Transcript of U12B: Watersheds What are they? Why are they important? Topography What watershed do we live in? How...
- Slide 1
- U12B: Watersheds What are they? Why are they important?
Topography What watershed do we live in? How does the river change
as it travels toward the mouth? How do we test how humans are
impacting the watershed?
- Slide 2
- Our Watershed
- Slide 3
- Watershed The land area from which water (runoff and
groundwater), sediment and dissolved materials drain into a common
body of water..
http://www.uvm.edu/~inquiryb/webquest/sp09/tghttp://www.uvm.edu
/~inquiryb/webquest/sp09/tgasperiasperi We can study sustainability
of an ecosystem by testing the watershed
- Slide 4
- Divide - The point where two watersheds connect, ridge
separating two watersheds (mountain range). Ridge - A line of
higher elevation Groundwater - locate it on the map
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/watersheds/whahttp://www.fairfaxco
unty.gov/dpwes/watersheds/whatistis
- Slide 5
- Stream- A body of water with a detectable current, confined
within a bed and banks. http://www.garrettcasey.com/pictures/0901
2003/StreamRock.html
- Slide 6
- Headwaters- The place where a river begins (usually a spring).
The original point from which the river flows.
http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/trout-kill-on-sacramento-river.html
http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/trout-kill-on-sacramento-river.html
http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/trouthttp://tomclarkblog.blogs
pot.com/2009/06/trout-kill-on-kill-on
- Slide 7
- River Mouth- The place where a river ends, emptying into the
ocean.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wUA_hpHhttp://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot
o/wUA_hpHZFNte5gWNy2qzMQZFNte5gWNy2qzMQ
- Slide 8
- Glacier Evidence Glacial Till- Unsorted soil composed of silky
gravely sand and clay with cobbles and boulders mixed in (think
oatmeal raisin cookie). http://pbisotopes.ess.sunysb.edu/reports/de
m_2/till-draping.htm
- Slide 9
- Topography- The study of Earths land forms
http://www.photius.com/countries/hungary/geographttp://www.
photius.com/countries/hungary/geographyhy
- Slide 10
- Elevation- The height of the land above some point
http://www.yellowmaps.com/map/united-
stateselevatihttp://www.yellowmaps.com/map/united-states-elevationon
http://www.yellowmaps.com/map/united-
stateselevatihttp://www.yellowmaps.com/map/united-states-elevationon
- Slide 11
- Contour Line- A line on a map that connects points of equal
elevation
http://explore.ecb.org/videos/VLC_media?P1=VLC177&REFEREhttp://explore.e
cb.org/videos/VLC_media?P1=VLC177&REFERER=OTHERR=OTHER
- Slide 12
- Contour interval- The distance in elevation between two contour
lines
http://academic.brookhttp://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/geology/levesonl
yn.cuny.edu/geology/leveson
- Slide 13
- Slope- The steepness of the land
http://www.therockerbox.com/how_to_use_a_map_5.htm
http://geology.isu.edu/geostac/Field_Exercise/wildfirehttp
- Slide 14
- Aquifer- A large underground reservoir of water that can give
significant water supplies to wells.
http://water.usgs.gov/ogw/gwrp/saltwater/fi g5.html
- Slide 15
- New Hampshire, 100,000 years ago Glacier - Over 100,00 years
ago covered most of North America 1 mile thick. Smoothed Mountains
The glacier moved and shaped the mtns Receding - or melting started
30,000 years ago as weather changes occurred. Lake Merrimack - the
melt ended approximately 8,000 years ago. This lake extended from
Manchester to Plymouth. Rivers - The lake dried up over the next
few thousand years leaving the rivers we see today..
- Slide 16
- Merrimack Watershed OBSERVE the stream then river as we travel
from NH to the Atlantic Ocean in MA
- Slide 17
- Headwaters of the Pemigewasset - Merrimack River
- Slide 18
- Slide 19
- Slide 20
-
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/mountain-stream-white-mountains.html
Low order stream closer to headwaters
- Slide 21
- What are of the headwaters found in NH? In the northern
mountains Describe the speed of the stream at the headwaters? The
headwaters have the fastest speeds
- Slide 22
- Slide 23
- Slide 24
- Concord, NH
- Slide 25
- Slide 26
- Haverhill, MA
- Slide 27
-
http://gonewengland.about.com/library/users/ucsquamriverfoliage.htm
- Slide 28
- http://www.chantryisland.com/remember.jpeg Higher order stream
closer to mouth
- Slide 29
- The mouth of the Merrimack in Newburyport, MA which is bordered
by Salisbury Beach to the north and Plum Island to the south, is
considered one of the most dangerous inlets on the East Coast, if
not the country
- Slide 30
- What do you notice about the Merrimack as it travels from the
headwaters to the mouth? Speed Faster headwaters, slower mouth
Shading More shade (cooler) vs. More open (warmer) Turbulence More
turbulence (mixing) vs. Less turbulence (mixing) Dissolved Oxygen
(DO) More DO vs Less DO
- Slide 31
- The Merrimack River is the 2 nd largest provider of drinking
water in New England. It serves drinking water to 300,000 people
including the city of Nashua and surrounding towns as well as to
downstream communities in Massachusetts, including the cities of
Methuen, Lowell and Lawrence NH Dept of Environmental Services
Everything from car parts to a dishwasher, all pulled from the
river in 2009
- Slide 32
- How are humans impacting the Merrimack Watershed? How do we do
that? Need to perform tests on the water!!! Either by testing for
diversity of macroinvertebrates or by performing experiments using
physical, biological and chemical tests
- Slide 33
- STREAM ORDER Does the Merrimack River differ in size during its
path to the Atlantic?
- Slide 34
- Stream Orders Ecologists classify flowing water by a system
called stream orders The stream order system starts with first
order streams When 2 first order streams join, they form a second
order stream When 2 second order streams join, they form a third
order stream and so on The area of land drained by a stream system
is called its watershed!
- Slide 35
- Slide 36
- What order stream is the Merrimack when it leaves NH? Five
- Slide 37
- Low Order Stream (headwaters) Low order Fast speed (2.2m/s)
Headwaters (mountains) Cold Cobble/ stone bottom Higher dissolved
oxygen (DO) 11ppm Higher total solids Abundant turbulence
- Slide 38
- Low Order Stream continued Narrow/shaded Shallow No plants
Trout Macroinvertebrates: stoneflies, caddisflies, mayflies,
nonswimmers Food chain starts with washed in plant material
- Slide 39
- High Order Stream (mouth) High order (5+) Slow speed (0.6 m/s)
Lowlands, plains Warm temperatures Sand/mud/silt on bottom Lower DO
(5 ppm) Lower total solids Little turbulence
- Slide 40
- High Order Stream continued Wide, open, not shaded Deep
Submerged and emergent plants and phytoplankton Bass and sunfish
Macros: caddisflies, worms, midges; burrowers and swimmers
Producers start food chain
- Slide 41
- Comparing Two Stream Orders Stream Order CharacteristicFirst
Order StreamFifth Order Stream Temperature (cold, warm) Speed
(slow, fast) Dissolved Oxygen (low, high) Width (narrow, wide)
Shade (full, none) Feature (mouth, headwaters) Location (No. Mtns,
So. Lowlands)