▲

The fast moving water that

flowed over the mighty
Churchill Falls in Labrador is
now used to power one of
the largest hydroelectricity
developments in North
America.

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 Key Ideas

1 The water cycle plays a

vital role on Earth
1.1 Distribution of Water
1.2 Comparing Ocean Water
and Fresh Water
1.3 Sources of Fresh Water

2 Oceans control the

water cycle
2.1 Ocean Basins
2.2 Ocean Currents
2.3 Waves and Tides

3 Bodies of water influence

climate and species
distribution
3.1 Oceans and Climate
3.2 Living in Water
3.3 Human Impact on Water
Systems

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 Water not only supports life, but also shapes coastlines such as the one here in Freshwater Cove on
the Avalon Peninsula.

E arth is covered in water, and because of that, life thrives in

almost every location you can think of. From bugs to birds,
sunflowers to spruce trees, and halibut to humans, the variety of
organisms on the planet seems almost limitless. Water is a part of
every living thing, and every living thing—humans included—
needs water to stay alive.
Water also has a major effect in shaping the landscapes
around us. Rushing rivers and pounding ocean waves, for
example, can change the shape of the land overnight. As if that
were not enough, water also influences climate and weather
around the globe. The world’s oceans are not just tubs for
holding Earth’s water supply: they play an essential role in
keeping Earth a suitable place for life.
As you read through this unit, you will learn about how
important it is for us to care for this natural resource. Humans
have been altering natural water systems for thousands of years.
By developing a strong understanding of Earth’s water systems
and what is needed to keep them healthy, we can learn how best
to protect the quality of water all over our planet.

 MHR • Unit 1 Water Systems on Earth

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 The Many Ways People Use Water Find Out ACTIVITY

In Newfoundland and Labrador, there is water all What to Do

around in ponds, lakes, rivers, and the ocean. With 1. Look at the figure below and create a mind map
so much water available, you might think it could with “Water” as your starting term. Then, make
never run out, and rarely pay attention to how a list of all the different ways water is being
much water you use in your daily life. In many used in the figure. Try to group the items on the
parts of Africa, water (especially clean water) is list into different categories. For example, you
very scarce. On average, in some African countries, might have categories such as “household use,”
a person uses about 5 L of water a day. Compare “personal use,” and “recreational activities.”
that with average daily use in Newfoundland and
Labrador, which is over 400 L. That is equivalent What Did You Find Out?
to about 400 1 L milk cartons! Household use is 1. Share your category lists with the rest of the
just one example of how water is an essential class. Were there any differences?
part of our lives. The following activity will help 2. Pick one of your categories and imagine that
you think about what other ways we use water in the water uses listed under it were not available
Newfoundland and Labrador. to you anymore. Write a brief paragraph about
how your life would be affected.

Unit 1 Getting Started • MHR 

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 E arth has been called “the blue planet.” From space, its surface appears
to be mostly oceans of liquid water. There is no doubt that water
is everywhere on Earth. Water vapour is found in Earth’s atmosphere.
Frozen water occurs on moutaintops and at the North and South Poles.
The bodies of animals and plants consist mainly of water. In fact, sixty-five
percent of your body mass is water.
Water is always on the move. It evaporates into the air and falls from
clouds as rain or snow. The best way to understand Earth’s water supply is
to study it as a system — a system in which water constantly moves around
between sea, sky, land, and life. It is one of our most precious resources on
Earth.

 MHR • Unit 1 Water Systems on Earth

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 FOLDABLES TM
Reading & Study
Skills

Make the following Foldable to

demonstrate your learning in Chapter 1.

What You Will Learn STEP 1 Collect 2 sheets of

letter sized paper and
In this chapter, you will layer them about
• describe how water exists in various 2.5 cm apart vertically.
states on Earth’s surface Keep the edges level.
• explain how water is distributed around
the planet
• describe how water circulates between
STEP 2 Fold up the bottom
land, ocean, and atmosphere
edges of the paper
• identify why water systems are closely
to form 4 tabs.
connected

STEP 3 Fold the papers and

Why It Is Important crease well to hold
the tabs in place.
By studying Earth’s water systems, you will Staple along the
better understand the importance of water in fold.
our lives and to all life on the planet.
STEP 4 Label the tabs The water cycle plays
a vital role on Earth.
as shown. (Note:
Distribution of water
the first tab will
Skills You Will Use be larger than The Water Cycle
shown here.) Sources of
fresh water
In this chapter, you will
• study and interpret maps and tables of Show You Know As you read the
water systems chapter, take notes under the appropriate
• communicate your understanding of the tab to describe the distribution of water on
water cycle Earth, illustrate the water cycle, compare
• design a model of the water cycle ocean water and fresh water, and identify
• investigate the effect of salinity on water sources of fresh water on Earth.
density

Chapter 1 The water cycle plays a vital role on Earth • MHR 

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 1.1 Distribution of Water

There is hardly a place on Earth where water cannot be found in some form or
another. Whether it is frozen in small spaces between tiny particles in rock or
floating as invisible droplets in the air, water is everywhere on our planet. With
this being the case, you might think that humans could never run out of water
to drink. Yet, if you have ever swallowed seawater, you know that not all the
water on Earth is drinkable.

