Pathways and Stores of Water, Sediment and Nutrients in Northwest England Catchments - Coursework Example

The pathways and stores of water, sediment and nutrients from the uplands to the coast in typical northwest England catchments PLAN Introduction2). Definition of terms 3). Pathways and stores of water, sediment and nutrients from the uplands to the coast in typical northwest England catchments a) Pathways and stores of water from the uplands to the coast in typical northwest England catchments b) Pathways and stores of sediment from the uplands to the coast in typical northwest England catchments c) Pathways and stores of nutrients from the uplands to the coast in typical northwest England catchments 4). Conclusion The pathways and stores of water, sediment and nutrients from the uplands to the coast in typical northwest England catchments 1). Introduction Water usually flows from higher ground to lower ground in a bid to find its own level. The natural water cycle sees water travel from land to air and sea, its state changing from liquid to vapour and sometimes to solid where temperatures are extremely cold. As water flows naturally to the sea, it forms various features as it interacts with various factors on its way. In some cases, the water gets stored temporarily in reservoirs, most of the time moving at various speeds. Depending on the speed of movement, the water collects, transports and deposits objects including soil, rocks, and wood. Using these objects, the water at high speed can create new features as the objects brush against other objects in the water path. Water also dissolves nutrients and minerals while suspending tiny particles which are later deposited as sediments at lower speeds. This paper is dedicated to discussing the water pathways from the typical northwest England catchments and its flow to the sea. 2). Definition of terms Pathways: In the context of this essay, pathways refers to the routes of flow traveled by water, nutrients and sediments as they move from the uplands to the coast. It includes the various runoff and underground routes they follow for them to complete their cycles. Stores: Refers to the places where water, nutrients or sediments are kept or found permanent or temporary. Water: This is a clear liquid whose molecule contains hydrogen and oxygen molecules and whose chemical formula is H2O. It covers over 70% of the total earth surface and is vital for all forms of life. Sediments: These are materials broken down by the processes of erosion and weathering and are subsequently transported through the actions of wind and liquid water and glaziers. These materials are naturally occurring. Nutrients: These are chemicals required by organisms for them to live and grow well or a substance required for the process of metabolism and must be taken from the organism’s environment. Uplands: Refers to areas of higher altitudes Coast: Refers to a strip of land bordering the sea and as such, it is an area of low lower altitude. Catchments: Refers to a main source, the region from where a substance or material is supplied to the rest of the areas that form part of the material’s or substance pathway. 3). The pathways and stores of water, sediment and nutrients from the uplands to the coast in typical northwest England catchments a) Pathways and stores of water from the uplands to the coast in typical northwest England catchments The pathway of water in any particular region typically begins with the hydrological cycle. At the beginning of this cycle, water is changed from liquid into its gaseous, vapour, which ascends to the higher altitudes. Here, it is cooled and falls down as rain, which falls either directly as into the various rivers, lakes and man-made reservoirs or flow into them as surface runoff. Vegetation are important in making this water to sip into the ground from where they flow as underground water till they join rivers, lakes or man-made reservoirs. In typical northwest England catchments, the water moves along various pathways. These include fast ways for example overland flow, or drain flow, shallow sub-surface flow and slower pathways. The slower pathways include flows through the deeper strata of rock and regolith. Whichever the type of flow, all the water ends in the various North West England rivers, lakes and man-made reservoirs and these form the main stores of water. The rivers, lakes, underground water and man-made reservoirs also form part of the water pathway since much of this water finally finds its way into the Irish Sea. Underground water also form an important store for water in northwest England catchments. These flow underground as underground rivers until they join lakes or emerge to the surface as springs that mark the beginning of some rivers. They could also be brought to the surface through human actions like borehole drilling. According