WATER RESOURCES

MODULE 6

SCI103 EARTH SCIENCE

Why should I care about water?

• It has been used as a means of transport, source of food, necessary for economic production, and other ecological benefits.
• The major cities of the world are always near water.
• For millions of years, the total amount of water on Earth has remained fairly constant - rates of evaporation and precipitation are balanced.
• The amount of water in our planet is fairly constant.

Hydrologic Cycle: Principal Natural Components

• Precipitation (snow or rain)
• Infiltration to the soil
• Surface Runoff
• Groundwater - moves to the surface or the oceans
• Evapotranspiration - movement from water bodies, soil, and living things.

Water makes up 71% of the Earth's surface.

• 97% of the world’s water is saltwater.
• 67% of the freshwater is in ice or glaciers.

Surface Water - 1% of freshwater on Earth

• It is present naturally or artificially in formations where water can accumulate called reservoirs.

Groundwater
• It refers to the sub-surface water contained in pore spaces in regolith and bedrock.
• The volume of groundwater is 40 times larger than surface water.
• Accessible groundwater is no more than 750m below the ground.
• Natural formations where water accumulates underground is called aquifers.

Groundwater mining: If the rate of withdrawal of groundwater exceeds the natural recharge, the volume of groundwater will steadily decrease.
• This may result to lowering of the water table, drying up of springs and streams, compaction of the aquifer, and land subsidence (ground sinking).
• Groundwater is complicated to monitor because it is hidden from

Main Causes of Water Contamination

• untreated sewage
• agricultural pesticides and fertilizers
• leakage of harmful chemicals
(Gas stations, refineries, and other industries)
• pollution

RA 9275 -The Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004

Freshwater is not distributed equally across the globe.

• Canada: 0.5% of the world’s population has 20% liquid freshwater

• China: 19% of the world’s population has 7% liquid freshwater
• Asia: 60% of the world’s population has 30% liquid freshwater

Freshwater Withdrawals

• It is the amount of water taken from the natural environment to be used for human activity.
• Agriculture: growing of crops and maintaining livestock
• Industry: creating manufactured goods
• Domestic: everyday activities (showers, laundry, drinking, etc.)

Desalination – a process to extract freshwater from saltwater, removing the unwanted salt content.
• This is viewed as the popular solution to droughts. Due to the widespread use, desalination is becoming cheaper.
• On the other hand, the environmental impact of large-scale desalination must also be considered.
SOIL RESOURCES
SCI03 Module 7

Soil
• It consists of matter in three states - solid, liquid, and gas. The solid component consists of a mixture of mineral grains plus material of biologic origin.
• It is a product of weathering processes and a medium capable of supporting plant growth.
• The water in the soil wets the mineral grains. The soil moisture tends to contain high levels of dissolved substances. Both the nutrients and moisture in the soil allow plants to grow.
• Carbon dioxide, methane, and oxygen fill the open spaces in the soil.

Soil Texture - refers to the proportion of particles that fall into each of the three size ranges, namely clay, silt, and sand.

Humus - partially decayed organic matter in soil, critical to soil fertility

Soil Texture Triangle - a diagram which helps identify the type of soil based on its composition.

Four Main Characteristics of Soil

• Soil Depth – Thickness of a soil from the surface to a root-limiting layer such as bedrock or seasonal water table
• Soil Texture – The relative amount of sand, silt, and clay in each soil. Affects more specific characteristics like porosity, drainage, and permeability
• Soil Structure – The shape and size of soil aggregates. Influences the size distribution of pores in the soil
• Organic Matter – Amount of organic matter within a soil. Affects more specific characteristics and is affected by soil management

Soil Profile - the sequence of soil horizons from the surface down to the underlying bedrock.

Soil Horizon - one of the succession of zones or layers within a soil profile, each with distinct physical, chemical, and biological characteristics.

Soil Horizon
O Horizon - contains the accumulation of organic matter.
A Horizon - is typically dark in color because of the humus present
E horizon - a pale layer that is sometimes present in forest areas.
B horizon - is brownish or reddish because of the presence of iron hydroxides that has leached from the surface. Also called the "zone of accumulation."
C horizon - is made up of the parent material underneath (bedrock) in various stages of weathering.

Bedrock - solid unweathered rock

Soil quality is the capacity of a soil to function within ecosystem and land-use boundaries to sustain biological productivity, maintain environmental quality, and promote plant and animal health. Human
activities such as farming, urbanization, and waste disposal can greatly affect the soil quality.

Effects of Poor Soil Management

• Soil Pollution
• Erosion - occurs when soil particles are detached, transported, and deposited. Although this may occur naturally, removal of plants and trees from the soil may lead to accelerated erosion.
• Desertification - the extreme degradation of productive land in arid and semi-arid areas. This can create poor quality vegetation.

