Adventure #4:
Runoff
When infiltration doesn't happen.
Runoff can occur when the water doesn't have enough time to sink or infiltrate into the soil. This happens most often when there is a lot of water coming down a steep slope, or when the ground surface doesn't allow for infiltration. When there is an excess amount of water that runs off of the side of the hill it is called runoff.
Think about the following questions and write your thought in your Field Journal:
Why doesn't all of the water infiltrate?
What other factors can play a part in why water can't make it into the ground/aquifer?
Source: Richard Humphrey
Why doesn't the water have enough time to infiltrate?
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Reason 1: Too much water too fast
When there is heavy rain in a particular area the infiltration rate sometimes can't keep up with the water. This means that some of it will flow away because of a lack of time.
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Reason 2: Steep slopes
To put it simply this is because of gravity. When there is a slope, and something can move down that slope (like water) then the higher the slope the less water will sink into it.
Now that you have learned about runoff to better understand infiltration let's learn about porosity. Click on the button to continue Adventure #4.