to Sharp (2007), there is a lot of water stored in cracked rock in the North West England. Of all the mentioned stores, rivers store water for the most minimal time compared to lakes and man-made reservoirs. They also form the major and fastest water pathway in the North West England catchments. Gregory (1997) states that when compared to other English rivers, major rivers in North West England have higher discharges per unit drainage area. The main rivers in the North West England catchments are the Mersey, the Dee, the Eden, the Lune and the Ribble. Mersey is one of the longest among this, having a length of 112 km / 70 miles and at Liverpool Bay, it enters into the Irish Sea. The major ma-made reservoirs include the Black Moss reservoir, Calf Hey reservoir, Chortlon Water Park, Clowbridge reservoir, High Dam, Jumbles reservoir, Lymm dam among others. The main lakes include Lake Fairhaven, Hollingworth Lake, Leisure Lakes, Redesmere, Rowley Lake among others. Some of the lakes are natural while some are man-made. An example of water catchment in north west England is the Upper Eden catchment (Gregory 1997). b). Pathways and stores of sediment from the uplands to the coast in typical northwest England catchments The lifecycle of sediments begin from large rocks that are broken down by the actions of wind, liquid water and ice, or living organisms like plants and animals. Animals, plants and ice mainly constitute the physical weathering processes. For example, the roots of plants that have penetrated thin cracks on rocks expand them as they grow bigger. Animals trample on them underfoot while their excretions contribute to the chemical weathering processes. Larger pieces of rock undergo continuous weathering on stationary points or during their process of transportation. The main pathway for the movement of weathered materials/sediments from the uplands to the coast in typical northwest England catchments is river flow. Agriculture also contributes to the sediment delivery to rivers. Through farming, larger rocks are broken to smaller pieces due as a result of the actions of farm machinery. Through the removal of cover vegetation, farming also encourages wind and water erosion and whenever it rains, the loosened materials add to the volume of sediment delivery into rivers. Depending on their sizes, sediments are transported through the processes of suspension, saltation/bouncing or traction/dragging. Very fine materials like sand are transported through the process of suspension, medium-sized materials are transported through saltation whereas larger materials are transported by the process of traction. Wind transport hardly forms part of the sediment pathway as the wind direction is mainly from the coastal areas uplands ad not vice versa. Most of the fine particles are carried by water for long distances until river deltas where they form alluvial deposits. These deposits form important reservoirs or stores of the transported sediments from where they are harvested by man. According to Prothero and Schwab (1996), sediment motion can result to self-organised structures like dunes, ripples, antidunes on the stream or river bed. These can also form at the bottom of lakes. The bedforms are often preserved in sedimentary rocks. According to Hugh (1985), rocks of sedimentary origin are the oldest rocks ever exposed in the region. In some sections of the region, they comprised of poorly-sorted sandstones. (Gary 1999) states that all forms of sediments, whether deposited in or outside water, can undergo compaction to form sedimentary rocks. Sediments that manage to reach the coastal areas end up in the marine depositional areas and these form the coastal stores for sediments. These are mainly regions where rivers enter the sea. In North West England, these include littoral sand, continental shelf, the shelf margin and beds of estuaries. Littoral sand includes coastal bar and splits, and sand beaches. In the continental shelf, the deposited sediments form silty clays whereas in beds of estuaries, they are stored as or form bay mud. The turbidite system also forms an important coastal sediment store and is the main source of sediment to the deep abyssal and sedimentary basins, and ocean trenches (Prothero and Schwab 1996). c). Pathways and stores of nutrients from the uplands to the coast in typical northwest England catchments Nutrients are availed to the environment from various sources. The two main sources are natural sources and artificial or man-made fertilizers. However, this paper focuses on the naturally occurring nutrients. Naturally occurring nutrients are mainly grouped into two groups namely micro nutrients/ secondary nutrients and macro-nutrients or primary nutrients. Examples of micronutrients include Zinc, Iron and Manganese. Plants require these nutrients in small quantities. Macronutrients