Hydrosphere Study Guide – Answer Key
1. An underground layer of permeable rock or sediment that contains water is called a(n): aquifer
2. Water that collects in permeable rock beneath the surface of Earth is called: groundwater
3. Granite does not allow water to flow through it. Granite is an example of impermeable rock.
4. A puddle drying up on a sunny day is an example of: evaporation
5. Most of Earth's freshwater is found where? glaciers
6. An area into which all of the water on one side of a divide flows. The water will either seep underground or flow
downhill forming rivers and lakes. A watershed/river basin
7. A ridge, or continuous live of high land that separates watersheds or drainage basins is called: divide
8. What is the water table? Where groundwater stops (top of lakes and groundwater)
9. What is permeable and impermeable rock? Permeable rock allows water to flow through it, impermeable rock does
not.
10. What is the amount of freshwater found on Earth? 3%
11. Shoreline areas where fresh water from rivers mixes with salt water from oceans are called an estuary.
12. The main difference between the photic zone and the aphotic zone of the ocean is: the amount of sunlight
13. What is the neritic zone? What is the difference between the neritic zone and the aphotic zone? The neritic zone
is where most life forms live, right on the continental shelf. The neritic zone has more life than the aphotic zone.
14. Coral is an organism that lives attached to the ocean floor. It filter feeds as water moves through its body. What
type of organism is coral? benthos
15. Why does plant plankton not grow in the deep ocean? There is not enough sunlight
16. Light does not reach the bottom of the ocean, yet certain species live there. Explain how species on the bottom of
the ocean get energy to live. Chemical energy from hydrothermal vents
17. What word best describes the type of water found in estuaries? brackish
18. What would most likely happen to the entire ocean food web if plankton were not available? Marine organisms
would die
19. What happens to nutrients in the ocean as a result of upwelling? They rise to the surface of the ocean
20. Look at the diagram to
the left. Westward blowing
trade winds blow the warm
surface water from the
coast to the ocean. Cool
nutrient-rich water from
below upwells to the
surface. Every three to
seven years the trade winds
weaken, and an El NiñoSouthern Oscillation (ENSO)
event occurs. Which is the
most likely result of an
ENSO event? a change in
the aquatic food chain,
resulting in a decline in the
fishing industry.
21. Cohesion is the property of water that states that water molecules stick to other water molecules.
22. Water molecules have cohesion and adhesion because they have polarity. The property that states one end of
the water molecules is positively charged and the other end is negatively charged.