Lesson+Quiz+Week+4

=Distance Learning Quiz - Week 4= Below is what you submitted to dl@pisgahforestinstitute.org on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 09:54:07


 * Topic:** Hydrology
 * Subtopic:** Water Sources, Water Quality, Watersheds
 * Name:** Kim Collazo
 * E-mail:** kscollazo@gmail.com
 * Question 1:** Water enters and exits an aquifer through pores in the ground cover contained above it. This process is called "infiltration". These areas are called recharge areas.
 * Question 2 :** The world's largest aquifer is located under the high plains of the United States. It extends northward from western Texas to South Dakota. The water contained in it came from the melt and retreat of the last Ice Age 15,000 to 30,000 years ago.
 * Question 3:** The top layer of an aquifer is called a water table. It is the boundary between the zone of saturation and the drier region above where infiltration begins to occur.
 * Question 4:** The most common water pollutant in North Carolina is sediment pollution. This type of pollution disrupts photosynthesis, clogs the gills of fish, and fills in habitat for organisms. The cause of this problem is disruption of soil surface cover. This could be due to deforestation, altering the natural topsoil, or changing the shape of the slope of the land through construction efforts.
 * Question 5:** Excessive nutrients from large of amounts fertilizers entering the water system causes uncontrolled, excessive algae growth. This excessive algae depletes the water system of valuable nutrients during its growth, and oxygen through its decomposition.
 * Question 6:** The two main types of pollution are point and non-point. Point source pollution stems from a concentrated originating point like a smokestack of a factory. Non-point source pollution is found in concentrated levels in bodies of water but has come from many sources. An example would be antifreeze and other pollutants that get washed down any number of storm drains in an area.
 * Question 7:** A drainage basin is the area of land surrounding a body of water that drains into that particular water body. It is commonly referred to as a watershed.
 * Question 8:** Riparian zones are the non-cultivated, vegetated area between the water body edge and the upland area. Riparian zones often include wetlands bordering the water bodies. Riparian zones are important biofilters for the water body, filtering out pollutants from run-off. They protect the aquatic system from over sedimentation and erosion. They provide crucial habitat for organisms that play a role in the aquatic ecosystem, including impacting the temperature of the water itself.
 * Question 9:** An indicator species in one whose presence or absence indicates an environmental change in the health of the environment. Frogs and salamanders are intolerant of poor water quality, so investigating their presence or absence is a good indication of the health of the aquatic system.
 * Question 10:** Water from the French Broad river eventually ends up in the Mississippi River.

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