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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.