Hydrologic Basin Processes, Erosion, and Pollution: Key Concepts and Definitions

Q = A x V, where A is the cross-sectional area and V is the average velocity.

What is the formula for discharge (Q) in a hydrologic basin?

Cubic feet per second (cfs) or cubic meters per second (cms).

What are the units for measuring discharge?

Hills and flat areas.

What are the two main areas where erosion occurs in a hydrologic basin?

Overland flow (sheet flow) and channelized flow (concentrated flow).

What are the two types of flow involved in erosion?

Corrosion (chemical erosion) and corrasion (mechanical or physical erosion).

What are the two types of erosion processes?

What are the four types of erosion mentioned?

Vertical, horizontal, oblique, and knickpoint recession.

Also known as entrainment, it refers to the movement of sediment by water.

What is transport in the context of hydrologic processes?

Competence is the largest-sized particle that can be carried, while capacity is the total amount of material that can be carried.

What factors determine the competence and capacity of a stream?

Bed load, suspended load, and dissolved load.

What are the three types of sediment load in a stream?

Distance from the source and loss of transport power.

What controls deposition in a hydrologic basin?

What causes a reduction in transport power in a stream?

Reduction of slope or a decrease in discharge (Q).

A current that is influenced by differences in density, causing thinning with distance from the source.

What is a density current in hydrology?

Geologic erosion occurs under natural conditions, while accelerated erosion is an increased rate due to human activity.

What is the difference between geologic erosion and accelerated erosion?

What are some human activities that contribute to accelerated erosion?

Agricultural activity and urbanization.

Particulate matter (dust) and chemicals.

What are the two main types of air pollutants?

A relatively high concentration mixture of both chemical and particulate pollutants over an urban area.

What is smog?

A lower level concentration mainly composed of particulate matter.

What is haze?

Particles that settle out of the atmosphere, which can occur as dry fall or wet fall.

What is fallout in terms of air pollution?

What is the difference between dry fall and washout?

Dry fall refers to particles settling out of the atmosphere, while washout refers to particles or chemicals brought out by rainfall.

What are the two types of smog?

Industrial smog and photochemical smog.

What is industrial smog and its environmental impact?

Results in acid rain and greenhouse gas emissions, exemplified by Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

Chemical reactions occurring in polluted air through the action of sunlight on pollutant gases to produce new compounds.

What is photochemical smog?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

What agency determines 'criteria pollutants' in the U.S.?

What are the six criteria pollutants identified by the EPA?

Carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), tropospheric ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM), and lead (Pb).

To achieve air quality levels below historic levels through strict standards and emission limits.

What was the goal of the Clean Air Act of 1970?

Not In My BackYard; a public reaction to keeping environmentally harmful activities away from wealthier neighborhoods.

What does NIMBY stand for?

Temperature change, change in precipitation, and sea level rise.

What are the three main factors involved in climate change dynamics?

Increased weather-related mortality, spread of infectious diseases, respiratory illnesses, radiation damage, and increased UV radiation exposure.

What are five impacts of climate change on human health?

It leads to lower crop yields and increased irrigation demands.

How does climate change affect agriculture?

Changes in competition, shifts in geographic range, and decreased health and productivity.

What are the impacts of climate change on forests?

Changes in water supply and quality, with increased competition for clean water.

What are the water resource impacts of climate change?

Increased flooding, beach erosion, and higher costs to defend coastal communities.

How does climate change affect coastal areas?

Shifts in ecological zones and loss of habitat and species diversity.

What are the ecological impacts of climate change?

Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4).

What are the two worst greenhouse gases contributing to climate change?

What is the role of ice caps and glaciers in climate change?

They are sensitive to global warming, with rapid melting affecting sea levels.

An international panel summarizing scientific reports and predicting future changes related to climate change.

What is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)?

Astronomical (Milankovitch Cycles), atmospheric changes (Greenhouse Effect), geophysical (continental drift), land/water changes (ocean currents), and glaciological (surging glaciers).

What are the five different sets of theories blamed for climate change?

It is critical for ice-growth and expansion processes, with temperature playing a key role.

What is the significance of the preservation of annual snowfall in relation to ice growth?

This process is known as sea level rise.

What is the process of the oceans' height increasing and decreasing periodically called?

What causes tides?

