1. TED-ED: Where did Earth’s water come from?
© K. Coder 2015

2. 1. What happens after precipitation falls on land?
1) Infiltration: the downward movement of water through the soil
2) Runoff: excess water that cannot infiltrate the ground
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3. 2. Where does the water go when it moves underground?
After infiltrating the soil, groundwater occupies distinct zones.
1) Zone of aeration: spaces between rocks filled with air
Zone of aeration
© K. Coder 2015
Solid rock in Earth’s crust the water cannot pass through
Impermeable Bedrock

4. 2. Where does the water go when it moves underground?
2) Zone of saturation: spaces between rocks filled with water
Saturated = filled with water
Unsaturated = not filled with water
Zone of aeration
Zone of
saturation
© K. Coder 2015
Solid rock in Earth’s crust the water cannot pass through
Confining area
Impermeable Bedrock

5. 2. Where does the water go when it moves underground?
3) Water table: the boundary between the two zones.
The water table moves up and down depending upon the amount of ground water.
Zone of aeration
Water table
Zone of
saturation
© K. Coder 2015
Solid rock in Earth’s crust the water cannot pass through
Impermeable Bedrock

6. 3. How do conditions cause the water table to change?
Diagram
Average Water Table Height
Prolonged Precipitation
Prolonged Dry Conditions
Height of Water Table
Distance from Water Table to Land Surface
Average height of water table
Increased height of water table
Decreased height of water table
Distance would decrease (water table gets closer to land)
Distance would increase (water table gets farther from land)
Average distance
© K. Coder 2015

7. Checkpoint: Water Cycle
1) Identify the processes A, B, C, D, E and F & the feature labeled X. A B C D E F X
Evaporation
Condensation
Transpiration
Precipitation
Runoff
Infiltration
Water table
© K. Coder 2015

8. 4. How much water can soil hold?
Porosity: the amount of space between sediments
Porosity depends upon shape, packing, & sorting of soil particles.
© K. Coder 2015

9. 5. What are the three factors that determine porosity?
1) Shape
Rounded particles have more porosity than particles with angular shapes.
2) Packing
Loosely packed particles have more porosity than closely packed particles.
3) Sorting
Well-sorted particles have more porosity than unsorted particles.
© K. Coder 2015

10. 6. How does size affect porosity if shape, packing, and sorting are uniform?
Size DOES NOT affect porosity because it does not change the amount of empty space between particles!
These all have the same porosity because they have the same shape, packing, and sorting!
© K. Coder 2015

11. Permeability Animation
Change the precipitation to show how the water level will move up and down.
© K. Coder 2015