Geography 111 Chapter 6 question n answers rated A+ 2023/2024

Geography 111 Chapter 6 hydrologic cycle - correct answer • Vast currents of water, water vapor, ice, and energy are flowing continuously. • Together, they form the hydrologic cycle. • It circulates and transforms water throughout Earth's lower atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere. • The water cycle can be divided into three main components: atmosphere, surface, and subsurface. • Water has a short residence in the atmosphere that is only about 10 days. • Water has a longer residence time in deep-ocean circulation, groundwater, and glacial ice, where it acts to moderate temperature and climatic changes. • These slower parts of the hydrologic cycle can have a "buffering" effect during periods of water shortage. Largest freshwater lake in the world - correct answer Caspian Sea Aral sea disaster - correct answer Once the fourth largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea is now almost completely dried up due to water diversions by the soviets in the 1960's in order to irrigate the surrounding desert. Groundwater mining and impact on the largest US aquifer - correct answer • The utilization of aquifers beyond their flow and recharge capacities is known as groundwater mining. • Groundwater mining is of special concern for the massive High Plains Aquifer, North America's largest known aquifer system. • The High Plains Aquifer underlies a 174,000 square mile area shared by eight states and extending from southern South Dakota to Texas. • Also known as the Ogallala Aquifer, it is composed mainly of sand and gravel, with some silt and clay deposits. • Throughout the region, groundwater flows generally from east to west, discharging at the surface into streams and springs. • Precipitation, which varies widely over the region, is the main source of recharge—12 to 24 inches. • Heavy mining of this groundwater for irrigation intensified after World War II. • The High Plains Aquifer now irrigates about 1/5 of all U.S. cropland. • Aquifer supplies drinking water for nearly 2 million people. • Between 1950 and 1980, the annual rate of water pumped from the aquifer increased 300%. • By 2000, withdrawals had decreased slightly due to declining well yields and increasing pumping costs. • The overall effect of groundwater withdrawals has been a drop in the water table of more than 100 ft in most of the region. • Throughout the 1980s, the water table declined an average of 6 ft each year. • During the period from predevelopment (about 1950) to 2011, the level of the water table declined more than 150 ft in parts of northern Texas. • Rising water levels occurred in Nebraska and in areas of Texas due to recharge from surface irrigation and downward percolation from canals and reservoirs. • Water accumulation in the High Plains Aquifer occurred over millions of years, and recharge today is extremely slow. • The USGS estimates that recovery of the aquifer would take at lea