Tides result from the gravitational pull of the moon and sun.

The amount of water vapor a given volume of air holds compared to the maximum amount it could hold at a given temperature.

What is relative humidity?

Earth's atmosphere is composed mostly of nitrogen and oxygen.

What gases primarily compose Earth's atmosphere?

Gravity pulls gas molecules toward the Earth's surface, causing air to be more dense near the surface.

How does gravity affect air density?

Seasons result from differences in the amount and intensity of sunlight due to the tilt of Earth's axis.

What causes the seasons on Earth?

A colony of leafcutter ants, the leaves they harvest, the fungi they cultivate, and the soil nutrients needed for their garden.

What is an example of an ecosystem?

Species that are found only in one place on the planet.

What are endemic species?

Dog breeds are a classic example; another example is breeding wild cabbage to create broccoli and cauliflower.

What is a classic example of artificial selection?

A hummingbird is best described as a nectivore.

What is the niche of a hummingbird?

The maximum sustainable population that a given environment can support.

What is carrying capacity?

Birth rate, death rate, emigration, and immigration.

What factors determine a population's growth rate?

By preserving habitats, preventing non-native species introduction, and encouraging ecotourism.

How can biodiversity be protected?

Island species evolved in isolation and lack defenses against introduced species.

Why are island species vulnerable to introduced species?

The depletion of the Ogallala aquifer for irrigation water.

What is the primary reason for unsustainable grain production in the Great Plains?

Using water to power electric generators in a dam.

What is a nonconsumptive use of water?

Agricultural irrigation.

What is the main consumptive use of water by humans?

A landscaping method that saves water by planting native or drought-resistant plants.

What is xeriscaping?

A consequence of excess nitrates in the water supply.

What is 'blue-baby' syndrome?

Materials produced at a wastewater treatment plant, often used as crop fertilizer.

What are biosolids?

Water that has been used by humans and treated for release back into the environment.

What is effluent?

Populations and water resources often have an inverse relationship.

What is the spatial relationship between water and population distributions?

Surface water that is less salty, less dense, and warmer.

What are thermohaline circulation systems characterized by?

Symbiotic algae that provide corals with energy via their photosynthetic activity.

What are zooxanthellae?

The gently sloping area that underlies the shallow water bordering continents.

What is the continental shelf?

A coastal habitat where fresh and saltwater mix, typically where a river empties into the ocean.

What is an estuary?

Nutrient pollution from various sources.

What can lead to algal blooms and red tides?

Coral reefs.

What is bottom trawling most likely to harm?

Fishermen accidentally catching sea turtles while driftnetting for pelagic fish.

What is an example of bycatching?

Various species that live in benthic habitats, such as halibut and flounder.

What are groundfish?

Oil drilling.

What activity is NOT allowed in marine protected areas?

Nitrogen.

Which gas comprises the largest portion of Earth's atmosphere?

Lead (Pb) causes central nervous system problems in humans.

Why is lead pollution a concern?

Air pollution emissions.

What has decreased in the United States since 1980?

Mercury.

Which harmful pollutant is NOT closely tracked by the U.S. EPA?

It absorbs and scatters UV light.

Why is stratospheric ozone important to ecosystems?

Increased rates of skin cancer in humans.

What is a consequence of CFC pollution?

It leaches important minerals from soils.

What does acid deposition do to soils?

Radon and cigarette smoke.

What are the two most deadly sources of indoor pollution in industrialized nations?

A naturally occurring radioactive gas that may cause lung cancer.

What is radon?

Molecules in the atmosphere trap heat radiated from Earth's surface.

How does Earth's atmosphere contribute to global warming?

Breathing.

Which anthropogenic factor does NOT contribute to climate change?

30%.

What percentage of the sun's energy is reflected off the Earth?

They have never exceeded 300 ppm in the last 800,000 years.

What have polar ice core analyses shown about global carbon dioxide levels?

A few hundred years at most.

How long have accurate measurements of Earth's climate been recorded?

Carbon dioxide.

What is the predominant greenhouse gas produced by burning fossil fuels?

Methane.

What gas is produced by microbes decomposing matter in landfills and swamps?

Replanting forests.

What is a mitigation approach to climate change?

A Pacific island nation building higher seawalls.

What is an adaptation response to climate change?