Key Terms In terms of the amount of water on this planet, the water you
need to survive is actually in very short supply. The vast majority
atmosphere of water on Earth, about 97 percent, is salt water (see Figure
hydrosphere 1.1). You cannot drink salt water. Neither can other land-living
lithosphere organisms.
water cycle

Earth’s total
water supply: 100%
18 L

Word Connect Earth’s available

fresh water: 1%
The word “aquatic” means
watery, and comes from the
ancient Latin word aqua, Figure 1.1 Earth’s total water supply compared with the distribution of available fresh water.
which means water. Some
words we use today have the Only 3 percent of the planet’s water is “fresh water,” meaning
root word “aqua,” such as it does not contain salt. That may still seem like a lot of fresh
aquarium. water, but two thirds of that fresh water supply is frozen in large
masses of ice. These frozen masses of water form ice sheets at the
North and South Poles, and glaciers in the high mountaintops.
That leaves less than 1 percent of Earth’s water as liquid fresh
water. This tiny remainder must supply hundreds of billions
of other organisms with the water they need to survive. This
includes over six billion humans.
With all of these organisms consuming water, why have we
not yet run out of fresh water? To answer this question, we need
to examine the water cycle.
Figure 1.2 Two-thirds of Earth's
fresh water is frozen.
The Water Cycle
Have you ever gone for a walk in your neighbourhood just after
a heavy rain? What do you notice? Water drips from leaves and
runs along gutters or drainage ditches. There are puddles in
parking lots, and footpaths across a playing field are muddy. A

 MHR • Unit 1 Water Systems on Earth

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 few hours later, the puddles are gone and the sidewalks are dry.
Word Connect
What has happened to the water?
Each drop of rain that falls must go somewhere. Some runs off The root word hydro is Greek
the land into the streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and then pours into for “pertaining to water.”A
the oceans. Some soaks, seeps, and flows into Earth’s lithosphere— hydrologist a person who
the solid rocky ground of Earth’s crust. Some appears to just studies Earth’s water systems
“vanish” into Earth’s atmosphere – the environment surrounding and helps find solutions to
problems of water quality and
the planet. All of the water on Earth, be it in the atmosphere,
quantity. What other terms
lithosphere, or on Earth’s surface, is called the hydrosphere. can you think of that begin
The ability of water to “disappear” and to reappear somewhere with hydro?
else is not magic. It is the result of two common changes of state:
evaporation and condensation. Evaporation is the change of state
from a liquid to a gas. Evaporation converts liquid water from
Earth’s surface into gaseous water vapour. There is always some
water vapour in the atmosphere. Condensation is the change of
state from a gas to a liquid. Gaseous water vapour remains in the
atmosphere until it cools. As it cools, water vapour condenses
to form clouds. Liquid and solid water fall from the clouds as
precipitation—rain and snow. These two changes of state make
the water cycle possible. A cycle is a series of events that repeat
themselves over a period of time, where the events or steps always
lead back to the starting point. In the water cycle, there is no
beginning or end. Water is just constantly changing form.
Figure 1.4 Water water storage in the atmosphere Figure 1.3 These water droplets
moves from Earth to the will either fall and soak into the
atmosphere and back to precipitation ground, or will evaporate in the air
Earth again in the water storage in as part of the water cycle.
endless water ice and snow
cycle.
condensation

evaporation
er
nd wat
grou
run-off

internet connect
water storage
in the oceans water storage in the ground
If all the water in the
atmosphere rained down at
once, it would only cover the
The Sun’s energy drives the water cycle. Each year, about ground with a depth of 2.5 cm.
520 000 km3 of water from Earth’s surface evaporates to Find out more about each part
form water vapour. That is enough water to fill over 208 000 of the water cycle. Go to www.
discoveringscience8.ca to find
Olympic-size swimming pools! Water vapour does not remain in out where to go next.
the atmosphere for long, though. After being carried by winds to
other places on Earth, it eventually condenses and falls to Earth,
and the water cycle is repeated.
Chapter 1 The water cycle plays a vital role on Earth • MHR 

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 1-1A A Water Cycle Model Find Out ACTIVITY

Reading about the water cycle can introduce Design Specifications

you to the scientific ideas behind this important A. Your model must demonstrate how water can
process. However, actually seeing the changes exist in all three states.
of state in water can give you a much better B. Your model must demonstrate how water can
understanding of how the water cycle works. change from a liquid to a gas, from gas to a
liquid, from liquid to a solid, and from a solid
Challenge
to a liquid.
Water is the only substance on Earth that can
C. Your model does not need to be all in one
exist naturally in all three states: solid, liquid,
location.
and gas. Design a model to show water changing
from a liquid to a gas, and then back again. Then,
change the water to a solid and back again to a
liquid.

Safety

• Be careful—you will be working with hot

water and steam.
• Wear your safety glasses, lab jacket, and
heat-resistant gloves.
• Only do this investigation under the Plan and Construct
supervision of your teacher. 1. With your group, plan how you will cause
Materials water to change state.
• electric kettle 2. Draw a labelled sketch of your model,
• bowls of various sizes indicating what materials you will use.
• oven mitts or heat-resistant gloves 3. Obtain your teacher’s approval. Then,
• ice construct your model.
• hot plate 4. Demonstrate how your model works.
• modelling clay 5. Wash your hands after you complete this
• sand investigation.
• soil
• water
• refrigerator
• freezer

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 Evaluate
1. (a) Did your model work as you expected?
(b) What adjustments did you make so it
would work, or work better?
2. (a)  What scientific knowledge did you use to
help you develop your model?
(b)  What scientific knowledge did your model
help you develop?
3. How did the models constructed by other
groups work? Did other groups have ideas that
you would like to use? Did your group have
ideas that others wanted to use?
4. What part did heat energy play in this
investigation? What part does it play in the
water cycle?

Chapter 1 The water cycle plays a vital role on Earth • MHR 11

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 The Salty Facts about Penguins

Our bodies rely on sources of fresh water to keep

us healthy and alive. Drinking ocean water can
make you very sick. But what about for other
living creatures who eat and swim in nothing but
salt water? Does the ocean water make them
sick? One interesting animal has its own way of
removing salt from water – the penguin.
Penguins spend half of their lives, swimming
and feeding in the ocean on fish, krill, squid, and
other small aquatic creatures. Because of this, they
digest a large amount of salt water in the process
of eating. In order to get rid of the salt, penguins
have an organ called the supraorbital gland that
collects and excretes the salt, thus keeping it out
of the penguin’s bloodstream.
The supraorbital gland is located just above
the penguin’s eye and is connected to capillaries.
The gland functions a little like our kidneys, in
that it cleans the blood and gets rid of the wastes.
To get rid of the salt that the gland collects, the
penguin excretes a salty liquid through nasal
passages in its bill, which often makes them look
like they have a runny nose.
Isn't it amazing that humans have to design
systems to take the salt out of water while the
penguin naturally has its own built-in removal
system!