include Nitrogen, Carbon, Hydrogen, phosphorus among others. They are required by plants in large quantities. The pathways of most nutrients are mainly found in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and the lithosphere or the earth’s crust. In the atmosphere, all the nutrients are found in gaseous form and in the hydrosphere or water bodies, they are found dissolved state. Their amounts in each component of the earth depend on the chemical characteristics of the nutrient. Those that solidify at typical ranges of temperature and pressure are mainly found in the hydrosphere and lithosphere. Those that are gaseous at these temperature and pressures are mainly found in the atmosphere and hydrosphere. Nitrogen and phosphorus are good examples for making these comparisons. According to Carroll and Salt (2004), nitrogen makes up 78% of the earth’s atmosphere and this makes the earth’s atmosphere the largest store of hydrogen. In the atmosphere, nitrogen exists either as nitrogen gas or as constituent of various nitrogenous compounds like nitrites, nitrates and ammonium. Atmospheric nitrogen find little utilization by organisms. Atmospheric nitrogen is availed for use by organisms through the process of nitrogen fixation. Most of the fixation is done by symbiotic bacteria, for example Rhizobium bacteria. Some nitrogen fixation also occurs as a result of lighting (MacIntyre et al 2006). Fixed nitrogen is normally availed into the soil from where plants take them and finally, animals through plants of fellow animals, as in the case of carnivores. Nitrogen taken in by organisms forms the organic form of nitrogen. When these organisms die, they release this nitrogen in form of humus. A systematic uptake of nitrogen by plants and the passing of this to herbivores and finally, carnivores indicate that food chains are important stores and pathways of nitrogen in the environment. Hydrogen is released back into the atmosphere through the process of decomposition or through the burning of plant and animal remains. Unlike other nutrients like nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon, the atmosphere does not constitute an important pathway and store for some nutrients like phosphorus. This is because at the typical ranges of temperature and pressure found on North West England, and all other areas of the planet earth, phosphorus and phosphorus-based compounds are normally solids. In the case of this nutrient, the hydrosphere, comprising of the various north west England rivers, lakes and man-made reservoirs are an important pathway. They also form a temporary store for this nutrient (Filippelli 2002). Most of the phosphorus is found in the lithosphere either in soil or in rocks. In soils, soil microorganisms are an important sinks and stores of phosphorus. Others stores of phosphorus is guano, which is large faecal deposits of some type of birds and this are normally mined for the manufacture of phosphate fertilizers. Other important pathways and stores of phosphorus are plants and consequently, herbivores. However, a larger percentage of the phosphorus pathways or its cycle is formed by rocks. The availability of this nutrient in the environment is controlled by the rate at which it is released from apatite dissolution. This is released through the process of weathering. 4). Conclusion As water flows through its pathway in the typical northwest England catchments, it encounters a lot. Apart from forming new features along its way, the water also carries with it a lot of naturally occurring nutrients and minerals including phosphorus and nitrogen. Some of the features that are formed in the process include deltas, ox bow lakes and alluvial deposits. Whereas the water is visible in many places as its flows along its pathways, there are instances where its flow goes on below the earth’s surface and therefore is not visible to people. References Carroll Steven and Salt Steven (2004). Ecology for gardeners. Timber Press. New York. Filippelli Gabriel (2002). “The Global Phosphorus Cycle.” Reviews in Mineralogy and geochemistry (48) pp 391-425. Gary Nichols (1999). Sedimentology and Stratigraphy. Wiley-Blackwell. Malden, MA. Gregory Kenneth (1997). Fluvial geomorphology of Great Britain. Arnold Publication. London. Hugh Richard (1985) The Geomorphology of north-west England. Manchester University Press. Manchester. MacIntyre Sally, Sickman James, Goldthwait Sarah and Kling George. (2006). “Physical Pathways of Nutrient Supply in a Small, Ultraoligotrophic Arctic Lake During Summer Stratification. American Society of Limnology and Oceanography.” (2).1107-1124. Sharp John (2007). Groundwater in fractured rocks: selected papers from the Groundwater in ... Prothero Donald and Schwab Fred (1996). Sedimentary Geology: An Introduction to Sedimentary Rocks and Stratigraphy. W. H. Freeman. London. Read More