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Hydrosphere SP 1-86
Hydrosphere Study Packet 1 - 86
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| 1 What natural states of matter does water occur in? | Water is the only substance on Earth that occurs naturally as a solid, a liquid, and a gas |
| 2 What is meant by “the universal solvent”? | It is often referred to as ‘the universal solvent’ because so many other substances dissolve in it. |
| 3 Define solution: | a liquid mixture in which the minor component (the solute) is uniformly distributed within the major component (the solvent) |
| 4 Define solvent: | able to dissolve other substances. |
| 5 Define solute: | a solid, liquid, or gas which is dissolved to make a solution. A solute is dissolved in a solvent to make a solution. |
| 6 Why is water encountered on earth rarely pure? | It is often referred to as ‘the universal solvent’ because so many other substances dissolve in it. |
| 7 What percent is the Earth covered with water? | Water covers approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface (USGS). |
| 8 What is the USGS? | The USGS (United States Geological Survey) is a science bureau within the United States Department of the Interior. |
| 9 What percent of the water on Earth is not drinkable and why? | Most of this water (97%) is not drinkable because it is saltwater. |
| 10 What percent of the Earth’s waters are freshwater? And where does the freshwater exist? | The majority of freshwater (3%) exists in ice caps, glaciers, and oceans. 77% of the freshwater is frozen. Of the 23% that is not frozen, approximately a half of a percent is available to supply living organisms with what they need to survive. |
| 11 Why does the availability of water vary? | The availability of water varies with local geography and allows humans to utilize water as a resource. |
| 12 Name 4 major reasons why the ocean is salty. | dissovled chemicals from the Earth's crust wash into the sea, ejections from volcanoes, particles swept into the ocean from the land, materials dissolved from sediment deposited on the ocean floor |
| 13 What is salinity? | Salinity is the dissolved salt content of a body of water. |
| What decreases salinity in ocean waters? | 2 It is decreased as a result of rainfall, and runoff |
| 14 What increases salinity in ocean waters? | 1 Salinity in ocean waters is increased by evaporation or by freezing of sea ice. |
| 15 What is the average salinity? | The average salinity of seawater is 35 parts per thousand. |
| How do you increase the concentration of salt in a salt water solution? | lower the amount of water |
| How do you decrease the concentration of salt in a salt water solution? | add more water |
| 16 Where are salinities much less than average? Name 3 areas. | Salinities are much less than average in coastal waters, in the polar seas, and in rivers |
| Why are salinities much less than average in the coastal waters? | Freshwater rivers can flow into the ocean causing it to have a lower salinity. Runoff can flow into the ocean near land causing it to have a lower salinity. |
| 17 What is the hydrosphere? | The hydrosphere is all the waters on the Earth’s surface. |
| 18 What is the lithosphere? | The lithosphere is the rigid outer part of the earth consisting of the crust and upper mantle. |
| 19 What is the atmosphere? | The atmosphere is the envelope of gases surrounding the earth or another planet. |
| 20 What is the biosphere? | The biosphere is a global ecosystem made up of living organisms (biotic) and the nonliving (abiotic) factors that provide them with energy and nutrients. |
| 21 Define biota/biotic | Living organisms |
| 22 Define abiotic. | Nonliving factors |
| Name 3 abiotic factors. | temperature, salinity, pressure, sunlight, dissolved gases and depth |
| 23 Where is the biosphere located on the Earth? | the part of the earth where living things exist. It encompasses all living things living in the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. |
| 24 Define polarity. | Unequal sharing of electrons makes water a polar molecule. |
| 25 Define cohesion. | like is attracted to like: Water is attracted to water |
| 26 Define adhesion. | water likes to stick to other things |
| 27 Define high surface tension: | The property of the surface of a liquid that allows it to resist an external force, due to the cohesive nature of its molecules |
| 28 Define density. | Density: The density of water is roughly 1 gram per milliliter but this changes with temperature or if there are substances dissolved in it. |
| 29 Define high specific heat. | the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of a substance 1 degree Celsius; Water has a high specific heat, meaning it takes more energy to increase the temperature of water compared to other substances. |
| 30 Define high heat of vaporization. | the amount of energy needed to change one gram of a liquid substance to a gas at constant temperature; Water's heat of vaporization is around 540 cal/g at 100 °C, water's boiling point. |
| 31 Why is the ocean an integral component of the world/s climate? | its capacity to drive and mix water - it is a dynamic entity. |
| 32 What does the heat of the warming ocean do to the air above it? | Because the ocean can store so much heat, seasons occur later than they would and air above the ocean is warmed. |
| 33 How does the heat stored in the ocean affect the climate? | Heat energy stored in the ocean in one season will affect the climate almost an entire season later. |
