1. Structure, Processes and Human Usage
The Hydrosphere
Structure, Processes and Human Usage

2. Clarifying Objectives:
Essential Standard:
EEn.2.3 Explain the structure and processes within the hydrosphere.
EEn.2.4 Evaluate how humans use water.
Clarifying Objectives:
EEn Explain how water is an energy agent (currents and heat transfer)
EEn Explain how ground water and surface water interact
EEn Evaluate human influences on freshwater availability.
EEn Evaluate human influences on water quality in North Carolina’s river basins, wetlands and tidal environments

3. Water as an Energy Agent
EEn.2.3.1

4. Density the measure of mass per unit volume of a substance (m/V)
Example – how many water molecule can fit into a pint jar
The density of water can be affected by both temperature AND salinity (saltiness)
This helps drive ocean currents around Earth

5. Salt Water vs Fresh Water
Salt water has a density of 1.03 g/mL, but fresh water has a density of 1.00 g/mL
Therefore one liter of salt water weighs more than one liter of freshwater
So salt water can support more weight per unit volume that fresh water

6. Specific Heat

7. Surface winds drive currents in the upper ocean.
Deep below the surface ocean circulation is primarily driven by changes in seawater density, which is determined by salinity and temperature
These ocean currents help distribute warm water from the equator to the poles, and cold water from the poles towards the equator

8. Specific Heat
the heat required to raise the temperature of the unit mass of a given substance by a given amount (usually one degree)
the specific heat of water is 4.186 joule/gram-°C which is higher than any other common substance. As a result, water plays a very important role in temperature regulation.
This is especially true in coastal areas!

9. Because of water’s specific heat, coastal areas tend to have less annual temperature variation when compared to inland areas
Differential Heating/Cooling:
Water = heats up more slowly and to lower temperatures than land
Land = heats up rapidly and to higher temperatures than water

10. In the United States, differential heating and cooling greatly contribute to weather patterns resulting in very different climates on the two coasts.

11. Global Ocean Currents
Changes in ocean water DENSITY drive the deep water currents…
HOWEVER
WIND is what drives currents on the ocean’s surface

12. The Hydrologic (Water) Cycle
EEn.2.3.2

13. The Hydrologic (Water) Cycle
A never-ending natural circulation of water through Earth’s systems powered by the Sun

14. Components of the Water Cycle
Solar Radiation – the energy source for the cycle
Reservoir – living things, snowfields, glaciers, lakes, oceans
Evaporation – water vapor from land or bodies of water
Transpiration – water vapor from plants
Condensation – water vapor condenses into droplets
Precipitation – rain, snow, hail, sleet, freezing rain, etc.
Runoff or Infiltration

15. Runoff vs Infiltration
Vegetation
more vegetation = more infiltration
less vegetation = more runoff
Rate of Precipitation
lighter rainfall = more infiltration
harder rainfall = more runoff
Soil composition
high humus, coarse particles = more infiltration
low humus, fine particles = more runoff
Slope
flatter slope = more infiltration
steep slope = more runoff
These factors affect the amount of water that ends up either under ground or staying on the surface.

16. North Carolina Water Systems Rivers, Wetlands and Tidal Regions

17. Stream Systems
Some runoff flows into brooks, creeks, streams and rivers that eventually empty into lakes and oceans
drainage basin – all the land area whose water drains into a stream system
stream load – all the materials (living and non- living) that the water in a stream carries
Carried in three ways – solution, suspension and
bed load

18. Types of Stream Loads
Solution – dissolved materials; depends on what the stream has passed through; expressed in parts per million (ppm)
Suspension – small enough to be held up by moving water; size of particles depends on the stream’s volume and velocity (faster = larger)
Bed Load – materials too large/heavy to be held up by the water

19. Stream Carrying Capacity
Amount of material a stream can transport
Depends upon velocity and amount of water moving in the stream
Affected by channel slope, depth and width
discharge – measure of the volume of stream water that flows over a particular area within a given period of time
Discharge(m3/s) = width(m) X depth(m) X velocity(m/s)
As discharge increases carrying capacity increases
Impacted by heavy rain, flooding, rapid melting of snow

20. North Carolina Drainage Basins
Three distinct systems -
1. To the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi
French Broad, Great Kanawha
2. To the Atlantic Ocean through South Carolina
Yadkin, Catawba
3. To the Atlantic Ocean through North Carolina
Chowan, Tar, Roanoke, Neuse, Cape Fear

21. There are 17 river drainage basins in North Carolina
They drain 52,337 mi2 of surface and underground water
We ALL live in a drainage basin!!!

