PART 1: Multiple-Choice Questions (10 marks total;
1 mark each)
Please answer the following questions by indicating the correct answer.

  1. Climate is:
    a) Based on vegetation types alone
    b) A model of reality that is too simplistic to be useful
    c) Based on temperature and precipitation averages over decades
    d) A reflection of solar insolation values and placement in relationship to tidal action
  2. Boreal forest climates are:
    a) Coincident with the extensive coniferous forests of northern Canada and Eurasia
    b) Continental climates found in the source areas of cP air and subject to incursions of A air masses
    c) Characterized by extremely cold, dry winters and short, cool, and moist summers
    d) All of the above
    e) None of the above
  3. What is the most important factor in determining water need (Ep)?
    a) Soil-water quantity
    b) Precipitation
    c) Water use
    d) Temperature
  4. The actual amount of water vapour returned to the atmosphere from the soil surface and vegetation is termed:
    a) Water surplus
    b) Total evapotranspiration
    c) Actual evapotranspiration
    d) Actual water loss
  5. What is the part of the subsurface water that fully saturates the pore spaces in bedrock or regolith?
    a) The saturated zone
    b) Surface water
    c) Groundwater
    d) The water table
  6. The difference in elevation between the highest and lowest parts of the water table is known as the:
    a) Hydraulic head
    b) Groundwater gradient
    c) Hydraulic potential
    d) Hydraulic gradient
  7. As water is pumped from a well, drawdown of groundwater forms:
    a) A depression zone
    b) A cone of depression
    c) A well zone
    d) An equilibrium zone
  8. Because of heavy groundwater withdrawals, Venice, Italy, provides a dramatic example of:
    a) Water table depletion
    b) Building damage
    c) Ground subsidence
    d) Groundwater contamination
    e) All of the above
  9. A series of related drainage systems form a:
    a) River system
    b) Drainage boundary
    c) Drainage divide
    d) Drainage basin
  10. Stream discharge will increase in response to a period of heavy rainfall. What is the most important factor in determining the lag time for this?
    a) The size of the drainage basin feeding the stream
    b) The number of drainage systems involved
    c) The amount of precipitation dropped on the site
    d) The steepness of the gradient of the drainage basin

PART 2: Soils, Groundwater, and Surface Water
(30 marks)
Please answer the following questions in the spaces provided or on additional pages, as required.
You may wish to answer the following questions and quantitative problems in point form and use diagrams where appropriate. Avoid writing a simple précis or copying the glossary or textbook definitions; otherwise, your mark will be lower.

  1. Infiltration capacities for three soils are given next. Express each of these capacities in centimetres (cm) per hour. (3 marks)
     75 cm in 3 hours i.___ cm per hour
     300 mm in 200 minutes ii.__ cm per hour
     1.5 m in 10 hours iii.__ cm per hour
  2. In one short paragraph apiece, define and briefly discuss each of the following components of the soil-water balance.
    a) Water surplus (3 marks)

b) Soil-water recharge (3 marks)

c) Storage withdrawal (3 marks)

d) Soil moisture storage (3 marks)

  1. In one short paragraph apiece, define each of the following components of the groundwater subsystem:
    a) Hydraulic head (3 marks)

b) Transmission (3 marks)

c) Artesian flow (3 marks)

d) Overland flow (3 marks)

e) Drainage basin (3 marks)

PART 3: Quantitative Exercise I: Soil Water Budgets
(20 marks)

  1. For this question, you will graph and interpret soil water budget data for the following two stations in different parts of British Columbia. Before you attempt this question, review the sections on soil water budgets and surface water in British Columbia in Unit 6. In particular, re-examine Tables 6.1 to 6.3 and Figure 6.16.
    a) Using the raw data provided for P, Ea, Ep, and T for each month and a value of S for January only, calculate monthly values for G, R, D and S and complete the soil water budget tables for the following stations:
    i. Hedley, in the Similkameen Valley of southern British Columbia (Assignment Table 4.1) (5 marks)
    ii. Comox, on eastern Vancouver Island (Assignment Table 4.2) (5 marks)
    b) Using the tables you have just completed, construct soil water budget graphs for both stations. Write a brief interpretation of both graphs (no more than 250 words). Be careful how you deal with G, R, and S for the winter and early spring. (10 marks)
    c) Submit your completed tables, soilwater budget graphs, and the integrations.

