HYDROSPHERE

• Components of the hydrosphere

  • Surface water
  • Cryosphere
  • Groundwater
• Surface water


  Different bodies of water including saltwater (seas, oceans, estuaries) and freshwater (lakes, rivers, streams, rain)
• Cryosphere


  Frozen hydrosphere including Arctic, Antarctic, and Alps
• Groundwater


  Water beneath the earth's surface, including aquifers (confined and unconfined) and recharge zones (environmentally sensitive areas)
• Point source pollution


  Single source, direct effluents, easier to trace and monitor

  
• Non-point source pollution


  Several sources, runoffs, difficult to trace and monitor

  
• Cultural eutrophication


  1. Nitrates and phosphates from runoff and leaching

  2. Algal bloom

  3. Increase decomposition

  4. Decrease dissolved oxygen

  5. Decrease respiration = DEATH

  
• Thermal pollution


  Hot water effluents increase temperature, making it too hot for survival and decreasing oxygen
• Ocean acidification


  1. CO2 dissolves in water

  2. Combines with H2O

  3. Chemical reactions form bicarbonate
• Ocean acidification and shell deformation

  • Coral bleaching
  • Coral structure
• Hydrosphere


  The total amount of water on the planet, including water on the surface, underground, and in the air
• Water resource


  • Can be liquid, vapor, or ice
  • Surface water is found in lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands and watersheds
  • Frozen water is in glaciers, ice caps and icebergs
  • Water moves through the hydrosphere in a cycle
• Groundwater


  • Water stored beneath the Earth's surface in sediment and rock formation
  • The water table is the level where the rocks and soil are saturated with water
• Aquifer


  • An underground formation that contains groundwater
  • Aquifers hold water in spaces between rock, sand, and gravel
• Recharge zone


  The area of the Earth's surface where water percolates down into the aquifer
• Well


  A hole dug or drilled to reach groundwater
• Point-source pollution


  Pollution discharged from a single source such as a factory, wastewater treatment plant, or leaking oil tanker
• Nonpoint-source pollution


  Pollution from many different sources that are often difficult to identify, such as runoff from land in a watershed

  
• Eutrophication


  A natural process where organic matter builds up in a body of water and decomposition uses up oxygen
• Artificial/cultural eutrophication


  Eutrophication accelerated by inorganic plant nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen entering the water from human sources
• Thermal pollution


  When the temperature of a body of water increases, often from power plants and industries discharging warm water
• Ocean acidification


  When carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater, forming carbonic acid and decreasing the pH

  
• Effect of ocean acidification on calcification

  • Reduces availability of carbonate ions needed by marine organisms to form calcium carbonate shells and skeletons

  
• Coral bleaching


  Whitening of corals due to loss of symbiotic zooxanthellae and/or reduction in photosynthetic pigments

  
• Water body classification and usage

  • Class AA - Public water supply, uninhabited/protected watersheds
  • Class A - Public water supply, conventional treatment
  • Class B - Recreational water, primary contact
  • Class C - Fishery, recreational, agriculture
  • Class D - Navigable waters
• Components of the hydrosphere

  • Surface water
  • Groundwater
  • Cryosphere

  
• Surface water


  Different bodies of water including saltwater (seas, oceans, estuaries) and freshwater (lakes, rivers, streams, rain)
• Cryosphere


  Frozen hydrosphere including Arctic, Antarctic, and Alps
• Groundwater


  Water beneath the earth's surface, including aquifers (confined and unconfined) and recharge zones
• Sources of water pollution

  • Point source
  • Non-point source

  
• Point source pollution


  Single source, direct effluents, easier to trace and monitor

  
• Non-point source pollution


  Several sources, runoffs, difficult to trace and monitor

  
• Cultural eutrophication


  1. Nitrates and phosphates from runoff and leaching

  2. Algal bloom

  3. Increase decomposition

  4. Decrease dissolved oxygen

  5. Decrease respiration = DEATH
• Thermal pollution


  Hot water effluents increase temperature, making it too hot for survival and decreasing oxygen
• Ocean acidification


  1. CO2 dissolves in water

  2. Combines with H2O

  3. Chemical reactions form bicarbonate
• Effect of ocean acidification on calcification of marine animals

  • Hydrogen ions bond with carbonate ions, robbing organisms of necessary building blocks for shells/skeletons
• Organisms affected by ocean acidification

  • Many mollusks, crustaceans, corals, coralline algae, foraminiferans
• Ocean acidification is causing shell deformation in marine organisms
• Ocean acidification is causing coral bleaching