PART I:

RUNNING WATER
 THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

• Water is continually recycled

• Powered by solar radiation
 RIO GRANDE

San Juan Mts

(Colorado)(12,000
ft) to
Gulf of Mexico (sea
level)
2nd largest in North
America
Sandia Mts, NM
 I. RUNNING WATER

• A. Sheet Flow
• water moves in a
continuous sheet of
shallow water
• B. Channel Flow
• water is confined to long
trough-like depressions
I. RUNNING WATER

• C. GRADIENT is the
average slope of the channel
bed
• D.VELOCITY is the
distance water travels in a
given amount of time
 I. RUNNING WATER

• E. DISCHARGE is the
volume of water
passing a point in a
given amount of time
 II. TRANSPORT

• A. Hydraulic Action and Abrasion

• direct impact of water on loose
material
• B. Load
• dissolved
• suspended
• bed load

dissolved
III. DEPOSITION

• (A) Braided Streams

• characterized by an intricate
network of dividing and
rejoining channels
• more sediment than water
 III. DEPOSITION

• (B) Meandering Streams

• defined by a single channel
with broadly looping curves
 III. DEPOSITION

• C) Incised meanders: develop where an older meandering

pattern is cut into underlying bedrock as tectonics uplift the
region
 III. DEPOSITION

• (D) Oxbow lakes

• Cutoff meandering curve
• (Rio Bosque)
III. DEPOSITION

• (E) Natural levees build

up from sand
deposited adjacent to
the channel
 III. DEPOSITION

• (F) Deltas : flow velocity

decreases as water flows
into lakes or oceans
• Niger, Mississippi
III. DEPOSITION

• (G) Alluvial Fans usually

found in arid regions at the
foot of highland areas
 IV. DRAINAGE PATTERNS

• Drainage basins receive

runoff from streams and
contributing tributaries
• A. dendritic
• B. rectangular
• C. trellis
• D. radial
• E. deranged
 IV. DRAINAGE PATTERNS

Watersheds
divide flow to
different
oceans
 V. DRAINAGE SYSTEM

• A. Drainage evolves through time

V. DRAINAGE SYSTEM

• B. Base level is the lowest

level to which any stream can
erode
• Sea level is taken to be the
ultimate base level
• Waterfalls form on hard rock
surfaces
 VI. EROSION: VALLEYS AND CANYONS

• Determined by rate or
erosion and strength of the
rocks
 VI. EROSION: VALLEYS AND CANYONS

• Canyons: steep wall

• Gorges: narrow and
deep
• Gullies: small and
narrow
 VI. EROSION: STREAM TERRACES

• Develop when a stream erodes at former higher

levels
 PART II:
GROUNDWATER
 INTRODUCTION

!GROUNDWATER fills the

open spaces in rocks, sediment,
and soil beneath the surface
I. HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

• 22% of the world’s

fresh water
• Hueco and Mesilla
Bolson (local aquifers)
 II. PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

!A. Porosity
• the percentage of a
material’s volume that is
pore space
• Clay-silt-sand-gravel
 II. PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

!B. Permeability
• the measure of the
interconnectedness of
pore spaces
• Gravel-sand-silt-clay
III. WATER TABLE

!A. Zone of aeration

• pore spaces contain
mostly air
!B. Zone of
saturation
• pore spaces contain
mostly water
!C. Water table
• the top of the zone of
saturation
IV. HOW DOES GROUNDWATER MOVE?

!A. Aquifer – permeable

layer that transports
water

!B. Aquiclude –
impermeable layer

!C. Perched water table

 IV. HOW DOES GROUNDWATER
MOVE?
!C. from high hydraulic
head to low hydraulic
head in response to
elevation and pressure
(cm/day)
IV. HOW DOES GROUNDWATER
MOVE?
!D. Springs: Places
where groundwater
flows or seeps out of
the ground
 IV. HOW DOES GROUNDWATER
MOVE?
!E. Water wells: zone of
saturation is
penetrated
 IV. HOW DOES
GROUNDWATER MOVE?

!pumping can create a cone of

depression
IV. HOW DOES GROUNDWATER
MOVE?

!F. Artesian Systems:

Confined groundwater that
flows at the surface under
hydrostatic pressure
 V. HOW DOES
GROUNDWATER ERODE
AND DEPOSIT
MATERIAL?
 V. HOW DOES GROUNDWATER ERODE AND
DEPOSIT MATERIAL?

!A. Sinkholes
• soluble rock is dissolved
leaving shallow
depressions
 V. HOW DOES GROUNDWATER
ERODE AND DEPOSIT
MATERIAL?

!B. Karst topography

• numerous caves, springs,
solution valleys, sinkholes,
and disappearing streams
 V. HOW DOES GROUNDWATER
ERODE AND DEPOSIT MATERIAL?

!C. Caves form as a result

of dissolution of carbonate
rocks
!Dripstone (deposits)
!Stalactites (ceiling)
!Stalagmites (floor)
!Carlsbad Caverns
VI. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
 A. SALTWATER INCURSION

!Excessive pumping
!Cones of Ascension may
form (salt water)
!El Paso, Dell City
 B. SUBSIDENCE

!Loose grains of the

aquifer are packed
tighter after
groundwater
withdrawal
 C. GROUNDWATER
CONTAMINATION

!sewage, landfills, toxic waste

disposal sites, and agriculture
VII. HYDROTHERMAL ACTIVITY

!A. Hot Springs

• heated by magma or
cooling igneous rocks
(Yellowstone)

Travertine terraces
VII. HYDROTHERMAL ACTIVITY
 VII. HYDROTHERMAL ACTIVITY

!B. Geysers
• forcefully eject water and
steam because of
constrictions in the
plumbing system
 C. GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

!About 1 - 2% of the
world’s energy is generated
from geothermal sources
• Yellowstone National Park,
Wyoming.
• Hot Springs, Arkansas.
• Salton Sea, California.
• Rotorua, New Zealand.
• Iceland.