SWS 2007 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Water Cycle, Rift Valley Lakes, Lake Baikal

• School: University of Florida
• Department: Soil and Water Sciences
• Course: SWS 2007
• Professor: Bonczek, James Lee

Document Summary

Total land area that drains surface water to a common point. Responsible for distribution of water to the various components of the hydrologic cycle, and for land drainage. Largest river in the world by volume, with a total flow greater than the next top largest rivers combined. Responsible for 20% of freshwater returning to oceans. 80% of all the world wide water withdrawals are from lakes and rivers. But, 80% of worldwide water withdrawals are from surface water, principally lakes and rivers. Lakes: the largest sources of fresh surface water. The (cid:449)o(cid:396)ld"s (cid:1006)(cid:1004) la(cid:396)gest lakes ha(cid:448)e a(cid:374) a(cid:396)ea of a(cid:271)out (cid:1008)(cid:1004)(cid:1004),(cid:1004)(cid:1004)(cid:1004) s(cid:395)ua(cid:396)e (cid:373)iles. The t(cid:449)o la(cid:396)gest lakes/syste(cid:373)s (cid:272)o(cid:374)tai(cid:374) (cid:1008)(cid:1004)% of ea(cid:396)th"s f(cid:396)esh su(cid:396)fa(cid:272)e. Both lake baikal a(cid:374)d the g(cid:396)eat lakes (cid:373)akeup of (cid:1008)(cid:1004)% of ea(cid:396)th"s f(cid:396)esh. Lake baikal, lake tanganyika, and lake victoria. Rivers contain only 0. 006% of total freshwater on earth, but support most of the cities and towns around the world.