1. Earth’s Water Lesson 1

2. The Hydrosphere and the Water Cycle

3. Think About It… Why is it that the water in your bottle could have been drunk by George Washington?

4. Focus Questions… What are the processes involved in the water cycle? What is the connection between ground and surface water?

5. The Hydrosphere: An Overview… 1. The hydrosphere is… the water on and in Earth’s crust a. The percentage of water found in the oceans… 97 We don’t call ourselves the Blue Planet for nothing! The percentage of water contained by the landmasses… 3 http://www.earthview.pair.com/earth300color.jpg

6. Of the Freshwater on Earth… b. 90% is in the form of… polar ice caps and glaciers Most of the remaining water is… groundwater Only a small fraction is in… rivers, streams, and lakes Snow pack on Mt. Shucksan, Washington

7. The World’s Water Supply… Oceans – 97.2% - thousands of years Ice caps and glaciers – 2.15% - tens of thousands of years Groundwater -.31% - hundreds to thousands of years Lakes -.009% - tens of years Atmosphere -.001% - nine days! Rivers and streams -.0001% - two weeks

8. The Water Cycle… http://www.euwfd.com/html/hydrological_cycle.html Infiltration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =o3BVa7PH_JE

9. Runoff… 1.Runoff is… water flowing down slope along Earth’s surface http://myecoproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/stormwater.jpg

10. 2. Five Factors that Increase Runoff… a. Little to No Vegetation… B/C topsoil is easily eroded so that water runs off easier

11. 2. Five Factors that Increase Runoff… b. Heavy rain… B/C rain falls too quickly to soak into the ground http://luirig.altervista.org/cpm/albums/nrcs3/normal_1389-Runoff-from-a-heavy-rain-carries-topsoil-from-a-cr.jpg

12. 2. Five Factors that Increase Runoff… c. Soil with a lot of clay … B/C clay has small air spaces that prevents water from soaking in

13. 2. Five Factors that Increase Runoff… d. Steep Slope… B/C gravity causes the water to flow off faster http://secretagentworms.org/images/runoff2nrcs.jpg

14. 2. Five Factors that Increase Runoff… e. High ground- water levels… B/C there is no space left for the water to soak in underground. http://secretagentworms.org/images/runoff2nrcs.jpg

15. Watersheds and Stream Systems… 1. A stream is runoff water that begins to flow more permanently in a channel. a.A large stream is called a river. b.The smaller streams that feed into it are called tributaries Zip-lining across a stream in Loon Mtn., New Hampshire

16. The Rivers of North Carolina…

17. Watersheds and Divides… 2. A watershed is all of the land area whose water drains into a stream system. http://dutchesswam.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/watershed-image-small.png

18. Watersheds and Divides… 3. A divide is a high land area that separates one watershed from another. The Eastern Continental Divide is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Highway 421N, Jefferson, NC

19. Western Continental Divide: Milner Pass

20. Western Continental Divide: Loveland Pass, Co.

21. Divides of North America… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Continental_Divide

22. Watersheds and Divides… 4. The watershed of the Mississippi River is the largest watershed in North America! http://www.epa.gov/gmpo/lmrsbc/index.html