| 34 What is the photic zone? What is it also called? | The photic zone is the top layer nearest the surface of the ocean and is also called the sunlight layer. In this zone enough light penetrates the water to allow photosynthesis. |
| 35 Why do you think evaporation of ocean waters is more noticeable near the equator and decreases closer to the poles? | Evaporation cools ocean water which cools the atmosphere. It is most noticeable near the equator and the effect decreases closer to the poles. |
| 36 What is the North Atlantic Oscillation? | an irregular fluctuation of atmospheric pressure over the North Atlantic Ocean that has a strong effect on winter weather in Europe |
| 37 What is an El Nino? | occurs when surface water in the equatorial Pacific becomes warmer than average and east winds blow weaker than normal. El Niño means Little Boy in Spanish. |
| 38 Where does the ocean store heat? And why? | in the upper two meters of the photic zone. This is because seawater has a very high density and specific heat and as a result can store vast quantities of energy in the form of heat. The ocean can then buffer changes in temperature |
| 39 What cools ocean waters? | Evaporation cools ocean water which cools the atmosphere. It is most noticeable near the equator and the effect decreases closer to the poles. |
| Why does cold water in the oceans rise at the equator? | Ocean surface circulation brings warm equatorial waters towards the poles and cooler polar water towards the equator. |
| 40 What is the water cycle? | The water cycle is the continuous movement of water in and around the Earth. |
| Which is denser cool water or warm water and why? | cool water is denser than warm water because it does not have as much energy, so the molecules are closer together |
| 41 What drives the entire water cycle and what are its two components? | The sun drives the entire water cycle and is responsible for its two major components: condensation and evaporation. |
| What causes the cold water at the bottom of the ocean to rise to the top? | Upwelling is a process in which currents bring deep, cold water to the surface of the ocean. Upwelling is a result of winds and the rotation of the Earth. |
| 42 Name 7 parts of the water cycle. | Evaporation, condensation, transpiration, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, ground water |
| 43 Name two causes of runoff. | The precipitation that falls to the ground becomes runoff which courses over the surface of the earth in streams. (Runoff also comes from snowmelt) |
| 44 What happens to runoff? Name 2 things that happen to it. | accumulate and freeze into snow caps or glaciers; can also infiltrate the ground and accumulate becoming ground water |
| 45 What is meant by permeability? | Permeability is a measure of the ability of a rock or sediment to transmit water or other liquids. A substantial amount of water is stored in permeable soil and rock underground. |
| 46 Does water pass through impermeable materials? | Water does not pass through impermeable materials. |
| 47 What is an aquifer? | An aquifer is a large deposit of groundwater that can be extracted and used. |
| 48 What is a hydrothermal vent the result of? | a hydrothermal vent is the result of water moving down through lines of breakage in the ocean’s crust in or near where two tectonic plates move away or towards one another. The seawater that percolates through these breakage lines is heated by hot magma |
| 49 What are tectonic plates? | Remember that the outermost layer of the earth is called the crust and it is broken into large pieces called tectonic plates. |
| What is a fault line? | a long crack in the surface of the earth. Earthquakes usually occur along fault lines; usually an area that is weak |
| 50 What are the vents that form on land called? | hot springs |
| What is a vent in plate tectonics? | Water seeps into cracks in the ocean's crust, is heated by magma, and eventually reemerges through a hydrothermal vent. |
| 51 What is a hot spring | a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth; hydrothermal spring; hot spring; geothermal spring |
| 52 What is a geyser? | a rare kind of hot spring that is under pressure and erupts, sending jets of water and steam into the air. Geysers are made from a tube-like hole in the Earth's surface that runs deep into the crust; ejected with a massive force |
| 53 What is a fumarole? | Fumaroles are vents or openings at the surface where volcanic gases and vapors are emitted. Fumaroles are common features on active volcanoes. |
| 54 What drives the entire water cycle? | The water cycle is the continuous movement of water and the sun drives the entire water cycle: evaporation, condensation and precipitation. |
| 55 What is meant by the tree canopy? | A tree canopy is the cover resulting from the leaves at the top branches of a tree. |
| 56 Where does runoff come from? | The precipitation that falls to the ground becomes runoff which courses over the surface of the earth in streams. (Runoff also comes from snowmelt |
| 57 Where does runoff go? | Runoff can accumulate and freeze into snow caps or glaciers. Runoff can also infiltrate the ground and accumulate becoming groundwater. |
| 58 What is groundwater? | Groundwater is water held underground in the soil or in pores and crevices in rock. |
| Can water freeze in the crevices in rocks? | Yes, and it can cause fizzures/cracks in rocks. The expansion and contraction of freezing water can cause this. |
| 60 What is an aquifer? | An aquifer is a large deposit of groundwater that can be extracted and used; an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials. |
| 61 What is a river basin? | A river basin is the portion of land drained by a river and its tributaries. |