There are approximately seventeen different

species of penguins. All of them have the
supraorbital gland that removes salt from their
bodies. Supraorbital comes from supra = above,
and orbital = orbit of the eye (eye socket).

12 MHR • Unit 1 Water Systems on Earth

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 Checking Concepts Understanding Key Ideas
1. What percentage of water on Earth is salt 6. Name the three states in which water
water? occurs and describe where you would
2. Where is most of the world’s fresh water find a naturally occurring example of
found? each state.
3. Why is less than one-third of fresh water 7. For each of the following descriptions,
available for use by humans? decide whether they demonstrate
4. What has to happen in order for water to evaporation or condensation:
change from one state to another? (a) after wiping a chalkboard with a wet
5. Sketch the diagram of the water cycle sponge, the board is dry an hour
below into your notebook and label the later.
parts. (b) the dew on the grass early in the
morning.
(c) your breath on a window on a
cold day.
(d) clothes drying on a clothesline
8. If water moves in a cycle, why might
activities in one place pollute water in a
different place?

Pause and Reflect

Whether you get your drinking water from
a tap, from a well, or from bottled spring
water, it is all recycled. In your notebook,
write a paragraph or poem, or make a
drawing that expresses the idea of water
moving endlessly through the phases of the
water cycle.

Chapter 1 The water cycle plays a vital role on Earth • MHR 13

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 1.2 Comparing Ocean Water and
Fresh Water

Salt water differs from fresh water in several major ways. The main one is in its
salinity. This characteristic gives ocean water a different density, freezing point,
and boiling point than fresh water. Even though salt water and fresh water are
connected, they play different roles in the water cycle.

Key Terms Although fresh water has tiny amounts of salt, ocean water is
more than 200 times saltier. The amount of salt dissolved in a
density specific amount of water is called salinity. The average salinity in
freezing point all the world’s oceans is about 35 parts per thousand. This is the
salinity same as if you mixed 35 g of salt in 1 L of water. Salinity in sea
water can differ depending on the location. Close to the equator,
the salinity is high because of high rates of evaporation. When
the water in the ocean transforms into vapour in the air, it leaves
the salt behind. Water is very salty near the North and South
Poles as well because when water freezes and changes into ice, it
also leaves the salt behind. Near continents, the salinity is usually
lower than in the middle parts of the ocean. The reason is that
the fresh water from the rivers empties into the ocean and dilutes
the salt water.

Did You Know?

Ocean water contains valuable
minerals such as gold, copper,
and uranium. However, before
you consider mining the ocean’s
water, you should know that
there is only about 1 part gold
for every 250 billion parts of
sea water. In other words, if
you wanted a gram of gold, you
would first have to make 250
thousand tonnes of ocean water
evaporate.

Figure 1.5 Intense evaporation in tropical climates is the reason for high salinity in ocean
waters near the equator.

14 MHR • Unit 1 Water Systems on Earth

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 1-2A Mini Distillation Find Out ACTIVITY

Have you ever walked along an oceanside beach 5. At medium temperature, heat the watch glass
on a sunny day and noticed patches of white on on the heating plate (see below). Continue
the sand where the tide has gone out? The white heating until the water has disappeared.
material is salt crystals that have been left behind Describe the appearance of the material left
after water has been evaporated by the Sun. on the watch glass. This material is called
Separating salt from salt water is a process called "residue."
desalination. In this activity, you will simulate
what happens when salt water evaporates.

Safety

• Be careful when handling glass.

• Be careful when handling hot equipment.
Materials
• 4 g salt
• microscope or magnifying glass
• watch glass 6. Wait until the materials have cooled down,
• laboratory balance and then measure the mass of the watch glass
• 10 mL distilled water and the residue combined.
• stirring rod 7. Clean up and put away the equipment you
• 50 mL beaker have used.
• 5 mL measuring spoon
What Did You Find Out?
• tongs
1. (a) Describe the residue left after the water
• hot plate or other heat source
had evaporated.
What to Do (b) What is the name of the residue?
1. Observe a small sample of the salt under the 2. Observe the residue under the microscope or
microscope or magnifying glass. Describe the magnifying glass. Is the residue’s appearance
appearance of the crystals. Sketch one of the any different from that of the original salt?
crystals in your notebook. 3. (a) To determine the mass of the residue
2. Measure and record the mass of the watch alone, subtract the mass of the watch glass
glass. by itself from the mass of the watch glass
3. Put 1 g of salt into the beaker and add the and the residue. How does this amount
distilled water. Stir until the salt is completely compare with the original amount of salt?
dissolved. (b) Is this what you would expect? Explain.
4. Carefully pour 5 mL of the solution into the 4. Describe how this method can be used to
watch glass. purify water.

Chapter 1 The water cycle plays a vital role on Earth • MHR 15

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 Where Does the Salt Come From?
Salt arrives in the oceans from several different sources. As you
read in Section 1.1, when the rain falls on the land, most of it
seeps into the ground, and then eventually into streams and
rivers. From there it travels to the ocean.
Moving over and through the ground,
the water picks up materials from the
run-off volcano rocks. These materials are called
evaporated dissolved solids, and you cannot
materials see them even with the help of a
saltwater spray microscope. They get carried by the
biological water from the land and into the
processes
ocean (Figure 1.6).
underwater Volcanoes contribute some
volcano
chemicals as well. Undersea volcanic
chemical eruptions from the sea floor release large
reactions
amounts of sulphur, fluorine, chlorine, and
hydrogen into ocean water. Eruptions on land spew
similar materials high into the atmosphere. These materials
then fall directly into the ocean, or onto Earth’s surface from
Figure 1.6 Dissolved solids reach where they get carried to the ocean as run-off.
the ocean from several different
sources on Earth. By far the most common material that is deposited into the
ocean is sodium chloride, which is the chemical name for salt.
This the same chemical substance as the table salt you use to
season food. Sodium chloride accounts for over 85 percent of
all the dissolved solids in the ocean. Because there is so much
sodium chloride, the water is salty.

sodium 30.6%
ocean water
96.5% chloride 55%
magnesium 3.7%

sulfate 7.7%
calcium 1.2%
salts potassium 1.1%
3.5% others 0.7%
Figure 1.7 Ocean water contains about 3.5 percent salts. Traces of almost every chemical
substance on Earth can be found in seawater, including gold and silver. Most of these
substances, however, occur in extremely small quantities.

