Earth Sciences 1070A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Stalagmite, Ice Shelf, Hubbard Glacier
25 Apr 2017
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Document Summary
50% human population uses groundwater for drinking. Most of earth"s immediate subsurface is nor completely solid. Pore spaces between particles and grains of sediments, soil, fractures all contain water. Groundwater acts as erosional agent dissolving soluble rock and moderating stream flow. If large volumes of rock are dissolved (i. e. limestone), subterranean caves can form or sinkholes develop (when a cave roof collapses) Most of the water discharged to a stream comes not from snow melt runoff, but from groundwater seepage that feeds streams. When rain falls, some surface water is not absorbed into the ground, but is carried away above the surface as runoff, or evaporates back into the atmosphere. The rest of the water infiltrates the ground. The factors that determine the volume of water absorbed by the ground include the amount and type of vegetation, the nature of the surface material, the steepness of the slope of land, and the intensity of the rainfall.