Assignment Table 4.1: Soil water budget data for Hedley, BC (P, Ea, Ep and S values in cm, T in degrees C)
P = Ea +G +R Ep D S T
January 3.1 0.0 0.0 11.3 –5.3
February 2.4 0.0 0.0 –0.7
March 1.5 1.4 1.4 3.4
April 1.4 2.7 4.4 8.3
May 2.7 4.8 8.2 13.0
June 3.1 5.5 11.0 16.7
July 2.2 4.8 13.5 19.9
August 2.0 3.5 11.9 19.0
September 2.2 2.8 7.4 14.6
October 2.2 2.4 3.6 8.1
November 2.7 0.5 0.5 1.1
December 2.9 0.0 0.0 –2.8
Total 28.4 28.4 61.9 Mean 7.9

Assignment Table 4.2: Soil water budget data for Comox, BC (P, Ea, Ep and S values in cm, T in degrees C)
P = Ea +G +R Ep D S T
January 17.6 0.4 0.4 30.0 2.2
February 12.6 1.2 1.2 4.0
March 9.7 2.1 2.1 5.0
April 5.8 4.4 4.4 8.0
May 3.5 7.7 8.0 11.8
June 3.6 8.5 9.8 15.0
July 2.8 8.1 11.5 17.4
August 3.2 6.6 10.5 17.0
September 4.3 5.4 7.1 13.7
October 11.3 4.0 4.0 9.2
November 20.1 2.0 2.0 5.3
December 17.8 1.1 1.1 3.5
Total 112.3 51.5 62.1 Mean 9.4

PART 4: Quantitative Exercise II: Stream Discharge
(20 marks)

  1. For this question, graph and then interpret stream discharge data for the following two stations in different parts of British Columbia. Mean, maximum, and minimum stream discharge data (in m3 per second) are provided for the Similkameen River at Hedley (Assignment Table 4.3) and the Oyster River near Comox (Assignment Table 4.4).
    a) Construct a hydrograph for the Similkameen River. (5 marks)
    b) Construct a hydrograph for the Oyster River. (5 marks)

Assignment Table 4.3: Monthly mean, maximum, and minimum discharge for the Similkameen River at Hedley, BC (values in m3 per second)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Mean 4.4 5.0 6.7 57.4 153.0 106.0 29.2 8.6 5.9 10.7 16.4 11.6
Max. 5.4 6.4 8.0 127.0 413.0 162.0 54.5 13.2 9.7 31.4 46.0 21.1
Min. 2.8 2.4 5.7 7.2 60.0 53.2 12.3 5.4 4.5 5.5 9.8 5.0

Assignment Table 4.4: Monthly mean, maximum, and minimum discharge for the Oyster River, BC at its mouth (values in m3 per second)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Mean 8.2 9.6 10.9 20.4 23.7 18.9 9.0 3.6 2.0 3.2 18.5 15.6
Max. 25.8 25.4 19.2 41.1 47.0 33.4 12.2 5.2 2.7 8.2 70.0 43.2
Min. 2.7 3.4 6.0 9.3 12.6 10.6 5.4 2.6 1.5 1.7 7.8 4.9
Use textbook Figure 15.10 as a general guide, although note that your hydrographs will differ from those in the textbook, as the trends will be smoother than in Figure 15.10, and you will be graphing three lines on the hydrograph (mean, maximum, and minimum discharge).
Choose the scale of your vertical axes carefully so that your graphs clearly show the seasonal differences in discharge.

c) Write a short interpretation of each hydrograph (for each hydrograph 150–200 words or one page), and focus on: (5 marks)
• Explaining the annual trends in discharge.
• Commenting on the differences between mean, maximum, and minimum discharge.
• Comparing the two hydrographs for differences and similarities.
d) Comment on any relationship that you can discern between the annual soil water budgets of Hedley and Comox and the hydrograph for each of the two stations. This part of your answer should be no longer than 150 to 200 words. (5 marks)
e) Submit both hydrographs, and your interpretations and commentaries on the relationship between the hydrograph and the soil water budgets.

PART 5: Review of Units 5 and 6 (20 marks)
Answer one of the following questions.

  1. Explain with examples, how air mass characteristics and source regions can be used for classification of climates. Your answer should be about 500 words.
    (20 marks)
  2. In about 500 words, distinguish between climate and weather. Illustrate your answer with examples from British Columbia. (20 marks)
  3. Using textbook Figures 1.11 and 1.12 and unit Figure 6.7 as guides, write a summary of the hydrological cycle as a closed material system. Your answer should be about 500 words. You may illustrate and support your answer with diagrams, tables, and references. (20 marks)
  4. In a short essay of about 500 words, summarize the dominant factors other than soil texture that influence infiltration capacities in soils. You may illustrate and support your answer with diagrams, tables and references. (20 marks)
  5. In about 500 words, discuss some of the processes and factors that influence stream discharge. Relate your answer to patterns of surface water in British Columbia. (20 marks)

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