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 Density of Salt Water and Fresh Water
Density is the amount of mass of a substance in a certain unit
volume. Think of density as being a measure of how tightly
Did You Know?
packed together that material is in the substance. Imagine two If all the water could be boiled out
objects of equal size, such as a bowling ball and a volleyball. If of the oceans, the salt left behind
would be enough to cover Earth
you put the bowling ball on a pile of fluffy snow, it will sink into
in a layer 154 m thick, which is
the snow because its density is greater than snow’s (the bowling similar to the height of a
ball has a lot of mass in a small volume). The volleyball will likely 50-storey building.
sit on top of the snow because its density is less than the snow’s
(the volleyball has a small mass compared with its volume).
Because of the amount of salt in it, ocean water is denser than
fresh water. There is more mass in 1 L of ocean water than there
is in 1 L of fresh water. Ocean water has a density of 1027 kg/L
and fresh water has a density of 1000 kg/L. That is why you
may notice that it is much easier to float in salt water than it is in
fresh water. The higher density of salt water helps to hold your
weight up in the water. In some extremely salty oceans, such
as the Dead Sea in southwestern Asia, you can float very easily.
Water in the Dead Sea is nearly 9 times saltier than ocean water!

Freezing Point of Salt Water and Fresh Water

Another difference between salt water and fresh water is their
freezing points. The freezing point of a liquid is the temperature
at which it freezes. As you know, the freezing point of fresh
water is 0°C. Because ocean water contains far more dissolved
salt than fresh water, its freezing point is different from that of
fresh water. Salt water has a freezing point of about –1.9°C.

Figure 1.8 The high density of salt

Reading Check in the Dead Sea makes it easy for a
person to float.
1. What is salinity?
2. Why is ocean water saltier near the equator?
3. Name two sources of ocean salt.
Suggested Activity
4. What is density?
Investigation 1-2B and C on
5. Why is ocean water more dense than fresh water? pages 18-21.

Chapter 1 The water cycle plays a vital role on Earth • MHR 17

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 1-2B Salinity's Effect on Water Density Core Lab
Skill C h e c k The greater salt content in ocean water makes it much denser than
• Observing fresh water. Different parts of the ocean also vary in their salinities (the
• Measuring amount of salt in a certain volume of water). In this activity, you will
• Modelling investigate how the two types of water, with their different properties,
interact.
• Evaluating information
Question
How does salinity change the density of water?
Safety
Procedure
1. Your teacher will provide you with a table to record your observations
• Be careful when handling for this experiment.
glass
Test 1
Materials 2. Fill the beaker about two thirds full with colourless tap water.
• 250 mL beaker or large 3. Fill the medicine dropper with very salty water (green). Place a few
jar drops of this water into the beaker. Record your observations.
• 5 samples of clear water, 4. Empty the contents of the beaker and rinse it and the medicine
prepared by your teacher: dropper thoroughly.
– tap water (colourless)
– tap water (blue)
– slightly salty water
(red)
– very salty water
(colourless)
– very salty water (green)
• medicine dropper or
pipette
• plastic spoon

Test 2
5. Fill the beaker about two thirds full with very salty water (colourless).
6. Fill the medicine dropper with blue tap water. Place a few drops of
this water into the beaker. Record your observations.
7. Again, empty the contents of the beaker and rinse it and the medicine
dropper thoroughly.

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 Conduct an investigation
Inquiry Focus

Test 3
8. Fill the beaker half full with very salty water (green). Holding the plastic spoon just above the
very salty water in the beaker, gently and slowly pour colourless tap water over the spoon. The
objective is to make a layer of colourless water at least 3 cm thick on top of the very salty green
water. Using the spoon will prevent the water from mixing. Record your observations.
Test 4
9. Fill the medicine dropper with slightly salty water (red). Place a few drops of this water into the
very salty water (green) layer in the beaker. Record your observations.
Test 5
10. Refill the medicine dropper with slightly salty water (red). Place a few drops of this water into
the colourless tap water layer in the beaker. Record your observations.
Test 6
11. Using the plastic spoon, stir the waters in the beaker together. Record your observations.
12. Clean up and put away the equipment you have used.

Analyze
1. When you put the very salty water (green) into the colourless tap water, which one sank? Explain
why this happened.
2. When you put the blue tap water into the very salty water, which one floated on the other? Explain
why this happened.
3. (a) What happened when you added the slightly salty water (red) to the:
(i) very salty water (green) layer?
(ii) colourless tap water layer?
(b) Why did the red water do this?
4. Why did the different types of water not mix by themselves?

Conclude and Apply

1. How does the amount of salt dissolved in water affect its density?
2. Explain how waters with different densities will act when they meet.
3. Describe what happens when fresh water from a river meets salty ocean water.
4. What causes salt water and fresh water to mix in the ocean?
5. Describe environments on Earth where fresh water would meet salt water.

