EARTHSS 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Water Cycle, Porosity, Drainage Basin
18 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Earth system science (ess1) lecture notes 15 and 16. Freshwater on surface: lakes, rivers, ground water, and cryosphere. Infiltration: water does into soil and flows underground. Runoff: water (melted snow or rainfall) just runs into the stream. Drainage basin: area of land that water falls onto to flow to a stream. Streams controlled by: width, depth, velocity, less friction, wider, deeper, more discharge = faster movement of water, gradient (how steep, discharge = width x depth x velocity. Dissolved load: material from chemical weathering. Suspended load: fine particle in the flow. Bed load: coarser particles that move along stream bed. Landforms resulting from stream deposition: velocity decreases: natural levees and flood plains, prevent flooding, alluvial fans, deltas, stream enters a standing water body. Porosity: % of rock or soil that is open spaces (pores) Permeability: how easily a solid allows fluids to pass through. Depth of water table varies with: elevation of surface, climate, dry/wet seasons, or dry/wet years.
