chapter 6 ISB

groundwater

freshwater trapped underground 

Surface water

lakes, streams and rivers 

Water cycle

 heat from the sun causes water to evaporate from surface waters and land surfaces (evaporation)

Evapotranspiration

(combination of evaporation and transpitation) sneds trillions of gallons of water vapor into the atmosphere every year 

-> plant roots pull up water form soil and release into atmosphere (transpiration) 

Aquifer

draw their water from underground region of permeable soil or porous rock saturated with water 

Infiltration

process of water soaking into the ground 

Water table

Upper levels of saturated zone of groundwater

Saltwater intrusion

movement of saltwater into aquifer spaces left by missing freshwater

Safe drinking water act (SDWA)

federal law that protects public drinking water supplies in the united states 

Wastewater

any kind of water used or contaminated water produced by industry, agriculture, homes and businesses

Reservoirs

 Large bodies of water that hold freshwater for a variety of uses (freshwater source, flood control, electricity production)

Desalination

 removal of salt and minerals from seawater to make it suitable for consumption

Stormwater runoff

water from precipitation that flows over the surface of the land

Point source pollution

 whose discharge source can be clearly identified 

Effluent

pollution from large discharge pipes of wastewater treatment plants or industrial sites

Nonpoint source pollution

not easily identifiable 

Pathogens

disease causing organisms 

Sediment pollution

 eroded soil that is washed into the water through runoff

Dissolved oxygen

 amount of oxygen in the water

Eutrophication

process in which excess nutrients in aquatic ecosystems feed biological productivity, ultimately lowering the oxygen content in the water

Watershed

 land area surrounding a body of water over which water such as rain can flow and potentially enter that body of water

Benthic macroinvertebrates

easy to see (not microscopic) arthoropods such as insects that live on the stream bottom

Clean water act (CWA)

regulates industrial and municipal point source pollution (such as sewege treatment plants) with a goal of making all environmental waters fishable and swimable 

Performance standards

levels of pollutants allowed to be present in the environment or released over a certain time period

Algal blooms

rapid increase in the density of algae in an aquatic system

Total maximum daily loads (TMDL):

 for specific pollutant or pollutant group this is the maximum amount of the pollutant that can enter the water on a daily basis

Riparian areas

land areas close enough to a body of water to be affected by the waters presence and that affect the water itself

Acidification

lowering the pH of a solution

Marine calcifiers

ocean organism that make shells, plates and exoskeleton from calcium minerals

Estuaries

regions where rivers empty into the ocean

Zoocanthellae

mutualistic photosynthetic algal partner of a coral polyp; each provide nutrients that the other needs

Coral bleaching

 a stress response in a coral in which the mutualistic algal partner is expelled; this weakens and even can kill the coral if it is not recolonized soon