Download Surface Water

Kelly Coulter
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Rivers often begin in the mountains.
You can follow one small stream and see it
connects with another, they will then flow
into a small river. Eventually this path leads
to a large river. Colorado River
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The streams and smaller rivers that feed into
a main river are called TRIBUTARIES.
A river and all its tributaries together make
up a river system.
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The land area that supplies water to a river
system is called watershed. (aka: drainage
basins)
So large rivers may be tributaries of still
larger rivers. When rivers join another river
system, the areas they drain become part of
the largest river’s watershed.
You can identify a river’s watershed on a map
by drawing an imaginary line around the
region drained by all its tributaries.
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What keeps watersheds separate? One is
separated from another by a ridge of land
called a DIVIDE.
Streams on each side flow in different
directions.
Continental Divide (longest in U.S.A.) follows
the line of the Rocky Mountains
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The Continental Divide, also
called the Great Divide, is a
natural boundary line
separating waters that flow
into the Atlantic Ocean or
Gulf of Mexico from those
that flow into the Pacific
Ocean. It runs north-south
from Alaska to
northwestern South
America. In the
conterminous United States,
it follows the crest of the
Rocky Mountains.
http://nationalatlas.gov/mld/condivl.html
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Ponds are smaller and shallower than lakes.
Sunlight usually reaches to the bottom of all
parts of a pond.
How ponds form:
◦ Form when water collects in hollows and low-lying areas
of land.
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Exploring ponds:
◦ Muddy bottom often covered in weeds. This is because
sunlight is able to reach the bottom of these shallow
waters.
◦ A quiet pond is a thriving habitat for many living things.
◦ Not all ponds exist year round. Some only in spring, dry
up in the summer due to evaporation.
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Lakes are generally deeper and bigger than
ponds. In addition, sunlight does not reach
the bottom in a deep lake, as it does in a
pond.
No plants and few other organisms can live in
a lake’s chilly depths.
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Some may form the same as lakes
Great Lakes, formed in depressions created by
ice sheets that melted at the end of the Ice Age.
Other lakes were created by movements of
Earth’s crust, Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika
Others are the result of volcanoes, an eruption
can cause a flow of lava or mud that blocks a
river and forms a lake. Some form in empty
craters.
People create lakes by building a dam (Lake
Mead)
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Is a land area that is covered with water during
part or all of the year.
Help control floods
Provide habitats for many species.
Three types of fresh water wetlands are
MARSHES, SWAMPS, and BOGS
◦ marshes- grassy areas covered by shallow water or a
stream.
◦ swamps- look more like flooded forests, located in
warm, humid climates
◦ Bogs- more common in cooler northern areas. Often
form in depressions left by melting ice sheets thousands
of years ago. (water tends to be acidic)
marsh
swamps
bogs
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Along coasts usually contain both fresh and
salt water.
Coastal wetlands include salt marshes and
mangrove forests.
◦ Salt marshes-found along both U.S. coasts
◦ Mangrove- found along the southeastern coast of
U.S.
Salt marsh
mangrove
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Water is the key to the Everglades, a vast
marsh in south Florida.
Home to many kinds of wildlife; alligators,
fishes, snakes, wading bird, panther, manatee
Humans threaten the area with farming
chemicals.
Water that once flowed has been diverted for
farming and household use.
New organisms brought in as pest control
compete with the already existing organisms.
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Because of their sheltered waters and rich
supply of nutrients, wetlands provide habitats
for many living things.
Wetlands act as natural water filters. They
also help control floods by absorbing extra
runoff from heavy rains.
Wetlands are like giant sponges
When destroyed, floodwaters are not
absorbed, the water runs off the land quickly,
worsening flood problems.
Because of these important functions