Water {water, Earth} includes ocean and fresh water. Water is 0.001% of Earth mass.
Water {fresh water} is where rainfall is plentiful or snow accumulates. People require five gallons of fresh water a day. In USA, people use 60 gallons per person per day.
Rainfall can be small for long period {drought}|.
Field can receive water from source {irrigation}|. Irrigation by dribbling has less evaporation than spraying or flooding.
enclosed water area {basin}|.
flooded or irrigated rice field {paddy}.
large flat iceberg {floe}|.
large floating ice blocks {pack ice}|, from ice field.
wetland {marsh}|.
river or lake marsh {bayou}|.
marsh {bog}|.
bog or marsh {fen}|.
In England, tides cause marshes {wash}|. Southwest USA has dry stream beds.
Streams and rivers {river, water} receive water directly from rain and indirectly from water runoff from land. Streams are usually wider than they are deep, and erosion sediments can fill them within years. Stream first erodes into valley. Then tributaries enter valley and join first stream. Then valley sides wear down to make wide valley or wear back to make deep valley.
Undertows pull sediment from rivers out to sea. River mouths have sediment triangles {delta}|. Mississippi River makes 600,000,000 tons each year. In sea, corals use minerals, or minerals precipitate out, as at Hudson-River mouth and in Baltic Sea.
circular river current {eddy}|.
shallow river area {ford}|, where people or horses can cross.
Stream can enter salt water, or stream can have sudden flow {freshet}|.
river beginning {headwaters}|.
Rivers curve many times {meander}| if banks are soft, because river cuts away outer bank, deposits soil on inner bank, and widens all curves. Rivers run straight and cut through rock if banks are hard, to make canyons.
rivulet {rill}|.
stream {rivulet}|.
Rivers {tributary}| can flow into larger river.
In stream, hard rock plate {falls}| can persist after lower rock has eroded.
waterfall series {cascade}|.
big waterfall {cataract, water}|.
Stream or river shallow parts can have rocks resistant to erosion, where water flows faster {rapids}|.
rapids {white water}|.
water {spring, water}| burbling from ground.
Warm water from Earth interior can make hot water spouts {geyser}| that erupt several times a day.
hot spring {thermal spring}|.
Warm water {warm springs}| can come from underground.
Groundwater can dissolve carbon dioxide to make carbonic acid, which can dissolve rock {cave}|.
Landscapes {karst} can have caves and sinkholes.
Carbonic acid can dissolve limestone to make holes {sinkhole}| and collapsed ground in flat areas.
In cave, dripping water can dry and precipitate carbonates, to make up-pointing structures {stalactite}|.
In cave, dripping water can dry and precipitate carbonates, to make down-pointing structures {stalagmite}|.
Distillation or freezing can remove seawater salt {desalination}|. If water has low salt, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, or ion exchange can remove salt.
High pressure can force water through membrane that retains salts {reverse osmosis}|, making purer water come out. If water has low salt, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, or ion exchange can remove salt.
Porous and permeable rock {aquifer}| can hold water.
Wells {artesian well}| can reach water table.
Soil and rock water {groundwater}| depends on precipitation, evaporation, rock porosity, and soil permeability.
Water-saturated-rock upper-surface level {water table}| is same as nearby lake and pond surface level.
Soil water permeability and movement {infiltration}| is most for sand, middle for loam, and least for clay.
Water infiltration is most for sand, middle for loam, and least for clay {permeability, soil}|.
Below soil, rainwater goes into rock-crystal open spaces {porosity}|, down to 100,000 feet.
Oceans {ocean} have salt water and currents.
Upwelling water can cause tropical Pacific Ocean warming {El Ni-o}|, every six years.
Downward flowing water can cause tropical Pacific Ocean cooling {La Ni-a}|.
Ocean has 0.9% salt concentration {salinity}|.
long-wave breaker {comber}|.
small bay {cove}|.
Ocean has water flows {current, ocean}|. Surface currents flow in same direction as wind. Beneath them, surface ocean currents have colder-water counter-currents flowing more slowly in opposite direction.
names
Gulf Stream flows along North-America east coast.
Labrador Current flows past Iceland to England.
Peru or Humboldt Current flows along South-America west coast.
California Current flows along North-America west coast.
Kuroshio Current flows off Japan.
Brazil Current flows along South-America east coast.
Besquela Current flows along Africa west coast.
Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) circles Antarctica and keeps tropic waters out.
Ocean has surface currents {drift, ocean}|.
narrow inlet {firth}|.
open ocean {main}|.
fast outward current {rip current}|.
fast outward beach current {riptide}|.
water area {strait}| between islands, allowing passage.
whirlpool {vortex, water}|.
Intersecting currents cause swirling water {whirlpool}|.
Sea meets land {coast, ocean}.
Sea can make small coastline indentations {bay}|.
At shore, low valleys {estuary}| can fill with rising water.
narrow bay {inlet}|, or narrow area between two islands.
At shore, steep glacier valleys {fjord} can fill with rising waters.
Sea can make big coastline indentations {gulf}|.
Oblique currents and waves create beaches, sandbars, and spits on shore, and make offshore sandbars if beach has shallow slope. Quiet water {lagoon}| can be between a sandbar and shore.
Sea has a region {littoral}| between high and low tides.
Water {sound, shore} can be between island and shore.
Ocean zones {ocean floor zones} relate to light. 0 to 600 feet has sunlight. 600 to 4000 feet has twilight. 4000 to 36,000 feet is dark. Deepest trench is 36,000 feet deep.
Sea floor {abyssal plain} is 34 F and has 1000-atmosphere pressure.
Under-sea continent region {continental shelf}| is 8% of ocean and is 400 to 600 feet deep.
Continental shelf goes down to sea floor {continental slope}.
Moon and Sun gravitation moves Earth sea and land {tide}|. Earth gravity and land-and-sea elasticity oppose tides. Shallow-water tide motion makes heat by friction, which takes energy from Earth rotational energy. Earth rotation slows, making each day slightly longer. Earth-Moon distance increases slightly each day.
When Moon is overhead or on opposite side of Earth, continents rise up to six inches and oceans rise several feet {high tide}.
When Moon is to right or left, continents and oceans are at low height {low tide} {slack tide}.
When Moon is overhead or on opposite side of Earth and Sun is to right or left, high tides {neap tide}| are lower, at first-quarter or third-quarter moon.
When Moon and Sun are both overhead or opposite sides of Earth, tide {spring tide}| is extra high, at new or full moon.
Difference {tidal range} between high and low tide is 2 feet in sheltered bays, 5 to 10 feet on open coast, and 30 to 50 feet in V-shaped bays. Tidal currents flow 5 to 10 miles per hour.
Winds cause waves {wave, ocean}|. Wave height and distance increase with wind speed, wind duration, and distance wave has traveled.
Sea bottom near shore slows wave bottom, and top wave part becomes narrow and falls over {breaker}|, where water level becomes less than wave height.
Small swells can superimpose to make big wave {tidal wave}|.
Wave water flows back to ocean along bottom {undertow}|.
Strong winds cause open-water waves {whitecap}| to break.
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Date Modified: 2022.0225