Effects of Poor Soil Management

• Acidification occurs acidic cations (Hydrogen, Aluminum, iron and manganese) are concentrated in the soil. The pH decreases and soil becomes more acidic. This is a natural process in weathering.
However, the use of certain fertilizers to provide food, like anhydrous ammonia, causes soil to become more acidic much faster.
• Salinization is the build-up of salt on the soil surface. This affects the physical soil quality and hinders the growth of plants.

Effects of Poor Soil Management

• Deforestation
• Heavy Metal Contamination has a toxic effect on soil microorganisms and plants. Even at low concentration, it hinders some physiological metabolism of plants. Heavy metals may further contaminate
the water table. Accumulation in plants may also pose as a danger to animal and human health.

Effects of Poor Soil Management

• Eutrophication occurs when excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous, because of synthetic fertilizers, accumulates in land and aquatic systems. This is a form of nutrient pollution.
• This is the cause of algae blooms in aquatic environments which depletes the oxygen in water.

Soil is a semi non-renewable resource since it takes a long time for water and nutrients to accumulate inside it.
ENERGY RESOURCES
MODULE 5
SCI103 EARTH SCIENCE

Energy - ability to do work; takes many forms

The Philippine household consumes an average of 248.1 kilowatt hours (2015).

• lighting purposes
• cooking
• recreation
• space cooling

The Philippine consumes an average of 4320 kWh per capita in 2021.

• Coal, oil, and gas per person

Groups of Energy Sources based on methods of electricity generation

• Renewable
• Non-renewable

Renewable or Alternative Energy - energy sources which are not based on the burning of fossil fuels or the splitting of atoms

Non-renewable Energy - comes from sources that will run out or will be replenished in our lifetime

ENERGY
Non - Renewable
1. Coal
2. Oil
3. Natural Gas
4. Nuclear

Renewable Energy
1. Solar
2. Wind
3. Hydroelectric
4. Geothermal
5. Biofuel

Converting Energy into Electricity

1. Heat Energy - Energy from bond breaking/formation in fuels is converted to heat energy.
2. Kinetic Energy - Heat energy is used to
convert water to steam
which has kinetic energy.

Converting Energy into Electricity

3. Mechanical Energy - Steam’s kinetic energy becomes mechanical energy which makes turbines and other mechanisms turn.
4. Electrical Energy - Mechanical energy from the mechanisms create electricity via electromagnetism.

Non-renewable Sources
1. Fossil Fuels

• coal
• petroleum
• natural gas

Fossil Fuels
• Formed from fossilized, buried remains of plants and animals – high in carbon content

Oil (petroleum) – mined then transported to refineries to become usable fuels

Coal – solid, carbon-heavy rocks
Natural gas – composed mostly of methane
Oil
• Petroleum – from Greek: petra “rock” + oleum “oil”
• Fractional distillation
• Refined into usable fuels – gasoline, propane, kerosene, etc.

Coal
• A flammable black hard rock used as a solid fossil fuel
• A sedimentary rock formed from peat, by the pressure of rocks laid down
- Anthracite
- Bituminous
- Subbituminous
- Lignite

Natural gas
• Mainly made of methane
• Used as a fuel to make materials and chemicals
• Occur in coal deposits – coal bed methane

Environmental Concerns: Fossil Fuels

1. Causes air and water pollution; CO2 (43% of global emissions) produced are at a level harmful to the environment (oil and coal)
2. Slowly being replaced by alternative renewable sources, depends on pace of technological advancements

When will fossil fuels run out?

Oil will end by 2052

Gas will end by 2060
Coal will end by 2090
Geomorphic Processes |SCI03 MODULE 9

Geomorphic Processes - are the physical processes which create and modify landforms on the surface of the earth. It can either be Endogenous (Endogenic) vs. Exogenous (Exogenic)Processes. Involves
the Rock Cycle.

Exogenous Processes (Gradational)

• they comprise degradation and aggradation
• they modify relief
→ a continuum of processes
→ Weathering → Mass Wasting → Erosion → Transportation → Deposition
→ these processes are carried through by Geomorphic Agents: gravity, flowing water (rivers), moving ice (glaciers), waves and tides (oceans and lakes), wind, plants, microorganisms, animals, and
humans

Exogenous Processes (Gradational)

1. Degradation Processes → Also called Denudation Processes
a. Weathering
b. Mass Wasting
c. Erosion and Transportation
2. Aggradation Processes (Deposition by river, streams)
a. Deposition – fluvial, glacial, coastal