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 Career Connect

Oceanographer Q. Where does your research take you in the

world?
Dr. Anna Metaxas is a
A. Both short and long-term research projects
biological oceanographer
take me from waters right here off the coast
at Dalhousie University in
of Nova Scotia, to tropical waters in Palau
Nova Scotia. She studies
(a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, 800 km
the larvae of invertebrate
east of the Philippines), to the dark, exciting
creatures (organisms
depths of the ocean floor.
without spines) that live
Q. You have been in a submersible and
on the ocean floor. Her research takes her all
travelled over 2250 m beneath the surface
over the world and to the bottom of the ocean.
to the ocean floor. What was it like?
Q. What is an oceanographer? A. The first thing you notice is how long it
A. An oceanographer is a scientist who studies takes to reach the bottom – about two
aspects of the oceans. Oceanographers hours. It’s dark for the most part, but then
are concerned with the biology, chemistry, you see these flashes of bioluminescent
geology, physics, and mathematics of the creatures out your window! At that depth
oceans. of the ocean, the creatures can be pretty
Q. Of all the organisms you could study in the bizarre looking, too. It’s such an amazing
ocean, how did you choose invertebrate larvae? feeling being so far down and remote from
A. The more I learned about the ocean, people. I’ve even had the opportunity to see
the more I realized how little is known an underwater volcano erupting.
or understood about the early stages Q. You also study organisms that live around
of life of marine invertebrates. Unlike hydrothermal vents in the ocean floor. What
a lot of organisms where the young is a hydrothermal vent, and what lives there?
are geographically near their parents, A. A hydrothermal vent is a crack in the Earth’s
invertebrate larvae are carried by currents surface where super-hot water that is heated
to completely different areas. There are so from Earth’s molten rock comes out. The
many questions to be answered. “Where do vents are covered in strange organisms, such
they go?” “How many survive?” So much as giant clams, tubeworms with no mouths,
is unknown about these tiny but important shrimp, mussels, and crabs. It is a completely
organisms. That’s what fascinates me. different world.
Q. Why is it important to study invertebrate larvae? Q. What do you like most about your job?
A. With any species, it is important to know A. There are two wonderful aspects about my
the rate of survival among the young to job. The first is that I get the opportunity to
ensure that a species exists in healthy travel and do research in places where very
numbers. Many invertebrates, such as sea few people have ever been, including the
urchins and shrimp, are part of the fishing ocean floor. The second important aspect
industry in different countries. We need is having students. I get to both teach my
to understand how the larvae survive and students and to learn from them and their
return to replace the adult population. If we research. My career is more like being an
don’t know the rate of or the factors that explorer – it’s always a new adventure.
affect replacement, we could lose these
industries, or even worse, the entire species.

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 Checking Concepts Understanding Key Ideas
1. What is the main difference between 7. Ocean water contains many valuable
ocean water and fresh water? minerals that humans use, including
2. What dissolved chemical occurs in the gold and copper. Why don’t people try
greatest amount in ocean water? to “mine” these minerals from ocean
3. Where does the salt that gives the ocean water?
its salinity originally come from? 8. Describe a method you would use to
4. Fresh rainwater that falls on land separate dissolved solids from ocean
eventually makes its way back to the water.
ocean. If that is the case, then why is 9. Why do oceans in tropical areas have
ocean water salty? high salinities?
5. (a) Which is more dense: ocean water or 10. Why do oceans around the North and
fresh water? South Poles also have higher salinities?
(b) What is the reason for the difference
in their densities?
6. What does the addition of salt do to the
freezing point of water?

Pause and Reflect

Are the oceans becoming saltier
over time? The answer depends
on which ocean you mean. High
rates of evaporation in the tropics
mean that the remaining ocean
water is saltier. At the same time,
melting ice in the polar regions
causes more fresh water to
enter the oceans, making ocean
waters less salty in northern and
southern parts of the globe. Think
about what other factors might
increase or decrease the saltiness
of ocean water. Write a paragraph
describing those factors and how
they affect salinity.

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 1.3 Sources of Fresh Water

Only about 1 percent of all of Earth’s fresh water supply is easily accessible.
Most of the fresh water is trapped in ice, in Greenland and Antarctica, and
not readily available for human use. The fresh water that is available is found
wherever water falling as rain and snow runs off the land and is collected in
lakes, rivers, streams, and underground.

Key Terms Lakes, Ponds, and Wetlands

crevasse A lake and a pond are basically large holes in the ground, filled
drainage basin with standing water (see Figures 1.9A and B). In general, lakes
glacier tend to be larger and deeper than ponds, although sometimes
global warming there are cases where a pond is bigger than a lake. There are no
gravity strict guidelines that differentiate between a lake and a pond, and
ground water often they were named by the early settlers who lived near them.
iceberg
run-off

Figure 1.9A Some lakes, like Quidi

Vidi Lake in St. John's, can be right
in the middle of communities.

Figure 1.9B Cobb’s Pond in Gander, Newfoundland

and Labrador

Wherever there is a low area in the land, wetlands can occur.

There are many different types of wetlands. However, they have
Figure 1.10 Wetlands in
Newfoundland and Labrador are an one characteristic in common. They are saturated with water
important feeding area for moose, all or much of the time. Marshes, for example, are shallow
and nesting area for many ducks. water wetlands (less than 1 m in depth). They usually remain
wet throughout the year. All wetlands provide habitats for an
astounding diversity of plants and wildlife.

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 Streams and Rivers
Streams and rivers are both fast-flowing waterways. However,
their individual characteristics vary a great deal. Flowing waters
differ greatly in speed, temperature, and clarity. They also differ
in the nature of their banks and bottoms. All these factors affect
the types of plants and animals that live in them. Fast-flowing
waterways are usually rich in oxygen, which fish and other
animals need to survive.

Ground Water
While it is easy to see the many sources of fresh water on the
surface of Earth, another important source of fresh water lies
beneath the surface. Most of the precipitation that falls on land
sinks out of sight and is called ground water. Below the surface,
ground water trickles downward through connected pores and
cracks (see Figure 1.11). Eventually, it reaches a layer of bedrock,
such as granite. This bedrock forms a barrier, preventing the
ground water from flowing down any further. Since it cannot
move any deeper, it begins to back up and fill the pores in the
material above the bedrock. It is in this layer that people will
drill down into to make wells. They then pump the water to the
surface for use as drinking water, for factories, or for watering
crops and livestock.

Figure 1.11 Ground water is found

Glaciers under Earth’s surface in small spaces
In some areas of the world, it is so cold that snow remains on the between bits of soil and rock.
ground year-round. When snow doesn’t melt, it begins piling up.
As it accumulates, the weight of the snow becomes great enough
to compress the bottom
layers into ice. Eventually,
the snow can pile so high
that the pressure on the
Did You Know?
ice on the bottom causes The amount of fresh water
partial melting. Then, underground is about 37 times
the amount on the surface in
the ice and snow begin
rivers and lakes. About half of this
to slide downhill. This underground water saturates the
moving mass of ice and rock and soil to a depth of nearly
snow is called a glacier. 1 km. The remaining half of the
Almost two thirds of the water is even deeper—trapped
world’s fresh water today 1–5 km below Earth’s surface.
is trapped in glaciers. Figure 1.12 These Emperor penguins and their
chicks live in Antarctica, where massive continental
glaciers exist.

