BESC 320 Exam Questions Marking
Scheme New Update
What are the ingredients of life? - Answers -water, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, and
mineral ions
What is meant by self-contained vacuole? - Answers -humans are mostly water, and
water facilitates all of the reactions in our bodies
Why is water polar? - Answers -the two positively charged hydrogen atoms are on one
side, while the larger, negative oxygen atom on the opposite side
What are properties of water that result from polarity? - Answers -the "universal
solvent," adherance/coherance, surface tension, capillary action
Who discovered the Composition of water and how? - Answers -Antoine Lavoisier
(father of modern Chmeistry); by using an electric field
Hydrolysis - Answers -process of breaking water molecules
"hydro" & "gen" - Answers -the making of water by burning hydrogen
% fresh water - Answers -3% global water
% salt water - Answers -97% global water
% of fresh water in glaciers - Answers -70% of fresh water
% fresh water in aquifers - Answers -29% of fresh water
% fresh water on surface - Answers -1% of fresh water
Evaporation - Answers -liquid to gas; from lenvironment to atmosphere
condensation - Answers -gas to liquid; atmosphere to environment
precipitation - Answers -realease of liquid form clouds/atmopshere to environment
storage - Answers -in aquifers, lakes etc.
infiltration - Answers -movement of water into soil
percolation - Answers -movement of water through soil to zone of saturation (to
aquifers)
, runoff - Answers -movement from land to surface storage
What drives the hydrologic cycle? - Answers -solar energy
watershed - Answers -area around a water storage unit (aquifer, river) that supplies
water to it via runoff and/or percolation
topography - Answers -precise detailed study of the surface features of a region
Stream order - Answers -measure of stream from high to low flow/ gradient
headwaters - Answers -origin/ first collection area for water (spring, lake)
1st order - Answers -order of headwaters
4th order - Answers -order of large, voluminous rivers that flow to sea
nexus - Answers -where two strems/rivers meet
direction of flow - Answers -whichever way the nexus points
small order streams (1) - Answers -small, rapid, clear and clean (oligotrophic), carries
few but large parent materials
oligotrophic - Answers -few but diverse organisms, limited nutrients
eutrophic - Answers -many organisms, but less diverse; abundant nutrients
mesotrophic - Answers -intermediate nutrient content, organism diversity and number
high order streams/rivers (4) - Answers -meandering, large and slow, eutrophic
geomorphology - Answers -shape of land that determines gradient, pathwway, flow etc.
bankfull - Answers -max water volume for a river/stream
floodplain - Answers -2x max depth or bankfull stage. part of a natural cycle
channelization - Answers -straightening of stream paths with river controls such as
concrete barriers
results of channelization - Answers -"pass the buck"
increased erosion
water becomes faster and prevents flooding
can cause problems downstream
Scheme New Update
What are the ingredients of life? - Answers -water, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, and
mineral ions
What is meant by self-contained vacuole? - Answers -humans are mostly water, and
water facilitates all of the reactions in our bodies
Why is water polar? - Answers -the two positively charged hydrogen atoms are on one
side, while the larger, negative oxygen atom on the opposite side
What are properties of water that result from polarity? - Answers -the "universal
solvent," adherance/coherance, surface tension, capillary action
Who discovered the Composition of water and how? - Answers -Antoine Lavoisier
(father of modern Chmeistry); by using an electric field
Hydrolysis - Answers -process of breaking water molecules
"hydro" & "gen" - Answers -the making of water by burning hydrogen
% fresh water - Answers -3% global water
% salt water - Answers -97% global water
% of fresh water in glaciers - Answers -70% of fresh water
% fresh water in aquifers - Answers -29% of fresh water
% fresh water on surface - Answers -1% of fresh water
Evaporation - Answers -liquid to gas; from lenvironment to atmosphere
condensation - Answers -gas to liquid; atmosphere to environment
precipitation - Answers -realease of liquid form clouds/atmopshere to environment
storage - Answers -in aquifers, lakes etc.
infiltration - Answers -movement of water into soil
percolation - Answers -movement of water through soil to zone of saturation (to
aquifers)
, runoff - Answers -movement from land to surface storage
What drives the hydrologic cycle? - Answers -solar energy
watershed - Answers -area around a water storage unit (aquifer, river) that supplies
water to it via runoff and/or percolation
topography - Answers -precise detailed study of the surface features of a region
Stream order - Answers -measure of stream from high to low flow/ gradient
headwaters - Answers -origin/ first collection area for water (spring, lake)
1st order - Answers -order of headwaters
4th order - Answers -order of large, voluminous rivers that flow to sea
nexus - Answers -where two strems/rivers meet
direction of flow - Answers -whichever way the nexus points
small order streams (1) - Answers -small, rapid, clear and clean (oligotrophic), carries
few but large parent materials
oligotrophic - Answers -few but diverse organisms, limited nutrients
eutrophic - Answers -many organisms, but less diverse; abundant nutrients
mesotrophic - Answers -intermediate nutrient content, organism diversity and number
high order streams/rivers (4) - Answers -meandering, large and slow, eutrophic
geomorphology - Answers -shape of land that determines gradient, pathwway, flow etc.
bankfull - Answers -max water volume for a river/stream
floodplain - Answers -2x max depth or bankfull stage. part of a natural cycle
channelization - Answers -straightening of stream paths with river controls such as
concrete barriers
results of channelization - Answers -"pass the buck"
increased erosion
water becomes faster and prevents flooding
can cause problems downstream
