Surface Water
3/8/2015
EARTH’S WATER CAN BE FOUND…
1-3 How Does Fresh Water Flow on Earth?
12-2 Surface Water
SURFACE WATER AND GROUND WATER
SURFACE WATER CAN BE FOUND…
PLACES
Streams
Rivers
Lakes
Ponds
Reservoirs
Wetlands
SOURCES
MOVING WATER ON THE SURFACE
Precipitation (rain,
snow, sleet, and hail)
Surface runoff from
higher ground
Groundwater that
comes up to the
surface, e.g., geysers
and springs
Gravity makes water from precipitation moves from
higher to lower areas. Water moves down through
(pp. 34-45):
Channels
Tributaries
Streams
Watersheds
Rivers
STREAM
RIVER AND RIVER SYSTEM
A stream is a generic word that is used to refer to
either a creek or a small brook that feeds a larger
river.
Types of Streams
Ephemeral
Stream
Intermittent Stream
Perennial Stream
Mr. Mayorga’s Earth Science Class
A river is a natural or manmade body of moving water
running down a slope.
Kept
in motion by gravity
by tributaries
Empty into large bodies of
water such as oceans and
lakes
R + T = RS
Fed
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Surface Water
3/8/2015
RIVERS
WATERSHEDS & DIVIDES
Watersheds describe
areas that supply water to a
river (AKA “drainage
Basins”).
A divide is a ridge of land
that separates watersheds.
Precipitation
Running
Water
Streams
Rivers
Streams
on each side of
the divide flow in different
directions.
Lakes
Ocean
FRESH WATER HABITATS
Pond
The Continental Divide
GROUNDWATER
Lake
WHERE DOES GROUND WATER FLOW?
It trickles down from Earth’s surface (percolation).
It fills tiny spaces underground.
Groundwater is recharged by this water.
Groundwater is discharged when it becomes surface
water and feeds streams, rivers, and lakes.
Mr. Mayorga’s Earth Science Class
Groundwater is water that is found in spaces
between rocks particles below the Earth’s surface.
The water table is the upper boundary, or surface
of groundwater.
SURFACE AND GROUNDWATER USE
Human consumption
Agriculture
Industry
Transportation
Recreation
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