Hydrology summary by Sziklai Katalin

1. Hydrology
Water cycle

Water
Freezing
Solid
(ice)

condensation

liquid
(water)

melting

gas
(vapour, steam)

boiling, evaporation

sublimation
Types of precipitation:
Rain, snow, hail, fog, mist, dew, slate, rime
Precipitation: deposition of water from the atmosphere in solid (snow, hail) or liquid form
(rain, dew).
Condensation: formation of liquid water droplets from water vapour around particles of dust,
soot,
Surface run off: the portion of the hydrological cycle connecting precipitation with channel
flow. It occurs when ground becomes saturated and can no longer absorb water.
Transpiration: the loss of water vapour mainly from cells of leaves.
Evaporation take up of water into the atmosphere from exposed water surfaces, including
water loss from lakes, rivers, clouds, saturated soil and plant surface. It does not include
transpiration loss from plants.

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Hydrology summary by Sziklai Katalin

2. Ocean in motion
1.
2.
3.

waves
tides
currents

1. Waves
-circular movement of the sea surface

-tsunami: high wave caused by the earthquakes

2. Tide regular movement of the sea surface
spring tide:
-there will be higher than the usual

neap tide:
-they are in right angle
-there will be lower tide than the usual
the reason for the tides
-the gravitational pull of moon and sun
-centrifugal force
-tidal range: difference between high tide and the low
tide
-there are high tides two times a day

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Hydrology summary by Sziklai Katalin

3. Currents:
The ocean currents are dragged by the winds.
Trade winds drag Equatorial current North
South

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

8.
9.
10.

North Equatorial Current

South Equatorial Current
Equatorial Counter Current
Gulf Stream (Atlantic Ocean)
Kuro Siwo (Pacific Ocean)
North Atlantic Drift
North Pacific Current (Pacific)
Antartic Current
Peruvian Current (Pacific Ocean)
Benguala Current (Atlantic)
West Australian Current
Labrador Current (Atlantic)
Oyashio Current (Pacific)
Canary Current (Atlantic)
California Current
Brazilian Current (Atlantic)
Agulhas Current (Indian)
East Australia Current (Pacific)

pervious: rock has cracks inside, so the water

can get through.
stream: if the level of the land is below in
water table.
porous: rock has tiny spaces inside
permeable: water can get through
impermeable: water cant get through

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Hydrology summary by Sziklai Katalin

3. Rivers

drainage basin: the area drained by

the river and its tributaries.
watershed: the border of the drainage
basin

4. The upper course

-there is strong erosion
-V-shaped valley
- the erosion is bigger than the deposition
The types of erosion
Hydralic power: the force on the bed and banks
Corrasion: the load rubs against the bed and banks
Corrosion: solution of rocks
Attrition: the load collides against itself
The formation of waterfall:

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Hydrology summary by Sziklai Katalin

5. The middle course

-lateral erosion
-meander bends
-ox-bow lakes
-the river carries a lot of load (pebbles, boulders, sand, silt)
-erosion is about the same as deposition

Cross section of the river band:

erosion

deposition
The figure formation of an ox-bow lake:
neck

Formation of ox-bow lakes

Where meanders bend on each
other very tightly, the neck
separating two bends may be
completely eroded and the river
may create a new straight
channel. The old bend is left
alongside is called an ox-bow
lake.

Transporting of rivers load

-traction: boulders roll along the river bed
-saltation: small pebbles are bounced along the river bed
-suspension: sand and bed silt carried it the flow
-solution: salt, CaCO3 dissolved in the river

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Hydrology summary by Sziklai Katalin

6. The lower course

-islands, point bars in the river
-the river deposits its load
-braided flow

the mouth of the river:

delta: Nile, Danube, Mississippi, Volga
estuary: Rhine, Ob, Yenisei

7. Coast
Constructive waves: they deposit the coast
Destructive waves: they erode the coast

Eroding coast:
Bay: made of soft rock
Headland: made of
resistant rock
Stack: when the top of an
arch collapses, a tower of
rock is left
Arch: where two caves
have met
Blowhole: when the sea is
rough, sprays spurts
through the blowhole
Cave: where the sea has
eroded a weak area of rock

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Hydrology summary by Sziklai Katalin

Buliding coast:
Spit: and pebbles may build up across
the mouth of a river or a bay. A ridge
form.
Bar: if a spit grows all the ways
across an inlet
Lagoon: the pool of water behind a
bar
Tombolo: if a spit joins up with an
island off the coast

8. Limestone landscape
CaCO3+H2O+CO2Ca(HCO3)2
The types of dropstone:
-stalactite
-stalagmite
-pillar

9. Glaciers
ice cover: Antarctica, North Pole, Kilimanjaro, Switzerland, Sweden, Mont Blanc, Greenland,
Iceland, etc.
Ice Age: ice covers big area in the world

flowing ice:
first the snow is packed into hard, strong ice, the ice starts to move down because of gravity.
Accumulation zone: ice accumulated
Ablation zone: ice melts here
Erosion of glaciers:
-the glaciers wear away the rock
-the glacier plucks off the debris and scratches the rock beneath it
deposition: the meltwater carries away the debris and piles up. Its called moraine.

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Hydrology summary by Sziklai Katalin

Glacier landscapes
Cirque: hollow, where ice is collected
Pyramidal peak: a peak carved by glaciers
Hanging valley: a valley, which ends high above the bottom of U-shaped valley.
Arte: a sharp ridge

10. The types of mass movement

mass movement: material moves down on a slope
1. Soil creep: slow movement of soil
2. Flow: earthflow: wet materials slip down (see example Pompeii and Aberfan)
3. Landslide: a cliff face slips down
Dunafdvr example (1970):

4. Rock fall: a mess of rock falls from a steep slope

Lake Gyilkos, rockfall dammed the river

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