Date _11-14-14
2.5%
.26%
1.2%
30.1
%
.49%
2.6
20.9
%
3.8%
96.5%
68.7%
69
%
6. Of the freshwater, where is most of the water tied up? Glaciers and ice cap.
7. Of the remaining freshwater, where is the largest majority of that water found? In
ground water.
8. What percentage of freshwater is found as surface water? 1.2%______________
9. Compare the amount of freshwater to the amount of saltwater in cubic kilometers:
There is 562000 more saline water volume in cubic miles than fresh water.
Evapotranspiration
1. According to this website, define evapotranspiration: (beneath the diagram) The sum of
evaporation and transpiration.
2. Define transpiration: The process by which moisture is carried throughout a plant and escapes
as vapor.
3. How much water in the atmosphere is due to transpiration: About 10% is found in the
atmosphere.222
4. How does a plant transpire? Water is soaked up by roots and transpires from its leaves.
5. How much can an oak tree transpire during one day? An oak tree can transpire about 109
gallons of water a day.
Freshwater Storage
1. What bodies of water does surface water include: Streams, ponds, lakes, reservoirs and
canals, and freshwater wetlands.
2. What processes are included in inflows to surface water? Inflows include precipitation, overland
runoff, groundwater seepage, and tributary inflows.
3. What processes are included in outflows of surface water? Outflows include evaporation,
movement of water into groundwater, and withdrawals by humans.
Groundwater Discharge
1. Describe why groundwater is an important part of the water cycle: It contributes to the flow of
streams and rivers and Influences River and wetland habitats.
2. Where is the majority of groundwater found? Groundwater is mostly found in spaces between
rocks and subsurface material.
3. When are aquifers formed? Aquifers are formed when soil and rock particles and be totally filled
with water.
4. Explain how water becomes part of the groundwater: Precipitation that falls and infiltrates into
the ground becomes groundwater
5. What percentage of freshwater is groundwater? 30.1% of freshwater is groundwater.
Groundwater Storage
1. Where does most of the water in groundwater come from? Most water comes from saline
water.
2. Describe the difference between the saturated zone and the unsaturated zone: The unsaturated
zone does not saturate the soil but the saturated zone saturates and takes up all spaces in soil.
3. What is the water table? The level below the ground that becomes saturated with water.
4. To what level would you have to dig to find water? You would have to access the water in the
saturated zone.
Recharge to
water table
Soil zone
Water
table
Unsaturated
zone
Saturated zone
beneath water table
Precipitation
1. What forms of water can precipitation take? Water can fall as snow, rain, sleet, and hail.
2. How does most precipitation fall? Rain is the most common precipitation.
3. What has to happen before water can fall as precipitation? Before water can fall as precipitation
it has to condense in the cloud.
4. How do water droplets grow? Water molecules join together in the cloud.
5. Draw how raindrops actually look up to 3 mm:
Snowmelt Runoff
1. In what type of climates does snowmelt runoff play a significant role in streamflow? In colder
climates in the spring or summer time.
2. What percentage of freshwater in the western states comes from snowmelt runoff? As much as
75%.
Springs
1. What are springs a result of? Springs are a result of a water source formed on a hill intersects a
flowing body of groundwater at or below the local water table.
Streamflow
1. How does USGS define streamflow? The amount of water flowing in a river.
2. What is a stream? A flowing body of water.
3. Why do rivers exist? Rivers exist because of gravity.
4. Where does water generally seek to flow? Water seeks the center of the earth.
5. What percentage of freshwater is found in rivers? _2.5%
Sublimation
1. What is sublimation? The conversion between solid and a gaseous state with no liquid conversion
in between.
2. What is sublimation, in relation to the water cycle? Sublimation is like when snow or ice changes
straight to a gaseous state.
3. When does sublimation occur? Sublimation occurs when ice or snow is heating.
4. Where on Earth does sublimation happen a lot? It occurs a lot in higher elevation.
5. What is a Chinook Wind and where do they occur? Chinook winds are westerlies from the
pacific and
pass over the Rocky Mountains.
Surface Runoff
1. What is surface runoff? Precipitation hits saturated land and begins to flow overland downhill.
2. When does runoff occur? Runoff occurs when precipitation needs somewhere to go when the land
is all saturated.
Place the letter from the diagram above in the space provided next to its associated term in
the lists below:
[ I] Condensation
[ K] Evapotranspiration
[ E] Groundwater discharge
[ D] Infiltration
[ C] Snowmelt runoff to streams
[M] Streamflow
[ L] Surface runoff
[ A] Water storage in ice and snow
[ ] Desublimation [ ] Plant uptake
[ H] Evaporation
[ O] Freshwater storage
[ F] Groundwater storage
[ B] Precipitation
[ N] Spring
[ P] Sublimation
[ J] Water storage in the atmosphere
[ G] Water storage in oceans