surface water text book page # 318 – 325
DESCRIPTION
What is a river system? A river system includes a river in addition to any streams or tributaries that flow into that river.TRANSCRIPT
Surface Water Text Book page # 318 325 What is a river system? A
river system includes a river in addition to any streams or
tributaries that flow into that river. A stream or smaller river
that feeds into a main river.
Tributary A stream or smaller river that feeds into a main river.
Tributaries Flow downward toward the main river.
What force causes this? Pulled down by the force of Gravity! The
land area that supplies water to a river system.
Watershed The land area that supplies water to a river system.
Amazon River Basin Largest watershed in the world. Divide A ridge
of land that separates one watershed from another. The Continental
Divide, the longest divide in North America, follows the line of
Rocky Mountains Contain still or standing water
Bodies of fresh water Contain still or standing water Lakes and
ponds form when water collects in hollows and low-lying areas of
land. Lakes and Ponds Ponds Ponds are thriving habitats for various
plants and animals.
Algae serves as food for many animals. Ponds are typically very
shallow and sunlight can reach plants on the bottom. Ponds Lakes
Lakes are bigger and deeper than ponds.
Sunlight does not reach the bottom in a deep lake. Lake bottoms
consist of sand, pebbles and rock. Lakes Lakes can form from:
Cut-off meandering rivers (Oxbow lakes)
Erosion by ice (eg. The Great Lakes) Extinct volcano craters (eg.
Crater Lake, Mount Mazama Oregon, USA) Movements of Earths crust
(eg. Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria in Central Africa) Manmade
lakes are formed by river dams. Oxbow Lake Crater Lake, Mount
Mazama Oregon, USA Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria in Central
Africa Lakes- Human Uses Reservoir- A lake that stores water for
human use.
Drinking water Irrigation Boating Fishing Reservoir- A lake that
stores water for human use. Lake Turnover When the water in a lake
mixes due to temperature change causing minerals, plant matter, and
other nutrients to rise to the surface. This refreshes the
nutrients of the lake. Eutrophication When nutrients build up in a
lake over many years.
Algae forms a thick green scum on the surface of the water.
Icebergs Large chunks of ice that break off of a glacier and float
away into the ocean. Made of frozen FRESHWATER. Wetland A land area
that is covered with a shallow layer of water during some or all of
the year. Three types of freshwater wetlands
1. Marshes Are usually grassy areas covered by a shallow water or a
stream. Team with cattails and other tall, grasslike plants. Three
types of freshwater wetlands
2. Swamps Look more like flooded forests, with trees and shrubs
sprouting from the water. Located in warm, humid climates, where
trees grows quickly. Three types of freshwater wetlands
3. Bogs More common in cool, Northern areas. Often form in
depression left by melting ice sheets thousands of years ago. The
water in bogs tends to be acidic, and mosses thrive in these
conditions. The Everglades Example of a Wetland Importance of
Wetlands
Because of their sheltered waters and rich supply of nutrients,
wetlands provide habitats for many living things. They act as
natural water filters (eg. Pickerel weed filter pollutants from
water). Help control floods by absorbing extra runoff from heavy
rains.