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Ecology
Everything Is Connected To
Everything Else
Cycles of Matter
• Matter can not be created or destroyed.
• Matter, in the form of chemicals, flows
in cycles from the nonliving part of the
environment to living things and back
again.
4 Important Matter Cycles
• Hydrologic
(Water) Cycle
• Carbon Cycle
• Oxygen Cycle
• Nitrogen Cycle
The Water Cycle
Water Cycle Terms
• Radiation is the suns energy (heating water).
• Evaporation is water (liquid) changing to water
vapor (gas). Evaporation requires energy.
• Condensation is water vapor (gas) changing to
water (liquid). Condensation releases energy.
• Precipitation is any form of water falling from
the sky.
• Infiltration/Percolation is water filtering into
the ground.
• Runoff is water that flows on top of the ground.
• Perspiration is water that comes out of animals in
the form of sweat. Respiration is from breathing.
• Transpiration is water that comes out of plants.
Infiltration
• Infiltration is water moving into the
ground. Most precipitation that
reaches the surface infiltrates the
ground.
• Infiltration can only occur it the
surface is permeable (allows water to
flow through), and is unsaturated.
Permeability
• Most infiltration occurs in the thin layer of
rock, sand, gravel and soil lying on top of
the bedrock. This layer is called the
regolith.
• Permeability refers to the ability of the
regolith to allow water to pass through.
• Material that does not allow water to flow
through is said to be impermeable.
Water Table
When water can not infiltrate deeper
and fills the pores above the
impermeable layer a zone of saturation
forms.
The upper surface of this zone is called
the water table.
The zone above the water table is called
the zone of aeration.
Water Table Zones
Permeability and Particle Size
Porosity
• Porosity refers to the amount of open
space between the pores of a material.
• Porosity of a loose material is dependent
on the shape, packing, and sorting of the
material. Particle size is not a factor.
• Porosity is usually expressed as a
percentage comparing the volume of open
space to the total volume of the material.
Porosity and Permeability
Capillarity
• Capillarity is the ability of water to
move upward through small openings
in soil.
– The smaller the particle size the greater
the capillarity.
Surface Water
• Runoff is water that does not
infiltrate the ground. There are
many factors that affect runoff.
• Runoff occurs when:
– Rain fall exceeds the permeability rate
– Slope of surface is too steep to allow
infiltration.