The Hydrosphere
Water is the one substance from which the earth
can conceal nothing; it sucks out its innermost
secrets and brings them to our very lips.
—Jean Giraudoux
1
The Hydrosphere
 The Hydrologic Cycle
 The Oceans
 Movement of Ocean Waters
 Permanent Ice—The Cryosphere
 Surface Waters
 Underground Water
2
The Hydrologic Cycle
• Introduction
– Series of storage areas of water in the hydrosphere
– Water moves between storage areas
3
Surface-to-Air Movement
4
Air-to-Surface Movement
5
Morning fog
(visible evidence of
hydrologic cycle)
6
The Oceans
Four Oceans
7
Characteristics of Ocean
Waters
– Chemical composition
– Temperature
– Density
8
Movement of Ocean Waters
Tides
Animation
(Tides)
– Causes of Tides
– Monthly tidal cycle
Tidal range
9
Global Tidal Variations
Areas with tidal ranges exceeding 4 meters (13 feet)
10
Tidal bore
11
Currents
– Surface Currents
– Deep Ocean Circulation
12
Permanent Ice—Cryosphere
• Two ice realms
– Ice on land (covers 10% of land surface)
• Alpine glaciers
• Ice sheets
• Ice caps
– Oceanic (sea) ice
• Ice pack
• Ice shelf
• Ice floe
• Iceberg
13
Largest area of pack ice is in the
Arctic Ocean
14
An ice shelf and pack ice
fringes Antarctica
15
Permafrost
Permanently frozen
water in subsoil
16
Surface Waters
Lakes
World’s Largest Lakes
17
Human Alteration of
Natural Lakes
Aral Sea is shrinking due to dam construction
and diversion of water for irrigation of agricultural land.
18
Aral Sea
19
Artificial Lakes
• Lake Mead and
Hoover Dam
20
Swamps and Marshes
21
Rivers and Streams
The World’s Longest Rivers
22
The World’s Largest Rivers
23
The World’s Drainage Basins
24
Underground Water
Animations
1. The Water Table
2. Groundwater Cone of Depression
25
Introduction
– Aquifers
– Properties and Flow
• Porosity
• Permeability
• Flow rates
– Hydrologic zones
• Zone of Aeration
• Zone of Saturation
• Zone of Confined Water
• Waterless Zone
26
Zones of Aeration and Saturation
Hydrologic Zones
27
Zone of Confined Water
Zone of Confined Water
28
Zone of Confined Water
Artesian Well in Australia’s Great Artesian Basin
29
•
Waterless Zone
– Deep underground
– No pore spaces, no water
•
Groundwater Mining
– Recharge rate versus
replenishment rate
The Ogallala or High Plains Aquifer
30
Summary
• The hydrosphere encompasses all moisture
in, on and above Earth.
• The hydrological cycle is the ceaseless
interchange of moisture between water
storage areas on Earth.
• Earth’s water storage areas include the
oceans, glaciers, lakes, marshes and
swamps, rivers and streams and
underground aquifers.
31
• More than 97% of all moisture is contained in
the world ocean, which generally is
subdivided into four major parts — Pacific,
Atlantic, Indian and Arctic.
• About 2% of the world’s moisture is locked
up in ice. Most of this in in land ice (glaciers)
and a small part is in floating sea ice.
• Surface waters contain only a tiny fraction of
the world’s water supply.
• Underground water is more widely distributed
than surface water, but its availability and
quality vary considerably from place to place.
32