Water, Water Everywhere! Water in Earth’s Processes Unit S6E3
How is the amount of water on Earth divided up? 3% = Freshwater 97% = Saltwater
Is most of the water on Earth freshwater or saltwater?
Where can the freshwater be found? ¾ Freshwater is Frozen Solid in ice caps and glaciers ¼ Freshwater is Liquid underground A tiny fraction is in lakes & rivers A smaller fraction is water vapor in the atmosphere
What is the Water Cycle? Definition: The continuous movement of water from Earth’s surface into the atmosphere and then back again! The water cycle is powered by the Sun.
Condensation Precipitation Evaporation Trees Accumulation
Main Parts of the Water Cycle: Evaporation Condensation Precipitation Accumulation
What is Evaporation? When water changes from liquid to water vapor (liquid to gas) Evaporation comes from: plants lakes oceans
Evaporation from plants???? This is called TRANSPIRATION
What happens after water evaporates? Condensation! As air and water vapor rise, they cool to form clouds (gas to liquid)
What happens when the droplets get too large to stay in the clouds? They fall as Precipitation – water that falls from clouds as Rain Snow Sleet Hail
What happens to water that falls to the ground? Accumulation- collection of water Runoff – water flows across the land into streams, rivers, or oceans Groundwater – water soaks into the ground
Examples of surface water: Rivers Ponds Lakes Wetlands – swamps, bogs, marshes
How does water get UNDERGROUND? It trickles down between particles of soil & through cracks in rocks
How water gets into rock…
An Aquifer is an underground layer of rock or sediment that holds water.
How can we get to the water so we can use it everyday? Springs can form & water bubbles out naturally Wells provide access to Aquifers that have drinking water Wells can be mechanically or hand pumped In Artesian Wells, water rises because of pressure in an Aquifer
Why is it important to conserve water? How is water used? In your home Industry & Transportation Agriculture Recreation Why is it important to conserve water?
Water Pollution is Bad! What is water pollution? What causes water pollution?
Properties that make up the oceans’ composition: Salinity Temperature Dissolved Gases
Remember…we have more saltwater on Earth than freshwater! So, why can’t we just drink sea water? Because it tastes yucky! That’s why!
Why does it taste yucky? Because it has lots of salt… Salinity – the amount of salt dissolved in water (NaCl) Average salinity of the ocean is 3.5% If you boiled 1kg of ocean water in a pot until all water was gone, you’d be left with about 35g of salt left in the pot!
Where do the salts and minerals come from? Salt and minerals that are in the ocean come mostly from dissolved rocks, and soil that is brought to the oceans from rivers Volcanoes also provide salts to the oceans.
What does salt do to the ocean water? Lowers the freezing point of water It makes seawater more dense Greater buoyancy – you float higher in some ocean water
Temperature of Ocean Water Closer to the equator = warmer water Temperature decrease as you go deeper Density & Pressure increase as you go deeper
Dissolved Gases in Ocean Water: Oxygen Carbon Dioxide Sea plants & creatures use these gases to survive
Oxygen in sea water comes from Algae & air
One big ocean or several smaller oceans?
World’s Oceans All of the oceans are connected, and essentially one big ocean. We have made imaginary boundaries to break up this ocean, and currently we have 5 different oceans.
From the largest to smallest: World’s Oceans From the largest to smallest: Pacific Atlantic Indian Southern Arctic
Main features of the ocean floor: (F) Continental shelf Main features of the ocean floor: (F) Continental shelf (C) Abyssal Plain (A) Continental slope (B) Seamount (E) Volcanic islands (G) Ocean trench (D) Mid-ocean ridge
What is a wave? The movement of energy through a body of water
Waves Strength of the wind Surface waves are caused by wind. The height and size of waves depend on 3 factors: Strength of the wind Length of time the wind blows Distance over which the wind blows