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 A glacier will continue to slide down a slope until one of two
Word Connect
things happens. If the glacier reaches an ocean, the ice will start
The cryosphere refers to the to slowly spill over the edge of the land mass toward the water.
parts of Earth’s surface where Deep cracks called crevasses will begin to form across the front
water is in its solid form. The of the glacier. Under gravity’s pull, large pieces of the glacier will
term comes from the Greek eventually break off and crash into the ocean. These big chunks
word kyro, meaning "cold." of ice are called icebergs (see Figure 1.13).
Figure 1.13 The east coast of
Labrador and Newfoundland is
known as Iceberg Alley. The icebergs
that travel down through Iceberg
Alley come from Greenland. To
keep shipping lanes and oil rigs
safe, sometimes icebergs have to
be towed to a different location as
shown here.

Glaciers and the Water Cycle

internet connect Glaciers and the year round snows in high mountains act as
natural reservoirs. These reservoirs collect snow throughout the
In some areas in the Antarctic,
the ice is over 4 200 m thick.
fall, winter, and spring. They gradually release this reserved water
Learn more interesting facts as meltwater in summer.
about glaciers. Go to www. Glaciers exert a direct influence on the water cycle by slowing
discoveringscience8.ca the passage of water through the cycle. Glaciers are excellent
storehouses of vast quantities of fresh water. They release this
water when it is needed the most, during the hot, dry summer
months.
Besides their importance as fresh-water storehouses, glaciers
provide important clues to the past. Because of the way glacial
ice accumulates and endures, glaciers offer an excellent source of
information about Earth’s past climates.

Ice Ages
Over the last several million years, Earth has had at least seven
major periods of cooling called ice ages. The most recent ice age
began about 120 000 years ago, and ended only 11 000 years ago.
During this period, the climate was very different from what it is
today. Glaciers covered as much as 28 percent of land on Earth.
During the last ice age, much of North America was as cold
as Greenland is today. That means the average temperature was
near 10°C. Glaciers covered the land from the Arctic to as far
south as below the Great Lakes (see Figure 1.14).
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 Glaciers and Global Warming Greenland

You have probably heard a lot about global warming. Global

warming refers to the increase in the average temperatures of
Earth’s near-surface air and oceans. In the last 100 years, the Canada

average surface temperature on Earth has increased 0.5°C. continental

glacier
Although that may not seem like very much, it is enough to non-
glaciated
United
States
have an effect on the glaciers and polar ice caps. Most glaciers land
water
in the world today are receding, meaning that they are melting
and shrinking. For example, the Athabasca Glacier in Alberta has Figure 1.14 During the last ice age,
receded 1.5 km since 1843, and it continues to recede today at glaciers in North America covered an
area three times as large as they do
a record pace. The importance of this cannot be underestimated today. Northern sections of the Yukon
as the Athabasca Glacier is a key source of water for Alberta, the and Alaska remained free of glaciers
Prairies, and many states in the western United States. because they were too dry.
Although scientists are still studying glaciers to gather as
much information from them as possible, there is a general
agreement among them that glaciers around the world are
melting at a quicker pace than ever recorded before. Scientists
are also trying to predict some of the consequences of the
shrinking glaciers. Ocean waters may rise, which can be
disastrous for coastal communities. As glaciers melt, the water
could flood rivers that
are important sources of
water for people all over
the world. If a glacier
completely disappears,
these crucial rivers would
dry up. Because of their
importance, glaciers
continue to be closely
studied and monitored by
scientists. Suggested Activity
Find Out Activity 1-3B on
page 30.

Did You Know?

The Athabasca Glacier is 6 km
long and its average width is
1 km. In some places, this glacier
is 300 m deep, which is as tall as
Figure 1.15 Signposts leading up to the Athabasca the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Glacier show how much bigger the glacier used to be
in certain years.

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 Reading Check
1. Name four sources of fresh water on Earth.
2. What is groundwater?
3. How is a glacier formed?
4. When did the last ice age end?
5. How is global warming affecting glaciers?

Fresh Water System Links

After learning about the different sources of fresh water, it is
important to learn how they are all linked together. As you
learned with the glaciers, damage to one system can cause
damage to another. By understanding these links, we can take
steps to try to minimize damage and maintain healthy water
systems—for us as well as for other living things.
Did You Know?
The Churchill River in
Drainage Basins
Newfoundland and Labrador has Water is always on the move in the never-ending water cycle.
a drainage basin that is No matter where a raindrop lands, it will eventually end up
79 800 km2. That is 20 percent somewhere else. The same is true of ice and snow that melts. All
of the province’s size!
fresh water on Earth—whether surface water or ground water
—is part of a drainage basin. A drainage basin, or watershed,
is the area of land that drains into a body of water, such as a
river, pond, lake, or ocean. The area of land within a drainage
Figure 1.16 Canada has five basin can be large or small.
major drainage basins. Most
precipitation falling on Canada Within large drain basins, there
drains into the Pacific, Atlantic, are many smaller ones. For
and Arctic Oceans, and Hudson
Mackenzie example, every stream is part
Bay. Interestingly, some of
Canada’s river water also ends
River of a large drainage basin.
up in the Gulf of Mexico.
ARCTIC A small stream in your
Continental neighbourhood
Divide
PACIFIC flows until it
HUDSON meets other small
BAY
streams. The
ATLANTIC
streams join larger
rivers. Large rivers
Suggested Activity St. Lawrence
merge into major
Investigation 1-3C on MISSISSIPPI River waterways.
page 31.

