NRM 1401 Final TTU Dr. Gipson 2024 Updated Exam!!

Why is water an important resource? What are some of the most important human uses of water? - Answer-- Water in the earth's atmosphere buffers temperature. This property of water makes life on earth possible. - Humans drink water, use it to clean themselves and other things we use, and use it to grow crops What is the name of the aquifer located on the Southern Great Plains that provides much of the drinking and irrigation water for our area? - Answer-Ogallala Aquifer What is the cash crop most commonly grown in West Texas? How has the farming of this crop changed in the last 100 years? What is likely to happen in the future in regards to farming this crop? - Answer-- Cotton; Cotton is King - More machines are used than people - More machines will take the jobs of people What is meant when it is said that water acts as a temperature buffer? - Answer-- Water absorbs a lot of the heat on earth so that the temperatures do not get too hot How is the water on planet Earth distributed? - Answer-- Oceans: 97% - Glaciers: 2% - Rivers, lakes, groundwater, and water vapor: 1% What are some of the major inland water bodies of Earth? What are some characteristics of each? - Answer-- Aral Sea: shrinking since the 1960's after the rivers that fed it were diverted for irrigation. By 2007, it had declined to 10% of its original size. (originally covered 26,300 square miles) - Lake Baikal the world's oldest and deepest lake. 80% of the animals are endemic, including freshwater seals and translucent fish. (depth: 5,387 ft., length: 395 miles, width: 49 miles, contains 20% of the world's surface fresh water). - Lake Tahoe: Second deepest lake in North America (1,645 ft. deep) Largest Alpine Lake in North America (122,160,280 acre ft of water; length=22miles; width=12miles) - The Great Salt Lake: Largest natural lake West of the Mississippi River (length=75miles; width=35miles) Extremely high salt levels/too salty to support fish.No outflow, thus when tributaries bring salt in, evaporation occurs and the concentration of salt increases. What is the Lake Effect? Where in the U.S. does this occur? - Answer-- The lakes moderate seasonal temperatures by absorbing heat and cooling the air in summer then slowly releasing the heat in autumn. - Occurs in the Great Lakes What is surface tension and what causes it? - Answer-- Cohesion of Water Molecules cause surface tension What is erosion and how does it relate to water? - Answer-- major force for creating landscapes - Soil is carried by water moving on the surface of the earth - sediments are moved from high to low elevation (deltas) What is turbidity? What are some common causes of turbidity? - Answer-- measure sediment that is suspended in water - prevents light penetration - limiting plant growth and thus, photosynthesis How can water, or the lack thereof, serve as a barrier to animal and plant populations? - Answer-- Water often serves as an isolating mechanism for populations of animals Swimming ability of terrestrial species (distance) Seed dispersal Temperature, salinity, dissolved O2, turbidity What are guzzlers? - Answer-Manmade watering holes