Surface Water Notes

What is surface water?

All water above ground

Most urban areas rely on surface water
Supply resources and allow for

travel/trade

What determines whether the water

1)More vegetation=More ground water

becomes surface or ground water?

2) Heavier rain =more surface water

3) More clay= More surface water
Sand and humus=More ground water
4) Steeper the slope= More surface water
Least slope= More groundwater

What are the different ecosystems of surface water?

Water sheds:

Drainage basin
Land where all water drains

Floods
Too much runoff is a bad thing and can
result in problems
Floodplain: broad flat area of land that
extends out from streams for excess
flooding

What are some freshwater Ecosystems?

Pond
Lakes
Eutrophication: rivers with a lot of

nutrients
more nutrients = more plants = more
decomposers using oxygen = less oxygen
for other organisms
Can be caused by runoff of sewage,
fertilizers, animal waste
Marshes (Ex: The Everglades)
Contain non-woody plants (reeds, rushes,
cattails)
Swamps (Ex: Louisiana swamps)
Contain woody plants or water-loving
Wetlands
Trap sediments, nutrients, and pollutants,
keeping them from lakes, reservoirs, and
oceans
Buffer shorelines against erosion
Protect against flooding
Provide spawning grounds and habitats
Recreational areas (fishing, bird-watching,
hiking, canoeing, photography)
Rivers
Swift-moving
Home to strong swimming fish and
organisms with adaptations to cling to
rocks
Polluted by
human sewage and garbage
runoff from the land
Drained by industries
Coastal Wetlands

Coastal areas covered by salt water at

least part of the time
Estuaries where fresh river water and
salty ocean water mix
Constant source of fresh nutrients
supplied by the river
Nutrients fall to the bottom (nutrient
trap)
Provide harbors protected from open
ocean site of major ports
May be used as dumping sites for
sewage, industrial waste, and agricultural
runoff
Salt marshes
Develop in estuaries
Found along the Gulf Coast
Mangrove swamps
Found along the coast in tropical and
subtropical zones
Dominated by mangrove trees
Rocky and sandy shores
Rocky shores have more plants and
animals (Why?)
Barrier islands run parallel to the shore
and protect the mainland and coastal
wetlands.
Barrier Islands
Coral Reefs
Oceans