Relationship: Weathering, Mass Wasting and Erosion and Transportation

Together, these processes are responsible for Denudation of Earth’s surface

WEATHERING
• Weathering is disintegration and decomposition of rocks in situ – no transportation involved
→ produces regolith

▪ involves the mechanical or physical disintegration and/or chemical decomposition that fragments rock masses into smaller components that amass on-site, before being moved by gravity or transported
by other agents

▪ The processes begin in microscopic spaces, cracks, joints, faults, fractures, lava vesicles and other rock cavities

TYPES OF WEATHERING
1. Physical or Mechanical
2. Chemical
3. Biological

Physical or Mechanical Weathering

• Disintegration and decay of rocks via weather elements: high temperatures, extreme cold and freeze-thaw cycles
• No change in chemical composition of rocks
• Exfoliation – due to thermal expansion/contraction and/or release of pressure when buried rocks are uplifted and exposed
e.g., Exfoliation Dome (Stone Mountain, GA) and Exfoliation Sheets (Sierra Nevada)
• Frost Wedging
• Salt Wedging

Chemical Weathering - decomposes rocks through a chemical change in its minerals

Oxidation – important in iron-rich rocks – reddish coloration like rust
Hydrolysis – igneous rocks have much silica which readily combines with water
Carbonation and Solution – carbon dioxide dissolved in water reacts with carbonate rocks to create a soluble product (calcium bicarbonate)

MASS WASTING
• Downslope movement of rock, soil and other debris due to the pull of gravity
• Factors affecting or inducing the event:
• Speed
• Type of material
• Nature of movement
• Water
• Soil Cover
• Geologic features
• Triggering Events (earthquakes, excessive rainfall, volcanic eruption

FACTORS AFFECTING MASS WASTING

1. Angle of repose – highest angle that the side/slope of a mound of unconsolidated sediments will achieve under the influence of gravity

2. Water
• Moist sand will be able to achieve steeper sides (higher angle of repose) – the water is enough to fill in some spaces for additional surface tension, cohesion and adhesion which keeps the sediments
together
• Too much water, the grains will tend to slide past one another and become more fluid (lower angle)

3. Soil Cover
• Soil is basically a mixture of rocks, regolith (weathered rock materials), organic matter, water and air
• Expansion and contraction of soil containing clay minerals affect the stability and consolidation of the material potential for mass wasting
• Because of expansion, intergranular contact may be decreased and it increases the susceptibility to a mass wasting event

4. Geologic features
• Presence of structures and rock types
• Structures: beddings, joints and faults
• Joints and faults – provide additional conduits for water to pass through inner regions of rock mass
• Beddings – zones of weakness in a rock that may increase the potential of slides

5. Triggering Events
• Earthquakes
• Excessive Rainfall
• Volcanic Eruptions

Endogenous Processes - are large-scale landform building and transforming processes

• they create relief.

1. Tectonic Processes (Also called Diastrophism)

a. Folding: anticlines (up), synclines (down), mountains
b. Faulting: rift valleys,
c. Lateral Faulting: strike-slip faults

Tectonic Folding
1. Tectonic Processes (Also called Diastrophism)
a. Folding: anticlines (up), synclines (down), mountains
b. Faulting: rift valleys,
c. Lateral Faulting: strike-slip faults

Endogenous Processes
2. Igneous Processes
a. Volcanism: Volcanic eruptions → Volcanoes
b. Plutonism: Igneous intrusions
• Earthquakes → evidence of present-day tectonic activity

Magma - a molten or semi-molten rock mixture found under the surface of the Earth. This mixture is usually made up of four parts:
1. a hot liquid base, called the melt;
2. minerals crystallized by the melt;
3. solid rocks incorporated into the melt from the surrounding confines; and
4. dissolved gases.

Magma

• Extremely hot. (between 700oC and 1,300oC)

• Heat makes magma a very fluid and dynamic substance, able to create new landforms and engage physical and chemical transformations in a variety of different environments.

Magma Formation: Decompression Melting

• Involves the upward movement of Earth’s mostly solid mantle.

• This hot material rises to an area of lower pressure through the process of convection.
• Areas of lower pressure always have a lower melting point than areas of high pressure.
• This reduction in overlying pressure, or decompression, enables the mantle rock to melt and form magma.

• Decompression melting often occurs at divergent boundaries, where tectonic plates separate. The rifting movement causes the buoyant magma below to rise and fill the space of lower pressure. The
rock then cools into new crust.
• Decompression melting also occurs at mantle plumes (hot spots), columns of hot rock that rise from Earth’s high-pressure core to its lower-pressure crust
Magma Formation: Transfer of Heat
• Magma can also be created when hot, liquid rock intrudes into Earth’s cold crust.
• As the liquid rock solidifies, it loses its heat to the surrounding crust. Much like hot fudge being poured over cold ice cream, this transfer of heat is able to melt the surrounding rock (the “ice cream”)
into magma.
• Transfer of heat often happens at convergent boundaries, where tectonic plates are crashing together.