Gulf
of Mexico

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 What usually separates one drainage DRAINAGE BASINS Figure 1.17
Newfoundland and
basin from another is called a divide, an Newfoundland and Labrador
Labrador has 6 major
area of very high ground. The Rocky drainage basins. In which
Mountains are part of a long chain of drainage basin is your
mountains that extends down the community located?
Labrador Sea
length of North America. These Drainage Basin
mountains form the Continental
Divide that separates the Pacific
drainage basin from drainage basins
to the east of the Rocky Mountains Gulf of St. Lawrence
(Figure 1.16) Drainage Basin (Labrador)
Quebec

West Coast Atlantic Ocean

Run-off Gulf of St. Lawrence North-East Coast
Drainage Basin Drainage Basin
You may have noticed that after heavy
rainshowers, mini-rivers of water wash
over sidewalks, driveways, and roads. South Coast Atlantic Ocean
Where does this vast amount of water Gulf of St. Lawrence Avalon Peninsula
Drainage Basin Drainage Basin
go? Some of it evaporates or soaks into
the ground, but a lot of it simply flows over
the surface of the ground and “runs off” into streams, rivers,
other water bodies, and even city sewer systems. Water that does
not soak into the ground or evaporate but instead flows across
Earth’s surface is called run-off.
If you overfill a glass of water, the extra water will behave like
run-off. It will flow down over the side of the glass and will not
stop until it reaches the lowest point that is possible. The force
pulling it down to the lowest point is gravity, the same force
that keeps us on the ground. Under gravity’s influence, run-off
will flow along the ground until it hits a low point on the surface
or finds its way into a stream.

Factors Affecting Run-off

Run-off is essential for filling the lakes, streams, and rivers that in
turn help to keep the oceans filling with water. In this way, run-
off plays a vital role in the water cycle. The amount of run-off is
higher in some areas than in others. It can also vary in the same
area, depending on different conditions. Run-off is affected by
the following factors:
• The nature of the ground material: If the ground is Figure 1.18 The Humber River rises
covered in rock, it will not absorb the surface water easily. and flows more quickly in springtime
This results in an increase in run-off. If the ground is mostly as run-off from the melting winter
snow reaches its banks. This water
soil, it will be able to absorb water and the amount of run-off
will soon reach the Atlantic Ocean.
will decrease.

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 • The amount of rain: If it rains heavily, the ground may
quickly become saturated (it cannot absorb anymore water).
This means that the unabsorbed water will become run-off.
• The length of time it rains: If it rains for long periods of
time, the ground may become saturated, as described above.
This results in an increase in run-off.
• The slope of the land: The steeper the land is, the faster
the water will flow downhill. When water moves too fast,
it cannot be easily absorbed into ground. This results in an
increase in run-off. Slow-moving water on gently rolling land
has more time to be absorbed. This results in a decrease in
run-off.
• The amount of vegetation: Grass, trees, and shrubs absorb
water along with the soil, so areas with little vegetation will
have a greater amount of run-off than an area with a lot of
vegetation (see Figure 1.19).

Figure 1.19 When there is little vegetation on a hillside, such as in a clearcut like this,
precipitation is not absorbed as quickly and so run-off increases.

• The amount of development in the area: Wherever there

is a lot of pavement or concrete on the ground, water is
usually channelled immediately into storm sewers (see Figure
1.20). This results in an increase in run-off. Areas with little
development, and therefore more bare ground to absorb
water, will have less run-off.

Figure 1.20 Water pooling in

areas of development means that
Reading Check
less water will be absorbed into 1. What is a drainage basin?
the ground and more will end up in
sewers as run-off. 2. What is the Continental Divide?
3. Explain what run-off is.
4. What force pulls run-off to the lowest possible point?
5. Name four factors that affect run-off.

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 1-3A Tracking Run-off Find Out ACTIVITY

Whenever people change Earth’s surface, they What to Do

change a natural balance. Therefore, if they are 1. Make a simple three-column table by drawing
planning a development and want to clear land two lines down a page in your notebook. Print
for it, they must first consider the long-term “Proposed action by the community” at the
effects their actions may cause. Imagine you top of the left column, “Possible consequences
have been hired by a community that has several related to run-off” at the top of the middle
plans for development in the area shown below. column, and “Possible solutions” at the top of
Your job is to review what the community plans the right column.
to do and help it identify any run-off–related
2. Study the sketch. Fill in your table with any
consequences that could result from their
concerns you have about the community plans
development. Here is the list of community plans:
and how the proposed actions might affect
• A small group of houses will be built on the run-off.
bank of the river, near the area marked with an
X. What Did You Find Out?
• The forest on the far slope of the river will be 1. What consequences do you predict if the
clearcut (entirely logged) and then replanted. community goes ahead and carries out all of
• The bushes to the right of the forest will be its plans for development?
removed. 2. Should anything in the plan be changed? If so,
• The area to the bottom right will become a what, and why would you recommend that it
shopping mall with a parking lot. be changed?

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 1-3B How Can Global Warming
Find Out ACTIVITY
Be Slowed?

Human activities affect the air in our atmosphere. 3. Design a brochure or a website informing
Burning fossil fuels and removing vegetation are people about steps we can take in our daily
examples of two such activities. Both activities lives to slow down global warming.
add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and may
contribute to global warming. How can we help Extension
reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the 1. Research what actions people and the
atmosphere? government in Newfoundland and Labrador
have undertaken to reduce the amount of
Procedure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Prepare a
1. In a group, brainstorm ways in which we report and share your findings with your class.
rely on energy from burning fossil fuels in
our community. You might need to do some
research in the library or on the Internet.
2. Now brainstorm some ways in which we
can change our daily activities to reduce our
reliance on energy from burning fossil fuels.
(Hint: Think about transportation and how we
heat and cool our homes, for example.)

What kind of changes in transportation could we make to avoid

traffic jams like this and to reduce the amount of fossil fuels
that we burn?

