The Hydrologic Cycle - ✔✔ water evaporates from moist surfaces, falls as rain
or snow, passes through living organisms and returns to the
... [Show More] oceans.
Three principal factors control global water deficits and surpluses: - ✔✔ o Global atmospheric circulation
o Proximity to water sources
o Topography
Rain Shadow effect - ✔✔ cool, dry air descends from the mountaintop down the other side of the mountain ----creating dry areas with very little precipitation. EX, a mountain in Hawaii rain on the east side of the mountain is > 20 times that on the west side
Role of oceans as a water source - ✔✔ holds 97% of the total water on the planet and produces over half of the world's oxygen and absorbs 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere
Where water is found - ✔✔ o Glaciers
o Groundwater
Infiltration - ✔✔ process of water percolating through the soil and into fractures and permeable rocks
Zone of aeration - ✔✔ upper soil layers that hold both air and water
Zone of saturation - ✔✔ lower soil layers where all spaces are filled with water
Water table - ✔✔ top of zone of saturation
Withdrawal - ✔✔ total amount of water removed from a water body
Consumption - ✔✔ loss of water due to evaporation, absorption, or contamination
Point Sources - ✔✔ discharge pollution from specific locations.
EX: Factories, power plants, drain pipes
Nonpoint Sources - ✔✔ scattered or diffuse, having no specific location of discharge
Atmospheric Deposition - ✔✔ the process, long recognized by scientists, whereby precipitation (rain, snow, fog), particles, aerosols, and gases move from the atmosphere to the earth's surface.
Infectious Agents - ✔✔ Pathogenic organisms such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and worms.
Main source of waterborne pathogens - ✔✔ improperly treated human waste
Biochemical Oxygen Demand - ✔✔ amount of dissolved oxygen consumed by aquatic microorganisms. Used as a test for organic waste contamination from sewage, paper pulp, and food waste.
Dissolved Oxygen Content - ✔✔ measure of dissolved oxygen in the water
Oligotrophic - ✔✔ bodies of water that have clear water and low biological productivity
Eutrophic - ✔✔ bodies of water that are rich in organisms and organic material
Eutrophication - ✔✔ process of increasing nutrient levels and biological productivity, a normal part of successional change in most lakes
Cultural Eutrophication - ✔✔ increase in biological productivity caused by human activities
Inorganic Pollutants - ✔✔ mineral acids, inorganic salts, trace elements, metals, metals compounds, complexes of metals with organic compounds, cyanides, sulphates, etc
Organic Chemicals - ✔✔ often use to make pesticides, plastics, pharmaceuticals, pigments, and many other day to day product. [Show Less]