Fresh and Saltwater

Systems
Topic 1 – A World of Water
How do we depend on water?

• Cells in living organisms depend on water

• Ecosystems depend on water
• We depend on water for industry
• We depend on water for agriculture
• We depend on water for our living needs such as sewer and
washing things
Distribution of water on Earth

Water Source Percentage of Water

Oceans 97.20%

Ice Caps and Glaciers 2.15%

Groundwater 0.63%

Rivers, Lakes, Soil and 0.02%

Atmosphere
TOTAL 100%
Water enough for all?

• Four countries share almost half of all the Earth’s fresh water

Country Amount of Fresh Water

Brazil 18%
Canada 9%
China 9%
U.S.A 8%
Other Countries 56%
Topic 2 – Earth’s Frozen
Water
After ocean water, the next largest amount of water on Earth is
frozen.

What is a glacier
• A large moving mass of ice and snow

How do glaciers form

1. Snow flakes fall on ground and accumulate
2. Fallen flakes turn to snow grains over time
3. As snow keeps accumulating, pressure turns the snow grains to
ice
Types of Glaciers

1. Valley Glaciers – A glacier that forms in a mountain range.

2. Continental Glaciers – Occur mostly at the poles and are so thick that they bury
mountain ranges.
Glacial Features

On your own...choose four of the following glacial features and give

its definition as well as drawing a picture to show the feature.
You will have about 15 minutes for this.

• Crevasse
• Cirques
• Arête
• Horn
• Moraine
• Esker
• Erratics
• U Shaped Valleys
Glacial Features

1. Crevasse – A fissure or crack in the ice

2. Cirques – Bowl shaped basins in the mountains

3. Arête – A sharp ridge on a mountain

4. Horn – A sharpened peak on a mountain

5. Moraine – Ridge of material left behind by a moving glacier

6. Esker – A winding ridge left behind when a glacier melts

7. Erratics – Huge rock fragments left behind by glaciers

8. U Shaped Valley – Valleys eroded by glaciers that are U shaped

Take a break
Importance of Glaciers

Take a look at page 384 and get four facts about why glaciers are
important

• Glaciers act as reservoirs of fresh water for drinking water

• Feed constant supply of water into rivers
• Helps run hydroelectric dams
• Used for irrigation of crops
• Provides fresh water for cattle ranchers
• Influence the water cycle
• Provide information about the Earth’s past climate
Topic 3 – Fresh Water
Systems
• Fresh water systems exist as both above ground (surface
water) and below ground (groundwater)

Lakes, Ponds and Wetlands

Lakes – Light does not reach the bottom of a lake

Pond – Light reaches the bottom of a pond...ponds technically can

be larger than a lake as long as light reaches the bottom

Wetlands – These are saturated with water all or much of the time
Streams and Rivers

These are fast flowing waterways...streams however, are smaller than

rivers

Underground Water

Most of the water that falls to Earth, sinks into the ground as ground
water

Watersheds
Watersheds are areas of land that drains water into a body of
water...rivers, lakes, ponds

Watersheds in Alberta
• Waterfall in central and northern areas flows towards the Arctic
Ocean
• East central and southern Alberta Hudson Bay
• Southernmost area of Alberta Gulf of Mexico
River Flow Monitoring

River flow monitoring is important because:

• It helps scientists to analyze water quality and to warn people about
floods
• Helps in predicting possible drought conditions
• Helps in designing irrigation projects
• Helps scientists to monitor sediment load in a river

Why is Monitoring Sediment Important

• Some sediment released in fish habitat can carry toxins that can kill
fish
• Too much sediment in rivers / lakes can decrease water depth making
navigation by boat difficult or dangerous
• Sediment can affect delivery of water as sediment can wear out pumps
and turbines
• Allows scientists to monitor affects of farming practices on the
environment as some farming practices put sediments into water
Groundwater Contamination

Groundwater carries with it any contaminants that it encounters

Contamination is put into two categories:

1. Point Sources – places where pollutants come from a small defined area
Ex. Leaking gas tanks, leaking septic tanks, landfills

2. Non-point Sources – places where pollutants come from a large area

Ex. Runoff from farmland
YOU WILL NOW BE WORKING ON
TOPIC 1 TO 3 REVIEW

YOU MAY WORK WITH A PARTNER

Topic 4 – The Oceans
A Sea Full of Salt

• Salt in the sea comes from groundwater that flows across rocks
and minerals on land picking up the salt and then entering the
sea.

Ocean Waves

• Ocean waves start in the open ocean

• Waves are very similar to light waves we studied...they have a
crest, trough and wavelength
How Waves Change the Shoreline

• Waves constantly move along shorelines and erode and redeposit

sediments along the shore

How Beaches are Formed

• Waves carry sediments and fragments of rocks

• The sediments and rock fragments rub against each other and are
smoothed into smaller pebbles and sometimes sand
• Beaches are constantly changing due to the constant action of waves

Tides
• Tides are the rise and fall of the ocean
• Tidal movements occur due to the pull of the moon’s gravity on the ocean
• Spring Tides are the largest tide changes and happen when the Earth,
moon and sun are lined up
• Neap Tides are small tide changes and happen when the moon is at right
angles to the sun
Ocean Currents
Surface Currents – Surface currents are driven by the wind

Three factors influence the direction of winds and surface currents:

1. Winds begin as a result of uneven heating of Earth’s atmosphere

2. Rotation of the Earth causes a bending of the currents
3. Currents are forced to turn when the hit the continents

Warm and Cold Currents

• Warm currents flow from the equator and transfer heat to the
atmosphere
• Cold currents flow from the poles and draw heat away from the
atmosphere
Take a break
Topic 5 – Living in Water
Adaptations for Aquatic Life

Aquatic animals have many adaptations to live in water. They are:

1. They use gills to get oxygen from the water

2. Some animals get their oxygen from the water’s surface
3. Some animals such as dolphins have lungs to breathe
4. Animals near shore have special appendages to help them dig in
or stick to the ground
5. Many water animals use buoyancy to help them move
6. Many larger aquatic animals have streamlined bodies to help
them move through the water
7. Some aquatic animals filter their food out of the water
Phytoplankton

• Phytoplankton are microscopic plants

• Nearly all marine life depends on this plant to live
• They are also important to all life on Earth as they produce oxygen

Nutrient Pollution

• This happens when too many nutrients enter a water system

• The extra nutrients cause increase growth of algae
• As the algae dies, it falls to the bottom of the water and decomposes
and decomposition uses up lots of oxygen that other animals need.
Therefore other animals that need the oxygen can die.
Topic 6 – Water Quality
and Water Management
Bioindicator Species

These are species that detect changes in the environment. They

are very sensitive to the slightest of changes.

• Scientists use bioindicator species to help them monitor the

environment.
Monitoring Water Quality
• The government of Canada and Alberta set standards for water quality.
They establish guidelines for maximum amounts of substances in water.

Water quality standards are set for:

• Drinking water
• Irrigation of crops
• Drinking water for livestock
• Recreation such as swimming
• Protection of organisms living in water

Purifying Water
The water cycle moves water between the atmosphere, land and the oceans
and in the process, cleans and purifies water.

However, pollutants can enter the water at any point so communities must
clean drinking water through water treatment plants.
Sustaining Water Resources

As human population grows, demand for water resources increases.

• Increasing consumption of water has reduced quantity of water in
reservoirs and underground aquifers.

Shortages of freshwater have forced some countries to develop desalination

plants. They use these plants to remove salt from seawater to make
freshwater.

Improving Our Water Resources

Much of the damage to our resources can be reversed by:

• Stopping pollution
• Conservation of our existing water resources
Take a break