Term
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Definition
| land area that contributes water to a particular stream system |
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Term
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Definition
| zone or layer above the water table in which some water may be suspended or moving in a downward migration toward the water table or laterally toward a discharge point |
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Term
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Definition
| zone or layer below the water table in which all the pore space of rock or soil is saturated |
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Term
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Definition
| surface that divides the vadose zone from the zone of saturation; the surface below which all pore space in rocks is saturated with water |
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Term
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Definition
| earth material containing sufficient groundwater that can be pumped out; highly fractured rocks and unconsolidated sands and gravels make good aquifers |
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Term
what major factors control the movement of groundwater?
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Definition
hydraulic gradient type of material that makes up the aquifer |
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Term
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Definition
| empirical relationship that states that the volumetric flow rate such as cubic meters per day is a product of hydraulic conductivity, hydraulic gradient, and cross-sectional area of flow |
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Term
| what are some of the important interactions between surface and groundwater? |
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Definition
| surface water filters into groundwater, groundwater discharges to the surface, groundwater pumped to surface via wells |
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Term
| instream vs. offstream water uses |
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Definition
instream: water used but not withdrawn from its source, ex: boating offstream: water that is removed or diverted from its source, ex: irrigation, public supplies, thermoelectric power generation |
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Term
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Definition
| type of offstream use in which water does not return to the stream or groundwater resource immediately after use |
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Term
| who are the biggest users of fresh water? |
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Definition
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Term
| what are some ways to conserve water? |
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Definition
| improved irrigation, more efficient faucets |
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Term
| define luna leopold's philosophy concerning water management |
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Definition
| use surface water in years of high precip., save groundwater for years of drought |
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Term
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Definition
| landscape features such as swamps, marshes, bogs, or prairie potholes that are frequently or continuously inundated with water |
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Term
| list some important environmental features associated with wetlands |
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Definition
| buffers for coastal erosion, highly productive lands, groundwater recharge, natural filler |
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Term
why might we be facing a global food shortage based on water use? |
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Definition
| not enough water for irrigating croplands |
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Term
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Definition
| degradation of water quality as measured by biological, chemical, or physical criteria |
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Term
| biochemical oxygen demand |
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Definition
| the amount of oxygen used in bacterial decomposition, a commonly used measurement in water quality management |
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Term
| what is the role of fecal coliform in determining water pollution? |
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Definition
| a measure of biological pollution and a standard of microbial pollution |
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Term
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Definition
| anthropogenic causes for increases in nutrient pollution |
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Term
| point source vs. nonpoint source pollution |
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Definition
point source - discrete and confined nonpoint source - diffuse and intermittent |
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Term
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Definition
| acidic water with elevated concentrations of dissolved metals that drain from coal or metal mines, high concentration of sulfuric acid |
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Term
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Definition
| happens when you overpump a well near an ocean and saltwater fills the space formerly filled by freshwater (cone of depression) |
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Term
| differentiate primary, secondary, and advanced wastewater treatment |
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Definition
primary - sediment removal secondary - aeration to stimulate bacterial break-down of organic materials advanced - removal of nutrients, heavy metals, or specific chemicals |
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Term
| septic tank disposal failure |
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Definition
| poor soil drainage can cause the wastewater to rise to the surface |
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Term
| wastewater renovation and conservation cycle |
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Definition
process of recycling liquid waste; primary processes 1- the return of treated wastewater to cropfields (irrigation) 2 - renovation by natural purification of wastewater as it slowly seeps through the soil to eventually recharge the the groundwater resource with clean water 3 -the reuse or conservation of the water by pumping it out of the ground for municipal, industrial, institutional, or agricultural purposes |
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Term
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Definition
resource - a concentration of a naturally occurring material in or on the crust of the Earth in a form that can now or potentially be extracted at a profit reserve - a portion of a resource that is identified and is currently available to be legally extracted at a profit |
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Term
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Definition
| earth material from which a useful commodity ca be extracted profitably |
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Term
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Definition
| measure of concentration necessary for profitable mining, % in ore / average % in Earth |
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Term
| why do metallic ore deposits form at divergent plate boundaries? |
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Definition
| warm water moves trhough the fractured rock and leaches out metals which are carried in solution and precipitated as metallic sulfides at black smokers |
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Term
| what are the environmental impacts of mining? |
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Definition
acid-mine drainage coal sludge ugly death collapsing of the Earth |
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Term
| use of biotechnology in the mining industry |
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Definition
| processes used for metal extraction and processing that include biooxidation, bioleaching, biosorption, and genetic engineering of microbes |
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Term
| why do we recycle so much iron? |
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Definition
economic burden if no recycling significant environmental impacts if no recycling huge market for scrap metals |
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Term
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Definition
salt-water intrusion groundwater pollution |
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Term
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Definition
increasing water demands calls for legislation regarding distribution and rights to the water whatever decisions are made will have significant social, economic, and environmental impacts |
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Term
| Colorado River Management case study |
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Definition
damming of the Colorado River for water management has had severe consequences deprives people downstream of water disturbs natural ecosystems reduces number of annual floods |
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Term
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Definition
| hurricane Floyd caused flooding of pig waste retaining ponds, serious pollution, death of pigs - mass burials |
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Term
| plate tectonics and minerals case study |
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Definition
| metals at divergent plate boundaries are released by black smoker vents, sulfides, no economically feasible way to extract these minerals yet |
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Term
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Definition
| causes bones to become extremely brittle, caused by high concentrations of heavy metals such as Zn, Pb, and Cd in drinking water |
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Term
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Definition
| use of bacteria to clean mine water before it reaches streams, removed cyanide |
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Term
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Definition
| sludge from cleaning coal, placed in retaining ponds, dams break, cover towns, death |
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Term
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Definition
| dirty coal, coal v. abundant, rapid industrialization, unsafe factories |
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Term
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Definition
| could have lead to fall of roman empire, was used in pipes to carry drinking water, causes mental retardation |
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Term
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Definition
| decaying uranium turns into radon gas, released from soil, trapped under houses, carcinogenic |
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