?
5.
Where does artesian water come from?
6.
How are caves formed?
7.
How is a sinkhole formed?
8.
What do people mean when they say you
have hard water?
9.
List as many negative and positive
affects on water quality as you can.
10. How do these affects change our lives?
11. What is a glacier?
12. What causes glaciers to move?
Water: 4 Primary Sections
•
•
•
•
The Hydrologic Cycle (Water Cycle)
Glaciers
Groundwater
Water Quality
The Hydrologic Cycle
The Hydrologic Cycle
• The natural circulation of water from ocean to
atmosphere to ground, then back to ocean
– Water is constantly circulating
– Can be in any of 3 states of matter
• Solid, Liquid, or Gas
– The cycle is powered by heat from the sun and the
force of gravity
– The total amount of water vapor in the atmosphere
remains constant
Important Vocabulary
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Evaporation
Evapotranspiration
Sublimation
Condensation
Precipitation
Runoff
Infiltration
Discharge
A large mass of ice
formed by the
compaction and
recrystallization of
snow that moves
down slope under its
own power is called
a…
Glaciers
• Glaciers are powerful
agents of erosion
• They can carve out large
U-shaped valleys and
carry a lot of rock and
debris down slope
• They move by gravity
• Leaves a trail of debris
behind
Sublimation• Ice or snow turning directly into
water vapor (solid  gas)
Groundwater-
• subsurface water in the zone of saturation
– 98.5% of fresh
water is below
the earth’s
surface
Water Table
How does water get underground?
• Infiltration- the seepage
of water into soil or rock
–Depends upon surface
and subsurface
conditions
Permeability – the ability of
a material to transmit fluid
• Depends upon soil
composition
– Sand, Silt, or Clay
• Why is sand more
permeable than clay?
Porosity – the volume of open space
(pores) in a soil or rock sample
• The amount of water than can pass through
soil or rock depends upon the amount and size
of pores
Water Table
• The Water Table is the line below which all
pore spaces are filled with water (saturated)
Aquifer
• An aquifer is an underground
geological formation able to store
and yield water.
Artesian System
• Where water flows out of the aquifer and
to the surface due to pressure from above
– Spring (natural)
– Well (drilled)
What happens when running
underground water dissolves minerals in
the bedrock?
CAVES!
Sinkholes -
• Funnel-shaped holes where
caves have collapsed
Water Quality
• A crucial factor in the quality of our lives
Hard Water
• Water picks up calcium
and magnesium from the
landscape
– Can clog pipes or shower
heads
– More in some places than
others
Water Pollution
• Contamination can come from
– Point sources
– Non-point sources
What is the primary source of
contamination?
• HUMANS!
– Point sources• Factories
• Septic tanks
• Chemical spills
– Non-point sources• Soil Erosion
• Agricultural runoff
– Fertilizers
– Pesticides
– Livestock wastes
Landfills- (Human)
• New Landfills require a liner to prevent
contamination
• Leachate – water that has run through contaminated
areas picking up soluble substances
We live in the arid west…
• Water is scarce
• Water is precious
• Water sustains life
• Water should be
conserved.
Household Water Consumption
Where can you conserve water?
So what where the 4 main topics on water?
•
•
•
•
The Hydrologic Cycle (Water Cycle)
Glaciers
Groundwater
Water Quality
Now try
these
questions
again!
You
should
have 9
definitions
written
down!
1.
What is the hydrologic cycle?
2.
What is porosity?
3.
What is permeability?
4.
What do we call the upper boundary of
earth that is saturated with water?
5.
Where does artesian water come from?
6.
How are caves formed?
7.
How is a sinkhole formed?
8.
What do people mean when they say you
have hard water?
9.
List as many negative and positive
affects on water quality as you can.
10. How do these affects change our lives?
11. What is a glacier?
12. What causes glaciers to move?