Groundwater and Running Water

Which of the following is the primary step that allows water to enter the groundwater system?

infiltration

Which of the following statements about the global water supply is true?

Decreased precipitation could impact water supply available for humans.

Rank the following sources of water from largest to smallest in terms of percentage of the world's total supply.

oceans, glaciers, groundwater, non-glacial ice and snow, lakes, rivers.

How much of Earth's surface water exists in the oceans?

Almost all of Earth's surface water exists in the oceans.

Which ocean is Earth's largest?

the Pacific Ocean

Where is most of Earth's freshwater found?

as ice at Earth's surface

What does the hydrologic cycle describe?

The hydrologic cycle describes how liquid and gaseous water move between the ocean, atmosphere, and land.

How does water get from the oceans onto land?

Ocean water evaporates to form gaseous water and moves into the atmosphere, where it condenses into liquid water and falls out of the atmosphere to land as rain.

What would happen to atmospheric water if Earth were mostly covered with land?

The atmosphere would contain less water.

What would happen to the oceans if surface runoff and groundwater flow did NOT occur?

The oceans would become smaller.

Water falling in Illinois would ultimately end up where?

Gulf of Mexico

Which of the following statements about drainage basins is FALSE?

Drainage basins only contain one river.

Divide

a boundary, usually a hill or mountain, where water will flow in opposite directions on either side

Watershed

an area in which all water falling in it flows out through one location

Tributary

a river that feeds into another river

Trunk Stream

the primary river flowing out of a drainage basin

The Appalachian Mountains are an example of __________?

a Divide

The Missouri River Basin is an example of __________?

a Watershed

The Big Horn River is an example of __________?

a Tributary

The Mississippi River is an example of __________?

a Trunk Stream

Which of the following statements about deposition and erosion around meander loops is true?

Erosion occurs where water is moving the fastest along the outside of the loop.

Deposition occurs where water is moving the slowest along the inside of the loop.

What type of stream is associated with the formation of an oxbow lake?

meandering stream

What is the dominant fluvial process in a clear, sediment-poor stream moving down a steep slope?

downcutting

Which processes result in the widening of the floodplain of a meandering stream?

undercutting and lateral erosion

Where do deposition and erosion of material occur along a meander?

Deposition occurs on the inside of the meander, whereas erosion occurs on the outside.

What is an oxbow lake?

a meander that has been cut off from the original stream channel

How are oxbow lakes formed?

Oxbow lakes form when one meander erodes into another, cutting off water to part of the stream channel.

What is a meander scar?

a landscape feature formed after an oxbow lake dries up

How can pieces of rock in contact with a stream bed move?

rolling, sliding, bouncing

Complete this analogy: Bouncing is to sand as suspension is to_____________.

clay

Complete this analogy: Sliding is to gravel as dissolution is to_____________.

ions

Which of the following are part of the bed load?

gravel and sand

What are the three types of loads carried by streams?

bed load, suspended load, dissolved load

What is suspended load?

the fine-grained particles that travel in the water column above the stream bed

Which of the following represent the largest volume of freshwater found on Earth?

ice sheets and glaciers

Which of the following is a true statement about groundwater?

Water in a groundwater system is stored in subsurface pore spaces and fractures.

In the __________, groundwater fills the pore space.

zone of saturation

The water table __________.

surface is a subdued version of the surface topography

A __________ is separated from the groundwater system by the unsaturated zone.

losing stream (disconnected)