Water Systems
Term that describes liquid water moving from soil surface to deeper soil layers
What is percolation?
% of Earth's water that is available for use as liquid freshwater
What is less than 1%
% of global seafood that is produced through aquaculture
What is 50% (approx)
Device used to measure turbidity (total suspended solids)
What is a Secchi disk?
Most efficient form of crop irrigation
What is drip irrigation?
Term that describes water that flows over the Earth's surface towards streams, rivers, the ocean instead of being absorbed into soil
What is surface runoff?
What are glaciers and icecaps?
Identify 2 environmentally harmful fishing methods (wild capture)
What are bottom trawls, long lines, gill nets, poisons?
Measure of the amount of dissolved oxygen required by microorganisms to decompose organic material in water
What is BOD? (High BOD means significant organic pollution)
Growing crops without soil.
What is hydroponics?
2 transfers in the water cycle
What is precipitation, surface runoff, advection, infiltration, percolation?
Place where groundwater is stored
What is an aquifer?
Describe phytoplankton and there importance in aquatic ecosystems
What are microscopic producers found in oceans that form the base of marine food webs?
Identify a nonpoint source of water pollution
What is fertilizer runoff, etc.
Water that comes from sinks, showers, etc. and can be used again for irrigation.
What is greywater?
3 transformations in the water cycle
What is evaporation, condensation, transpiration, freezing, melting, sublimation?
Distinguish between physical water scarcity and economic water scarcity.
physical: limited actual abundance of water present / economic: limited infrastructure for transporting or storing clean safe water
One pro and one con of aquaculture
Pros: high yield, jobs/profits (economic), reduced overfishing; Cons: waste output, coastal habitat destruction, inputs for feed production
3 of the 4 main categories of water pollution with examples.
What are Toxic, Sediment, Nutrient, Bacterial? (need examples)
Highest category of water use of water in HICs (domestic, industrial or agriculture)
What is industrial?
Explain how deforestation and/or urbanization impacts the water cycle
What are: less infiltration (due to paved surfaces), increased surface runoff (so more flooding and erosion), less transpiration (so less precipitation)
Identify the main method of large scale desalination & at least 2 drawbacks.
Reverse osmosis; Is expensive, uses a lot of energy, and generates concentrated salty waste.
Discuss 2 ways to make aquaculture more sustainable
Examples: Open-ocean aquaculture; herbivorous fish / vegetarian feed; RAS methods; technology to reduce feed and waste
Describe the process of eutrophication.
What is: nutrients from fertilizers, animal wastes, sewage runoff into water; algae bloom occurs; algae die off, bacteria decompose them and deplete oxygen levels (hypoxia)?
Identify 3 ways to conserve water (domestic use).
Answers will vary (low flow showers, dual flush toilets, wash full loads of dishes/laundry, xeriscaping)