| 62 What is a tributary? | A tributary is a freshwater stream that feeds into a larger stream or river. |
| 63 What is the larger or parent river called? | The larger, or parent, river is called the mainstem |
| 64 What is a confluence? | The point where a tributary meets the mainstem is called the confluence. |
| What is a affluent stream? | Tributaries, also called affluents, do not flow directly into the ocean. Most large rivers are formed from many tributaries. |
| 65 What is an estuary? | An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal water body where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean. Estuaries |
| What is it called when a river flows into a larger body of water? | What is it called when a river flows into a larger body of water? A river mouth is where a river flows into a larger body of water, such as another river, a lake/reservoir, a bay/gulf, a sea, or an ocean. |
| 66 What is the largest drainage basin in the United States? | The Mississippi River is the largest drainage basin in the United States and the second-longest river in North America. It is also the 15th largest river by discharge in the world. |
| 67 What is the largest river basin in the world? | The Amazon basin is the largest river basin in the world covering just over one-third of the entire South American continent. |
| 68 Where are the two places that the basins in North Carolina drain to? | In North Carolina, the five western basins drain to the Gulf of Mexico. The other 12 basins flow to the Atlantic Ocean. Only four basins are contained entirely within the state (Cape Fear |
| 69 Why is it that all land-dwellers live in a river basin? | land-dwellers live on land that drains to a river or estuary or lake, and their actions on that land affect water quality and quantity far downstream. |
| 70 How many river basins are in North Carolina? | There are 17 river basins in North Carolina. |
| 71 What two factors determine where a basin drains to? | The topography of each basin determines the area that it drains, and whether that water (from creeks, rivers, springs, and aquifers) flows into the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. |
| 72 What do you think topography means? | Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves or a description or depiction in maps. |
| 73 What is the largest reservoir of water on the surface of the Earth? | The ocean is the largest reservoir of water on the surface of the Earth. |
| What is the largest and deepest ocean of the world? | The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the world ocean basins. |
| 74 What is the single largest reservoir of heat at the Earth’s surface? | The ocean is the single largest reservoir of heat at Earth’s surface. |
| What is a basin? | a depression, or dip, in the Earth's surface; it can have water flowing to it and through it with outlets to other bodies of water |
| 75 What does the stored heat in the ocean drive? | The stored heat in the ocean drives much of Earth’s weather and causes climate near the ocean to be milder than climate in the interior of continents. |
| 76 Why do you think it is warmer near the coast than inland? | The heat comes from the stored heat in the ocean. |
| 77 What is an estuary? | Estuaries are areas where fresh and salt water mix producing variations in salinity and high biological activity. |
| 78 What do estuaries trap? | Estuaries trap nutrients and sediment that are carried from the land by rivers and from the ocean by tides. |
| 79 What do the conditions in estuaries create? | These conditions create a fertile repository of plant and animal life. Estuaries are one of the most productive ecosystems on earth as well as areas for aquatic life to breed. |
| 80 Why does sunshine penetrate to the bottom of estuaries in North Carolina? | Because estuarine waters are shallow (in North Carolina less than thirty feet deep) |
| 81 What conditions create unique habitats for both plants and animals in estuaries? | The rivers that feed estuaries deposit sediments rich in nutrients which settle onto the sand and mud of the estuary floor. These conditions create unique habitats for both plants and animals |
| 82 What do you think brackish means? | Brackish water is less salty than seawater, but it is more salty than fresh water. Brackish water can be found where fresh water mixes with seawater |
| 83 Why are estuaries good nurseries? | Estuaries are also good nurseries as they provide a protected environment for species to hatch and grow in before they migrate to the sea to live out their adult lives. |
| 84 What is the name of the largest estuary in North Carolina? | The largest North Carolina estuary is Pamlico Sound. Water drains into this system from eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, from the Chowan, Roanoke, Pasquotank, Pamlico, and Neuse Rivers, from marshes, swamps, forests, and grasslands. |
| 84 What do estuaries help control? | Estuaries help control erosion and reduce flooding of the mainland. |
| 85 What are some of the functions of swamps and marshes? | Swamps and marshes take the initial impact of high winds moving in from the ocean, soak up heavy rain and storm surges, and release the extra water gradually into rivers and groundwater supplies. |
| 86 How do estuaries behave like a type of environmental filter? | plants/animals can filter out pollutants; salt marsh plants can neutralize chemicals from other bodies of water; oysters can filter out impurities in water; bacteria can eat organic matter in the sediment |
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