Before we can learn about groundwater-surface water interactions, we must understand the water table. The water table is the level at which the pore spaces are filled entirely with water. The water table is not a flat plain, but rather, a three-dimensional surface.
Tag: earth sciences
Hydrologists collect stream measurements to ensure we are not using our water resources too quickly or in unsustainable ways. With a few household items, you can collect river measurements too!
Different rivers naturally have different planforms – and that’s a good thing! You will find healthy streams and rivers with a variety of different natural planforms – no one planform is necessarily better than the others. What is best is for a river to be in as close to its natural state as reasonably possible.
A glacier is a large, dense ice mass made from compacted snow that slowly moves under its own weight over a long period of time. Unlike seasonal snowpack, glacial ice does not fully melt in summer. Although glaciers move slowly, often just centimeters per day, they may cover great distances over many years. There are […]
About common water features Before diving into definitions and examples of some common water features, let us ask: “what is a water feature?” Water features are any waterbody or waterway found on the earth’s surface! Water features come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes! For example, some water features are lotic (flowing, like […]
What is snow hydrology? Snow hydrology is the study of snow’s role in the water cycle. Snow hydrologists study snowfall, melting, and everything that happens to snow in between! Many snow hydrologists are interested in the ways snow impacts our water resources. They may use data to make predictions about the water supply. Why is […]
In this post, you’ll learn about ecological disturbance and succession, starting with definitions and examples of disturbances. We will cover the differences between primary succession vs. secondary succession, as well as the steps of the ecological succession process. Finally, you’ll read about why disturbances like wildfire can be important and natural processes in ecosystems! What […]
Many forces work together to shape the landscape. Plate tectonics, volcanic activity, erosion, and deposition work slowly over time to form and change our earth’s surface. All these forces working together create some pretty unique and cool landforms! In this post, we’ll take a closer look at 12 common landforms – what they look like, […]
You may have noticed the unique rings that appear on tree stumps – and you might even know that you can figure out a tree’s age by counting the rings! But did you know that scientists can use tree growth rings to learn about our past climate and even estimate the date of historic volcanic eruptions?
Author’s note: As a master’s student who works with water, this one is an exciting topic for me to write about! Water is a vital resource that needs careful management in the Mountain West region of the United States. Mountain region watersheds are expected to face climate change-related challenges due to decreasing winter snowpack, changing […]