10

=__**Freshwater, Saltwater and Estuaries**__=

make a comparison of the three

Introduction:
Introduction: earth's surface is covered with 70% water. 97% of the waters are salt water. Of the remaining waters, 2/3 of the fresh waters are frozen in glaciers, therefore only 1% is left as liquid fresh water.

Freshwater:
Definition Composition []
 * Defined as having a low salt concentration usually less than 1%. Plants and animals in freshwater regions are adjusted to the low salt concentration and would not survive in areas of high concentration.
 * "Pure" water essentially is nonexistent in the natural environment. Natural water, whether in the atmosphere, on the ground surface, or under the ground, always contains dissolved minerals and gases as a result of its interaction with the atmosphere, minerals in rocks, organic matter, and living organisms.
 * Usually contains 0.5 - 1 parts of salt per thousand

Types of Freshwater -River and Streams (Flowing) -Ponds and Lakes (Non-Flowing) -Wetlands (Source of Freshwater but some have high salt concentration)
 * bodies of water flowing in one direction
 * can be found in all continents
 * Pasig River, Marikina River, Cagayan River, Rio Grande River, etc
 * Range in size from a few square meters to thousands of square kilometers.
 * The older a lake is, the murkier the water becomes because more organic compounds are combined in it.
 * Some lakes are seasonal, meaning they disappear at different times of the year.
 * Some ponds and lakes may last a long period of time, however the water becomes very dirty.
 * an example is Florida's Everglades

-Examples of freshwater sources
 * Lake Maracaibo, Lake Superior, Hudson River, Nile River, Mississippi River

Life in Freshwater Importance
 * Freshwater fish like Salmon, carp ,and many more
 * Waterfowls like ducks
 * Waterside mammals like Platypus and Mink
 * Amphibians like Frogs
 * Some reptiles like Snakes and turtles
 * Various plants and animals
 * It's major use is for drinking and other human activities like bathing or cleaning, etc.
 * Used for growing food (irrigation)
 * Allows organisms to survive by providing food and water
 * recreation and transportation
 * used to generate hydroelectric power
 * catch basin for overflowing rain water.

Saltwater :
Definition and Basics
 * large concentrations of dissolved inorganic materials, ions
 * Salt water usually has about 30-50 ppt or parts per thousand of salt
 * this means that salt water can have about 30-50 grams of salt per litre of water.
 * this is compared to >30 of Brackish water and Freshwater.
 * After 30-50 ppt of salt, there is brine which is <50 ppt of salt
 * ususally oceanic waters but salt water can also be in salt lakes like the ones in Salt Lake City and the Dead Sea
 * Freshwater is 1.00g/L at 4 C while salt water is 1.028g/L at the same temperature
 * inland densities vary because of different factors like temperature, lack of circulation

Bodies
 * Oceans and Seas are large bodies of salt water, they take up most of the 97% of salt water on earth.
 * Salt Lakes are lakes that are salty, some lakes though like the Dead Sea and the Great Salt Lake of Utah are not anymore saltwater but Brine.

Composition - Components of salt in saltwater without the water. http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/8p.html (Note: SO4 is sulfate, Mg is magnesium, Ca is calcium and K is potassium) http://www.sciencebyjones.com/salts.htm 77% of the salt in water is NaCl
 * ~ salt in saltwater ||~ formula ||~ percentage in saltwater ||
 * sodium chloride || NaCl || (2.72 %) ||
 * magnesium chloride || MgCl2 || (0.38%) ||
 * magnesium sulfate || MgSO4 ||  (0.17 %) ||
 * calcium sulfate || CaSO4 ||  (0.13 %) ||
 * potassium chloride || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">KCl || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">(0.09 %) ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">calcium carbonate || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">CaCO3 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">(0.01 %) ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">magnesium bromide || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;"> MgBr2 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">(0.01 %) ||
 * Examples - the Great Salt Lake in Utah, USA and the famous Dead Sea in Israel. There is so much salt that if you put your hand in the water and bring it up, there would be lumps of salt.

