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Percentage of our planet is covered in water
71%
Percentage of water is part of the oceans
97.14%
Percentage of water is freshwater
2.59%
List freshwater sources from most water to least
ice caps/glaciers, groundwater, lakes, soil moisture, atmosphere, rivers, biota
3 types of water
freshwater, brackish, and salt
where is surface water stored
in lakes, reservoirs, and wetlands
watershed
a defining boundary where water will go
types of precipitation measurements
rain gauge (cylinder), snow pillow (measure at depth), stream gauge (calculates discharge)
floods are _ and increase after storms
temporal/seasonal
floodplains
land adjacent to rivers prone to flooding
flood ratio frequency
100 year floodplain (floods around once every 100 years) = 1/100 chance of flooding every year
how do floods benefit the environment
they deposit nutrients and floodplain vegetation provides habitat for wildlife
how have humans increased flood potential
paving over land which creates runoff rather than infiltration which means less groundwater and streams dry in the summer
water quality parameters
physical or chemical indicators of water quality, used to assess whether water is polluted
water quality parameter units
parts per thousand (ppt), parts per million (ppm) and is equal to mg/L, parts per billion (ppb)
what affects water quality parameters
temperature, DO, nutrients, pH, and buffering capacity
temperature
warm water=cant hold as much oxygen so affects gases dissolved in water, rate of reactions and metabolism
DO
amounts of DO impacts which organisms can survive and is measured in ppm and percent saturation (how much DO does water have relative to how much it can have)
random fact about DO
as altitude goes up = can contain less DO, as altitude goes down = can contain more DO
Nutrients
Nitrogen, Phosphorus, if a small amount = plant/algae growth limited, if a large amount = production extreme
pH
pH = 7 neutral, pH > 7 basic, pH < 7 acidic, logarithmic = each unit is to times greater than the previous, exponents of H+ and OH- = -14, exponent of H+ = absolute value of pH
pH measured
indicators like dipstick or pH meters
Buffering Capacity
ability of a water to resist changes in pH, high buffering capacity can withstand addition of large amounts of acids before the pH lowers
