Hydrosphere

The Water Cycle

100

The process when liquid water changes into water vapor because of the Sun's heat.

• What is evaporation?

200

• When water vapor cools and turns back into tiny liquid droplets forming clouds.

• What is condensation?

300

• Rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls from clouds back to Earth.

• What is precipitation?

400

• The process where water soaks into the ground and moves through soil and rock layers.

• What is infiltration?

500

• The process where plants release water vapor through their leaves into the atmosphere.

• What is transpiration?

Oceans and Currents

100

• The largest body of water on Earth, covering about 70% of the planet's surface.

• What is the ocean?

200

• These movements of ocean water are caused by wind, temperature, and Earth's rotation.

• What are ocean currents?

300

• This major ocean current brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Atlantic.

• What is the Gulf Stream?

400

• The measure of dissolved salts in seawater, averaging about 3.5% in most oceans.

• What is salinity?

500

• This phenomenon occurs when warm surface water in the Pacific Ocean shifts eastward, affecting global weather patterns.

• What is El Niño?

Freshwater Systems

100

• Water found in rivers, lakes, streams, and groundwater — not salty.

• What is freshwater?

200

• This underground layer of water-bearing rock or sediment supplies wells and springs.

• What is an aquifer?

300

• The area of land where all surface water drains into the same body of water.

• What is a watershed?

400

• This process occurs when too much groundwater is pumped out, causing the land surface to sink.

• What is land subsidence?

500

• This boundary marks the depth below which the ground is completely saturated with water.

• What is the water table?

Human Impact on Water

100

• When fertilizers wash into water, this overgrowth of algae can occur.

• What is an algal bloom?

200

• This term describes pollution that comes from a single, identifiable source like a factory pipe.

• What is point source pollution?

300

• The process of removing salt from seawater to make it drinkable.

• What is desalination?

400

• This occurs when groundwater is contaminated with saltwater due to excessive pumping.

• What is saltwater intrusion?

500

• This international agreement aims to protect the marine environment from pollution from ships.

• What is MARPOL (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships)?

Climate & the Hydrosphere

100

• The hydrosphere interacts with this layer to regulate weather and temperature.

• What is the atmosphere?

200

• This phenomenon causes sea levels to rise as global temperatures increase.

• What is thermal expansion?

300

• The process where oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, making them more acidic.

• What is ocean acidification?

400

• This large-scale ocean circulation pattern helps regulate Earth's climate by moving heat around the globe.

• What is the thermohaline circulation?

500

• This term describes the long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns in a place.

• What is climate change?