Life in Saltwater

Importance
 * one obvious importance of salt water is that salt water contains NaCl or table salt.
 * this means that the ocean is our large source of salt
 * ( go to http://www.killerdirectory.com/blog/nature/salt-ponds.html for interesting stuff about salt ponds)
 * Salt water is also home to many animals that we humans eat.

Estuary:
Definition and Basic Information <span style="color: #aaaaaa; font-family: sans-serif,helvetica,sans-serif;"> Composition <span style="font-family: sans-serif,helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * A body of water where freshwater and saltwater meet.
 * They serve as a transition between freshwater environments and saltwater environments.
 * Also tidal area of the lower part of a river
 * The inflow of both seawater and freshwater provide high levels of nutrients in both the water and sediment, making estuaries a productive natural habitat.
 * <span style="font-family: sans-serif,helvetica,sans-serif;">Estuaries are highly productive ecosystems, accounting for one-half of the living matter of the world's oceans.
 * Brackish Water
 * Has more salt than freshwater but less salt than saltwater
 * 0.5 - 30 grams of salt per liter of brackish water

Water Patterns

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica;"> Life in Estuaries Importance
 * Because freshwater is less dense it tends to stay on the surface unless it is mixed by the tides.
 * Salt Water is pushed by the tides inward as a counter current
 * There are mammals, rodents, and carnivores. Waterfowl such as ducks, geese, herons, and egrets.
 * Other species use estuaries as resting sites during annual migrations.
 * Because of the stressful conditions that fish face in the estuaries, there is little diversity even though some fish species have extremely high productivity.
 * Though estuaries have many nutrients, the continually changing salinity (saltiness) makes it hard for some animals to live here. Thus the ones that can live here are the ones that are many and productive.
 * MORE!
 * Estuaries are home to many plant and animal life
 * Many of the World's Largest Cities were founded near Estuaries, like New York

Issue: Water Pollution: Dumping of waste into water forms.

"Bad"

• This pollutes the little water we have and need, thus making lives more difficult. It also makes the standards of living lower. It also kills plants and animals. Humans depend on water to drink and they also depend on the marine life to eat. Without the water we too will die. "Good"

• Our waste has to go somewhere… If it isn’t the water forms where will the waste go? The Land is already filled with trash and waste. We can’t simply move the trash away. Also for factories near rivers and such, dumping waste into the water forms is actually cheaper. This saves them money

Comparison:



Check-up Quiz 1. What is the difference of saltwater and freshwater? - Saltwater has more salt than freshwater. 2. Name 1 Kind of Estuary, Clue: One has something to do with the word Tectonic - Tectonic Estuary, Bar Built ... etc. 3. Give the 2 kinds of freshwater bodies. - Flowing and Non-flowing 4. What do you call the water in Estuaries? - Brackish water 5. Name a type of body of water that contains salt water - Ocean, Sea, etc. 6. Arrange According to increasing salinity "Fresh Water", "Salt Water" "Estuary" - Freshwater, Estuary, Saltwater. 7. Does "Pure" Water exist in the Natural Environment - NO 8. How much of the water on earth’s surface is freshwater and not frozen? - 1% 9. What do you call the places where a freshwater source and a saltwater body meet? - An Estuary 10. What is saltier than saltwater? - Brine

Sources:
For Estuaries

Microsoft Encarta http://omp.gso.uri.edu/ompweb/doee/science/descript/whats.htm http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/estuaries/estuaries04_geology.html

For Saltwater

http://www.eoearth.org/article/Effect_of_climate_change_and_land_use_change_on_saltwater_intrusion - an article on saltwater intrusion

Gate's Science Encyclopedia in the library, multiple articles ( water, saltwater, ocean ) http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/whyoceansalty.html

http://merlin.alfred.edu/muller/FormerPhysWorld/PhysWorld/Project1/OceanSalt.html - added information -Wetlands (Source of Freshwater but some have high salt concentration)
 * es because more organic compounds are combined in it.
 * Some lakes are seasonal, meaning they disappear at different times of the year.
 * Some ponds and lakes may last a long period of time, however the water becomes very dirty.

For information on how the ocean got salty : http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/whyoceansalty.html