Table of Contents
How long does it take a drop of water to travel through the water cycle?
A drop of water may spend over 3,000 years in the ocean before evaporating into the air, while a drop of water spends an average of just nine days in the atmosphere before falling back to Earth. Water spends thousands to hundreds of thousands of years in the large ice sheets that cover Antarctica and Greenland.
How do you calculate stream flow rate?
Multiply the average depth of the stream by the width of the stream to find the area in ft2. Divide the distance traveled by the average travel time to find the velocity of the stream in ft/sec. Multiply the velocity of the stream by a correction factor.
Can you determine the flow of water in a watershed?
Automated instruments can continuously monitor stream discharge. Discharge can also be measured with weirs and flumes, structures that are placed across small streams and control the amount of water that flows through some opening; this allows easy measurement.
What determines the flow rate of the water in a watershed?
Precipitation: The greatest factor controlling streamflow, by far, is the amount of precipitation that falls in the watershed as rain or snow. However, not all precipitation that falls in a watershed flows out, and a stream will often continue to flow where there is no direct runoff from recent precipitation.
How long does water stay in a lake?
Storage in the water cycle
| Reservoir | Estimated residence time |
|---|---|
| Rivers | weeks–months |
| Groundwater | months–10,000 years |
| Glaciers | 40–400 years |
| Lake | 100 years |
How long does groundwater stay underground?
Groundwater accounts for nearly 95 percent of the nation’s fresh water resources. It can stay underground for hundreds of thousands of years, or it can come to the surface and help fill rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands.
How fast does a stream flow?
about 5 miles per hour
The speed at which a stream flows is called the stream velocity. A fast river moves at a rate of about 5 miles per hour. The water moves most rapidly in the middle of the channel, where the water is deepest and friction is minimal.
How long does it take for rain to underground aquifers?
The time it takes for surface infiltration to reach an aquifer as deep as 400 feet may take hours, days, or even years, depending on the rate of recharge. In some of the flood-irrigated areas, groundwater levels in nearby domestic wells rise within a few hours to days of flood-up.