Earth: The Water Planet
Water is essential for living things to grow, reproduce, and carry out important processes. About 97% of Earth s water is salt water found in the ocean, while the other 3% is fresh water, with the majority of that 3% found in huge masses of ice near Earth s poles.
H2O chemical formula used to represent water s unique structure which is made of two hydrogen (H) atoms bonded with one oxygen (O) atom to form a water molecule Water is a polar molecule, meaning the positive hydrogen end of one water molecule attracts the negative oxygen ends of another
Water s unique properties Surface tension molecules on surface of water cause a tightness, almost giving water a skin. Universal solvent water is known as the universal solvent because many substances dissolve it in.
Water s unique properties Capillary action allows water to move through materials with pores or narrow spaces (ex. water traveling up stems to leaves) Changing state water can change into all states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) within Earth s temperature range. evaporation process of liquid changing to gas at surface condensation process of gas changing to a liquid melting process of changing a solid to liquid using heat
The Water Cycle Continuous process by which water moves through the living and nonliving parts of the environment. Sun is the energy source that drives the water cycle
evaporation most takes place over the ocean transpiration plants release water to air through leaves condensation clouds form as water vapor cools precipitation water droplets in clouds become heavy and fall back to Earth groundwater water that fills the spaces in soil and rock layers
Classifying Rocks
Geologists look at the mineral composition, color and texture of a rock, which can contain a mixture of minerals and other materials or only a single mineral.
Color provides clues to the rock s mineral composition granite light colored rock having high silica content basalt dark colored rock that is low in silica Texture the look and feel of the rock s surface which is made up of particles of minerals or other fine rocks called grains Grain size Grain shape Grain pattern
Geologists classify rocks into three major rock groups based on how they form: Igneous Sedimentary Metamorphic
Igneous Rock created when magma or lava cools and crystallizes
Sedimentary Rock rock material that forms where rocks are broken down into smaller pieces or dissolved in water as rocks erode or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together
Metamorphic Rock forms when existing rock is changed by heat, pressure or chemical reactions
Rock Cycle series of processes that change one type of rock into another type of rock
Rock Groups
IGNEOUS ROCKS Formation: May form on or beneath Earth s surface. Extrusive rocks igneous rocks formed from lava that erupted onto Earth s surface Intrusive rocks rock that formed when magma hardened beneath Earth s surface
IGNEOUS ROCKS Texture: Geologists determine whether an igneous rock is extrusive or intrusive based on its texture extrusive - small, hard to see crystals intrusive -large and interlocking crystals Composition: can sometimes be determined by color of rock
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS sediment small, solid pieces of material that come from rocks or remains of living things Formed through a series of processes which include: erosion form sediment by particles getting carried away from their source by wind and water deposition process by which sediment settles out of the water or wind carrying it compaction process that presses sediment together growing thick layers that build up over millions of years cementation process in which dissolved minerals crystallize and glue particles of sediment together
METAMORPHIC ROCKS Heat and pressure deep beneath Earth s surface can change any rock into metamorphic rock. foliated metamorphic rocks that have their grains arranged in parallel layers or bands nonfoliated mineral grains are arranged randomly
Fresh Water
All fresh water on Earth comes from precipitation, some of which is evaporated immediately or soaks into the soil, the remaining water is runoff, or water that flows over the ground surface.
River System A river and all its tributaries, or small streams together with the watershed, the land area that supplies water to the system
Ponds and lakes form when water collects in hollows and low-lying areas of land Wetlands area of land that is covered with a shallow layer of water during some or all of the year. Three common types are marshes, swamps and bogs coastal wetlands usually contain a mixture of fresh and salt water, such as salt marshes and mangrove forests
Glaciers Huge mass of ice and snow that moves slowly over land formed in areas where more snow falls each year than melts. icebergs broken, or glaciers that have calved into ocean
Underground water Comes from precipitation that soaks into the ground between particles of soil and spaces in layers of rock. saturated zone area of permeable rock or soil that is totally filled, or saturated with water; water table top of saturated zone
Underground water Unsaturated zone layers of rock and soil above the water table that contain air as well as water, not able to be saturated aquifer layer of rock or sediment that holds water and can range in size from a small pond to an area of several states well man-made hole drilled below the water table in order to obtain groundwater from an aquifer artesian well well, which water rises because of pressure within an aquifer natural spring place where groundwater bubbles or flows out of cracks in the rock geyser type of hot spring which begins to rise through narrow passages being forced out by heated gases and steam from below
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