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 1-3C How Much Water? Think About It

Grey River, Newfoundland and Labrador

Study the table below. It lists the sizes of Canada’s What to Do

five major drainage basins and the volumes of Rank the drainage basins in order of
water that flow from each river into the oceans.
(a) size (area in km2), from 1 (largest area) to
The volume of water flowing from a river into an
5 (smallest area)
ocean is called the mean discharge.
(b) mean discharge, from 1 (largest volume) to
Canada’s Major Drainage Basins 5 (smallest volume)

Drainage Area Mean Discharge Analyze

(km2) (L/s) 1. Explain the difference in rankings.
Pacific 1 009 064 24 100 000 2. To which coastline does most of Canada’s
Arctic 3 583 265 16 400 000 water flow—north, east, or west?
Hudson Bay 3 860 136 30 900 000 3. What percentage of the total flow goes in this
Gulf of Mexico 26 677 25 000 direction?
Atlantic 1 570 071 33 400 000

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 Turning on the Fog Faucet drips down along the panel and is collected in a
series of pipes and storage tanks. The collectors can
Humans have adapted to living in many difficult be adjusted to suit weather conditions and water
environments around the world, from scorching needs. The system is simple and easy to set up and
deserts to frigid mountains. In many such places, a maintain, and it does not cost a lot of money to
serious problem is the lack of a safe water supply. operate. This makes it an ideal way to help people
This problem may have developed because people obtain a safe supply of water where it would be too
are using existing water sources faster than the expensive to do so by other methods.
supply can be replaced naturally. Other reasons
might be that the water has become polluted and
unsafe to use, or that the local climate is too dry to
produce enough water in the form of precipitation.
Think how convenient it would be if water could
be collected from the air as easily as it can be
collected when it falls from rain clouds.
At the beginning of this chapter, you learned that
the atmosphere contains small amounts of water.
A group of clever Canadians has developed ways
to “harvest” that water so that it provides a useful
supply of fresh water for people living in otherwise
dry areas. Working with scientists in Chile (a country
that lies along the southwest coast of South
America), the non-profit organization FogQuest has
designed a system for collecting the small droplets
of water that form in the air when water vapour
comes in contact with objects. The mist and fog
we often see in Newfoundland and Labrador, for
example, are really just low clouds of water droplets
that have condensed on particles in the air. This may
seem like a small amount of water, but it can be
Questions
collected in reasonably large amounts in areas that
often have fog and heavy morning dew. 1. H ow do fog catchers work?
The fog collectors shown here are large 2. What climatic conditions would be necessary
rectangular panels made of nylon netting. The nets in order for a fog catcher to be useful?
are set up so that the moisture-carrying wind hits 3. Would producing water from fog catchers be
them directly. Each collector panel measures 2 m useful in your area? Explain why or why not.
by 24 m. As the water condenses on the nets, it

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 Checking Concepts 6. Using your knowledge of drainage
1. Explain how a glacier is formed. basins, explain how water pollution in
2. After a heavy rain, you notice a large one part of the province could affect
amount of water flowing down a hillside. water supplies in another part.
What could be a possible explanation for 7. List three reasons why glaciers are
why it has not soaked into the ground? important to all living things.
3. How is run-off an important part of the
water cycle?
4. “No matter where a raindrop lands, it
will eventually end up somewhere else.”
What is meant by this sentence?

Understanding Key Ideas

5. For each of the following activities, state
whether the activity would lead to an
increase or decrease in the amount of
run-off entering the river in the diagram
below. Explain your answer.
(a) planting trees along the slopes
(b) removing material to make the
slopes less steep
(c) developing the area on one side of
the river (for example, building roads
and parking lots)

Pause and Reflect

Canada has about 1300 glaciers. Since
1850, these glaciers have lost between
steep 25 percent and 75 percent of their mass.
rocky The total amount of ground covered by
slopes glaciers in Canada is the lowest it has been
since the last ice age, 10 000 years ago.
How do you think this might be affecting
the water cycle? Write a paragraph
summarizing your ideas.
river

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 Chapter
1
Prepare Your Own Summary Understanding Key Ideas
In this chapter, you investigated the water 7. Make a flow chart to illustrate the
cycle and the essential role it plays on Earth. events in the water cycle in sequence,
Create your own summary of key ideas beginning with precipitation falling to
from this chapter. You may include graphic Earth.
organizers or illustrations with your notes. 8. Describe how each of the following
Use the following headings to organize your would affect the local water cycle.
notes: (a) construction of a large shopping
1. Water Cycle mall
2. Differences Between Ocean and Fresh (b) building a subdivision for 200
Water houses with families
3. Sources of Fresh Water (c) logging a large forest in a hilly area
9. When constructing roads in hilly areas,
Checking Concepts trees and bushes are stripped from steep
1. (a) W
 hat percentage of Earth’s surface is banks exposing soil underneath. Should
covered in water? these banks be covered with rocks or
(b) How much of that water is fresh? should plants be used to replace the
2. What supplies the energy for the water trees and bushes that were removed?
cycle? Explain your answer.
3. What is the name given to a person who 10. Why would you want to control the
studies water systems and helps solve amount of run-off in an area?
problems related to controlling the
quality and quantity of water?
4. Why is it so easy to float in the Dead
Sea?
5. What separates one drainage basin from
another?
6. Most of the world’s glaciers are
receding.
(a) What does receding mean?
(b) What effect could this start having
on sea level?

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 11. The graphs below show how much 12. Approximately 29 percent of
water residents in two different Newfoundland and Labrador's
mythical towns take from their water population relies on groundwater as
supply (demand) and how quickly each a source of drinking water. With your
water supply refills from precipitation knowledge of the water cycle, what
(recharge). possible dangers must the government
watch out for to keep this water safe?

Town A Town B

200 200
Amount of precipitation (mm)

Amount of precipitation (mm)

100 100

J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D
Months of the year Months of the year

Water demand (need))

Water supply

Analyze the data shown on the graphs

and answer the following questions: Pause and Reflect
(a) Which town will most likely have a
Recent climate change around the world
shortage of water in the summer? is causing areas that are covered in ice to
Explain. melt at an increasing rate. Large pieces
(b) When is water demand lowest in of Antarctic ice are breaking off and
both towns? Explain. floating away from the continent. How
(c) (i) At what times does the water could an event like that, so far away, affect
supply drop for both towns? Newfoundland and Labrador? Think about
all you learned in this chapter and describe
(ii) Why do you think this occurs?
as many effects as you can.

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