Magma Formation: Flux melting

• occurs when water or carbon dioxide are added to rock
• These compounds cause the rock to melt at lower temperatures. This creates magma in places where it originally maintained a solid structure.
• Much like heat transfer, flux melting also occurs around subduction zones.

Igneous Processes
Plutonism
• The formation of intrusive igneous rock by solidification of magma beneath the earth’s surface
• James Hutton (and others) – Plutonism Theory: rock forming processes are driven by heat contained within the interior of the Earth

Volcanism (Vulcanism)
• Any of various processes and phenomena associated with the surficial discharge of molten rock, pyroclastic fragments, or hot water and steam
• eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of a planet
• Volcanoes are evidences of the internal heat that the earth can release unto the surface

Metamorphism
• Alteration of the composition or structure of a rock by heat, pressure, or other natural agency
• The process by which rocks are changed in composition, texture or structure by extreme heat and pressure

Types of Metamorphism (CCHRBS)

1. Contact Metamorphism – due to proximity to igneous intrusions
2. Cataclastic Metamorphism – due to mechanical deformation (ie the sliding of rock material between faults)
3. Hydrothermal Metamorphism – due to high temperatures and moderate pressures by hydrothermal fluids
4. Regional Metamorphism – occurs in large areas and accompanied by deformations from non-hydrostatic or differential stress conditions

5. Burial Metamorphism – due to temperatures reached when rock is buried to depths of several hundred meters
6. Shock/Impact Metamorphism – due to stresses from the impact of extraterrestrial material or large volcanic eruptions
Plate Tectonics
SCI03 Module 10

The Beginning of Plate Tectonics

• In early 20th century, scientist realized that they could not explain many of the Earth’s structures and processes with a single theory
• Many scientific hypotheses were developed to try and support the conflicting observation

Plate Tectonics
• The Earth’s crust is divided into 12 major plates which are moved in various directions.
• This plate motion causes them to collide, pull apart, or scrape against each other.
• Each type of interaction causes a characteristic set of Earth structures or “tectonic” features.
• The word, tectonic, refers to the deformation of the crust because of plate interaction.

What are tectonic plates made of?

• Plates are made of rigid lithosphere.

• The lithosphere is made up of the crust and the upper part of the mantle.

What lies beneath the tectonic plates?

Below the lithosphere (which makes up the tectonic plates) is the asthenosphere.

Plate Movement - “Plates” of lithosphere are moved around by the underlying hot mantle convection cells

CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY

• Proponent: Alfred Wegener, a German meteorologist and arctic explorer
• Principal Thought: Continents are situated on slabs of rock, or plates, and they have drifted across the surface of the Earth over time; however, originally, they were all joined together a huge super-
continent at one time.

Pangaea
• The supercontinent the existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras
• Movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates caused it to break apart

Panthalassa
• The huge supercontinent was surrounded by one gigantic ocean called Panthalassa.

The Rejection of Continental Drift

1)Most influential earth scientists were based in the Northern Hemisphere, whereas most of the conclusive data came from the Southern Hemisphere.
2)There were plausible alternative explanations to the distribution of fossils and glacial deposits.
3) The geophysicists could not think of a force strong enough to make continents able to plough through Oceanic crust.
4) Wegener assigned Pangea a far too young age (Cenozoic) and paleontologists found it hard to believe that so much continental drift could have occurred in so short time.

Harry Hess - an American scientist proposed the seafloor spreading in 1962.

SEA-FLOOR SPREADING
Principal Thoughts: Ocean floors move like conveyer belts, carrying continents along with them. Sea floor spreading theory states that new ocean crust is being created at the mid- ocean ridges (which
are large mountain chains underwater) and destroyed at trenches.

Evidence supporting the theory of sea floor spreading

A. Molten Material The rocks shaped like pillows (rock pillows) show that molten material has erupted again and again from cracks along the midocean ridge and cooled quickly.
B. Magnetic Striping Rocks that make up the ocean floor lie in a pattern of magnetized stripes which hold a record of the reversals in Earth’s magnetic field.
C. Oceanic Drilling Samples Younger rocks were found in the center of the ridge, older rocks were found farther away from the ridge at the trenches.

Types of Plate Movement

1. Convergent – plates moving towards one another – Subduction plate
2. Divergent – moves away, production of new plates in ocean ridges
3. Lateral Plate (strike-slip) – Transform boundary

Three types of Convergent Boundaries

1. Ocean-Continent
2. Ocean-Ocean
3. Continent-Continent