Running Water and Groundwater Chapter 9 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. Genesis 7:11 © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 117 Cycle or Storage? “The storehouses for the vast majority of all water on Earth are the oceans. It is estimated that of the 332,500,000 cubic miles (mi3) (1,386,000,000 cubic kilometers (km3)) of the world's water supply, about 321,000,000 mi3 (1,338,000,000 km3) is stored in oceans. That is about 96.5 percent. It is also estimated that the oceans supply about 90 percent of the evaporated water that goes into the water cycle.” USGS The atmosphere cycles 380,000 km3 per year, or rapids; waterfalls. • Ultimately, the valley widens, the river becomes wide and shallow, and a wide floodplain develops. • U=>floodplains (eventually). Possibly 100 miles wide. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. Deposition • As flowing water slows, large particles settle first; finally the tiniest particles settle in quiescent water. Each particle size has a critical settling velocity. Particles get sorted over distance by size. Consider river deltas. • Material deposited by a stream is called alluvium. In the southwestern United States there are alluvial fans. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. Groundwater • Water table & zone of saturation – Influenced by porosity (controlling rate of percolation), permeability of strata, slope of surface and strata, belt of soil moisture (near-surface zone where moisture stays around particles). – Water within the zone of saturation is called groundwater. • Aquifers vs. aquitards – Aquifers are the largest freshwater reservoir available to most people; tapped by wells (pumped wells) and artesian wells (naturally flowing). • Flow of groundwater is influenced by porosity and permeability of strata – Permeability – the relative ease of fluid flow through material such as soil, caused by gravity or pressure. • Hot springs and geysers © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. Caverns and Sinkholes • Rain water carries small amounts of carbon dioxide, becoming acid, and then it can dissolve limestone, producing: –Caverns – stalactites (c=ceiling) & stalagmites (g=ground) –Sinks and sinkholes © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc.
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