22. What are Estuaries?
Places near the coast where freshwater and saltwater mix
Influenced by both the ocean and freshwater sources
Tides, waves, major storms
Time of day and length of the estuary influence the amount of salinity
More salty at high tide and closer to the ocean

23. North Carolina Estuaries
North of Cape Lookout
Thick layers of sand, mud and peat deposited over 1.6 million years as different ice ages caused the rise and fall of sea levels
South of Cape Lookout
Mostly rock covered by a thin layer of sand and mud
Formed 90 to 1.6 million years ago

24. Why are Estuaries Important?
Erosion and flooding control
Sand bars buffer waves
Plants and shellfish beds anchor the shore against tides
Absorb high winds and water from heavy rains and storm surge
Filter out toxins
Chemically - aerobic respiration, sulfate reduction, methanogenesis
Biologically - feeding of estuarine animals (oysters) and bacteria – indicator species
Animal and plant habitat – over 150 plant and animal species
Economic
75% of the fish caught commercially in the United States live in estuaries
Tourism and recreation

25. Threats to Estuaries Land use changes
Since European colonization, nearly half North Carolina’s wetlands have been lost, and coastal development continues to damage wetlands
Contamination of rivers and oceans
North Carolina estuaries contain 3,000 square miles of surface water, but 30,000 square miles of land drains into the Albemarle-Pamlico
Dredging of channels
Global warming/Hurricanes
Together sea level rise and storms cause NC wetlands to erode at a rate of about 800 acres per year
Excess of nutrients

26. Floods
Floodplain – broad, flat area extending out from a stream’s bank that is covered by excess water during times of flooding
As flood water recedes it deposits sediments in the floodplain that develop highly fertile soil
Upstream flooding – local
Downstream flooding - widespread

27. Human Impacts on the Hydrosphere
EEn.2.4.1

28. HOW DO YOU USE WATER? How Humans Use Water Wells Dams and dam removal
Aquifer depletion
Agriculture
Recreation
HOW DO YOU USE WATER?

29. Misuse of Water Over pumping wells
Subsidence – when land over an aquifer sinks due to decrease of water
Pollution
Mismanagement

30. Water Pollution Sewage Industrial waste Landfills
Usually from faulty septic tanks
Industrial waste
Usually occur in ions and molecules that are not easy to filter out
Arsenic is an example
Landfills
Agricultural chemicals
ONCE POLLUTANTS GET INTO THE WATER IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO GET THEM OUT!!!!!

31. Naturally Occurring Pollutants
SALT – big issue in coastal areas
Freshwater layer is on top of ocean water because salty water is more dense that fresh water
When wells in these areas are over pumped, it pulls salt water in to the freshwater layer and contaminates the wells
RADON – naturally occurring radioactive gas
Leading cause of cancer in the United States
Comes from decaying uranium (granite, shale)
Found in small amounts in all groundwater

32. Protecting Water Identify and stop the sources of pollution
Monitor and try to contain known sources of pollution
Create awareness about water pollution and its effects

33. How Would You Fix… Accidental spills from vehicles
Leaks from storage tanks
Seepage from acid mine drainage
Saltwater intrusion into aquifers near shorelines
Leaks from waste disposal sites

34. Types of Pollution
Point Source – water pollution that comes from a single point of origin that is easily traced to a source
Oil spill, industrial spill
Non-Point Source – water pollution that generally creates pollution from wide spread areas
Runoff from roads

35. Sources of Pollution Industry – fracking; oil/chemical spills
Construction/Development
Farming/landscaping
Hog farms
Vehicles
Personal

36. NC Water Pollution Issues

37. Types of Pollution
Point Source – water pollution that comes from a single point of origin that is easily traced to a source
Oil spill, industrial spill
Non-Point Source – water pollution that generally creates pollution from wide spread areas
Runoff from roads

38. Sources of Pollution Hog farms Industry Construction/Development
Farming/landscaping
Vehicles
Personal

39. Hog Farms
Per capita swine produce about 10 times as much feces as humans
adult swine: up to 4 pounds per day
humans: up to 0.4 pound per day
A swine farm with 5,000 animals produces as much fecal waste as a city of 50,000 people
equal to North Carolina's largest cities in waste production
Treatment and management requirements for swine waste are primitive compared to those for human municipal waste

41. Industry
Fracking wells nationwide produced an estimated 280 billion gallons of wastewater in 2012.
often contains cancer-causing and even radioactive materials
Scientists have linked underground injection of wastewater to earthquakes.
In New Mexico alone waste pits from all oil and gas drilling have contaminated groundwater on more than 400 occasions
Fracking requires huge volumes of water for each well
have used at least 250 billion gallons of water since 2005

43. Construction/Development
Sediment pollution is the number one water pollution problem in North Carolina
Clearing, excavating and grading significantly disturb soil and sediment
soil that is not managed properly can easily be washed off of the construction site during storms and pollute nearby water bodies
Soil runoff from construction has also reduced the depth of small streams, lakes and reservoirs, leading to the need for dredging

45. Farming/Landscaping
agricultural nonpoint source (NPS) pollution was the leading source of water quality impacts on surveyed rivers and lakes, the second largest source of impairments to wetlands, and a major contributor to contamination of surveyed estuaries and ground water
poorly located or managed animal feeding operations
overgrazing
plowing too often or at the wrong time
improper, excessive or poorly timed application of pesticides, irrigation water and fertilizer