Earth Science
Name_____________________________
Chapters 13 & 14
Period_____________________________
Review
Date______________________________
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The Water Cycle
1. List the three spheres of the Earth.
Earth’s Fresh Water
2. What exactly is the water cycle? What drives the water cycle? What are the four main mechanisms of the
water cycle?
Evaporation
3. Describe in detail what happens to a little water molecule when it goes from a lake into the air as water vapor.
4. What are some of the things water evaporates from?
5. What is transpiration?
Condensation
6. Describe how condensation forms.
Precipitation
7. Describe how precipitation forms.
8. List the different types of precipitation.
Runoff
9. What is runoff? Why does it occur? Describe some of these situations.
10. What happens to most precipitation?
Water Budget
11. What is a water budget? What is the income, and what are the debts? What keeps the Earth’s water budget
balanced?
12. What are some of the factors affecting a local water budget?
Water Conservation
13. What percent of the Earth’s water is fresh water?
14. Of the Earth’s fresh water reserves, what percent is locked up in ice?
15. Of the Earth’s liquid freshwater, how much is contained in groundwater?
16. How many gallons of water does the average family of four use each day?
17. List several ways you can conserve water.
River Systems
18. Where does runoff go eventually?
19. What are the features that make up a river system?
20. What is a drainage basin? What is the largest drainage basin in the U.S.? Where is it located?
21. List and describe some of the features of a stream?
22. Describe and sketch some of the features associated with young streams.
23. Describe and sketch some of the features associated with mature streams.
24. Describe and sketch some of the features associated with old streams.
25. What is a meander? Describe how an oxbow lake is formed. Use diagrams in your explanation.
26. How often will a river flood? What are the chances a river will have at least a small flood? What are the
chances that a river will have a considerably large flood?
Groundwater
27. How does groundwater get into the ground? Where is most groundwater held under the ground?
28. How does the amount of groundwater compare with the amount of liquid fresh water contained on the
Earth’s surface?
29. What is an aquifer? What rocks make good aquifers? Why do these types of rocks make good aquifers?
30. What does it mean for a rock to be porous? What is the difference between well sorted and poorly sorted?
31. What is permeability? Describe what make a rock permeable or impermeable.
32. Can a rock have a good amount of porosity, but be low in permeability? Explain.
33. List and describe the major zones of groundwater. Draw a labeled diagram showing the location of each of
the zones.
34. What is the capillary fringe? Describe how water gets into the capillary fringe.
35. Can the water table move? Explain.
36. What affects the speed in which groundwater flows?
37. What is the groundwater gradient?
Wells and Springs
38. Describe how you would construct an ordinary well. Include a diagram in your discussion.
39. What is a cone of depression?
40. What is an unconfined aquifer?
41. Would a large city like Geneva be likely to drill a well into an unconfined aquifer? Why or why not?
42. What is a confined aquifer? Use a diagram to aid in your explanation. What keeps a confined aquifer
confined?
43. Add to your diagram above an artesian well. What is an artesian well? How is an artesian well recharged?
44. Explain how a spring is formed. Use a diagram to aid in your explanation.
45. How are hot springs created? Why do geysers gush hot water and steam into the air? List some places where
geysers and hot springs can be found. List and describe a famous geyser.
Karst Topography
46. What is Karst topography? What type of rock do you need to create an area with Karst topography?
47. Describe some of the features in an area with Karst topography.
48. Make a drawing of an area with Karst topography.