Page 736F: Surface Water, Groundwater, and Ocean Shoreline

Nationwide Rivers Inventory
At this National Park Service site you can learn about rivers and streams of the United States. Scroll down to the map and click on your state to find out more about rivers in that state. This site has a description of each river and major stream in the United States, and information such as the length of the river and its reach.

Surf Your Watershed
Visit this Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) site for information about watersheds. You can locate your own watershed, adopt a watershed, or find links to other environmental web sites here. Click on index of watershed indicators to find out about the health of aquatic resources in the U.S. Then scroll down and click on locate your watershed to find out how healthy your local rivers are.

Mississippi River Basin Alliance
This site is sponsored by a citizen’s group that unites environmental justice groups and conservation groups around issues that impact the Mississippi River. Click on about the river to learn more about the Mississippi River.

Watershed Protection – An Introduction
Go to this EPA site to find out how to protect and restore aquatic ecosystems. Scroll down and click on the watershed approach brochure to learn how EPA protects rivers by first protecting the watershed.

United States NWIS – W Data Retrieval
The USGS operates gauging stations in many rivers and streams across the United States to measure stream flow. This site compiles the data from these stations for many years. At this site you can select a state from a map and click on it to find lists of counties, data stations, and basins in that state. For example, if you click on Texas, then on a list of basins found in Texas, you will see a list of all the watershed basins in Texas. Although it may take a little time, you could use this site to make a graph of the stream flow of a local river over time and compare it to other rivers in a state. This is a very interesting site with lots of information about surface water.

Water Science for Schools
This USGS site has information on many aspects of water. It includes images, data, maps, and an interactive center where you can give your own opinion on water topics. You can explore this site for many water-related topics. This site also provides links to other water-related web sites. Click on Earth’s water to find out about the water cycle, rain, glaciers, icecaps, surface water, and groundwater.

What is Groundwater?
Visit this site for a clear description of what groundwater is. Click on more about groundwater to find links to the hydrologic cycle, wells, aquifers, and other groundwater topics. Then click on importance of groundwater to view a graphic that shows how much freshwater is available to living things.

Groundwater – Nature’s Hidden Treasure
Go to this site by Environment Canada to learn more about groundwater movement, quality, and contamination. Click on groundwater – always on the move to find out how groundwater moves through permeable rocks.

Groundwater Basics: Hydrologic Cycle
At this site by the Groundwater Foundation you can learn all about the water cycle.

The Geyser Observation and Study Association
Go to this site to learn more about geysers worldwide. Scroll down and click on world geyser areas to find out where in the world there are active geysers. Scroll down to see images of geysers in Iceland and New Zealand.

Groundwater Basics: Sources of Contamination
At this site you can learn about the sources of groundwater contamination, such as underground storage tanks, septic systems, landfills, and chemicals, including road salt, fertilizers, and pesticides.

Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program
This Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) site deals with the protection of drinking water resources from oil and gas operations and hazardous wastes. Click on what is the UIC program to find out why industries such as these are injecting waste materials into the ground.

Oceans and Coastal Protection
Visit this Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) site to find out how EPA protects coastal watersheds and ocean resources. Scroll down and click on national estuary program, then click on about estuaries to find out how EPA protects these valuable coastal areas.

Water Science for Schools
This USGS site has information on many aspects of water. It includes images, data, maps, and an interactive center where you can give your own opinion on water topics. You can explore this site for many water topics. This site also provides links to other water-related web sites. Click on Earth’s water to find out about the water cycle, rain, glaciers, icecaps, surface water, and groundwater.

Groundwater – Nature’s Hidden Treasure
Go to this site by Environment Canada to learn more about groundwater movement, quality, and contamination. Click on groundwater – always on the move to find out how groundwater moves through permeable rocks.

Groundwater Basics: Hydrologic Cycle
At this site by the Groundwater Foundation you can learn all about the water cycle.

Groundwater Basics: Sources of Contamination
At this site you can learn about the sources of groundwater contamination, such as underground storage tanks, septic systems, landfills, and chemicals, including road salt, fertilizers, and pesticides.

Geology of Mammoth Cave National Park
Visit this National Park Service site to learn about the geology of Mammoth Cave. This cave system of more than 335 miles of mapped passages is cut through limestone deposited 350 million years ago. This karst topography includes thousands of sinkholes, places where runoff may quickly enter the limestone of the aquifer.

Journey into Amazing Caves: How Caves are Formed
Go to this site to learn more about limestone caves and how they form. The site references a movie about caves called Journey into Amazing Caves.

The Virtual Cave
At this site you can learn more about solution caves, lava tubes, and sea caves. Click on the cover, then click on solution caves. Scroll down to see a graphic of a virtual cave system. Then click on any highlighted term to see an example and a description of that cave feature.

Kentucky Caverns: Cave Ecology
Go to this site to learn about the relationship between caves and the land under which they exist. The site discusses how groundwater pollution affects the water flowing through cave systems and thus, how it affects cave ecology.

Geology of Caves
Visit this site by the National Park Service to find out all about the geology behind cave formation.

Habitat Guides: Beaches and Shorelines
Visit this site to find out more about the organisms that live along the shorelines and the adaptations they have that enable them to survive in these harsh environments. This site discusses sandy beaches, sand dunes, rocky coastlines, tide pools, and more.

Atlantic Coast Ecology
Go to this site to learn about the adaptations that organisms have to sandy shorelines. Scroll down to sandy beaches to find out what some of these adaptations are.

Rocky Shores
At this site by the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium you can learn more about the adaptations of organisms that live along rocky shores.

The Rocky Shore
Go to this site to learn more about rocky shores. You can learn about zonation, organisms, and adaptations at this site. Go to the buttons below the photograph and click on adaptations. Adaptations to a rocky shoreline include avoidance of dessication, cementation, shape, and shelter.

Rocky Shores
Visit this site to learn all about rocky shores, the forces that shape rocky shores, and the organisms found there. Scroll down to nature’s survival tricks to find out about some of the adaptations organisms have that enable them to live in this habitat.