“Where’s Water?” Unit: Surface Water Rivers, Lakes, and Ponds

1. “Where’s Water?” Unit: Surface Water Rivers, Lakes, and Ponds

2. River Systems • The streams and smaller rivers that feed into a main river are called tributaries • Tributaries flow downward toward the main river, pulled by the force of gravity • A river and all its tributaries together make up a river system

3. River Features • Headwaters • Tributaries • Flood plain • Oxbow lake • Meander • Mouth • Delta • Estuary

4. River Features • The many small streams that come together at the source (beginning) of a river are called its headwaters • The steep slope of the land causes the river to flow quickly

5. River Features • Meanders-looping curves in a river • Meanders can curve back on themselves. The river may then cut a new, straight course, eventually leaving an oxbow lake

6. HorseshoeBendof the Colorado River near Page, AZ

7. Ox Bow lake on Mississippi

8. River Features • The broad, flat valley through which a river flows is its flood plain

9. River Features • The mouth of a river is where the river flows into another body of water • A delta is created when the river slows down and deposits the sediment it was carrying

11. Delta Formation DEPOSITON OF MATERIAL BY THE RIVER WHEN IT ENTERS THE SEA

12. Mississippi Delta from Space MISSISSIPPI

13. Watersheds • The land area that supplies water to a river system is called a watershed • Watersheds are sometimes known as drainage basins • We live in the Delaware River Watershed

14. Divides • A ridge of land that separates one watershed from another is called a divide • Mountains are an example of a divide

15. Divides

16. An estuary is a coastal inlet or bay where fresh water from rivers mix with salty ocean water Estuaries

17. Surface Water Part II: Ponds and Lakes

18. Ponds are freshwater Ponds are shallow Ponds form when water collects in low-lying areas of land Plants grow at the bottom of ponds Ponds

19. Lakes are freshwater Lakes are deep Lakes form when water collects in low-lying areas of land Plants do not grow at the bottom of deep lakes Lakes Lake Baikal, Russia

20. Lake Formation • Lakes can be formed by natural processes or human efforts: • 1. Volcanic lakes • 2. Glacier- made lakes • 3. Human- made lakes • A lake that stores water for human use is called a reservoir

21. Volcanic Lake

22. Glacier-Made Lakes

24. Human-Made Lakes

25. Lakes Can Change • Seasonal changes- water temperature at different depths changes during the year • Lake turnover-nutrients mix • Nutrients-substances such as nitrogen and phosphorousthat plants and algae grow

27. Lakes Can Change • Long-term changes • Eutrophication-Algae and scum forms on the surface of the water • becomes so thick that it blocks out sunlight and plants cannot carry out photosynthesis • Death of a body of fresh water

28. Eutrophication

29. Eutrophication

30. Ponds and Lakes SAME • Freshwater • Still, standing water • Form when water collects in hollows and low-lying areas of land DIFFERENT • Lakes are deeper • Plants don’t grow at the bottom of deep lakes • Sunlight cannot reach the bottom of a deep lake and photosynthesis cannot occur

31. Crater Lake and Lake Nyos Links • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crater_lake • http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/21/newsid_3380000/3380803.stm