The+Hydrosphere

by Anthony, Max, Ryan, and Patrick //Approximately 75% of the Earth is covered by ocean. This is an area of some 361 million square kilometers.// //The hydrosphere includes all of the estimated 400 **quintillion** gallons of water on the Earth. It includes the 343 quintillion found in the oceans, the water found in seas, rivers, lakes, frozen glaciers, ice shelves, and the atmosphere.// //That's a lot of water.//

Summary:
Analysts have disproven long held conventional wisdom that the primary source of estrogen in water supplies has been woman taking birth control pills. Woman who take birth control pill have elevated levels of estrogen in their urine and this line of thought holds that it is this high estrogen content urine which flows into waterways and increases estrogen levels. However the estrogen created by oral contraceptives like birth control pills ( called 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol and abbreviated EE2) is different from naturally occurring estrogen and can easily be removed by water and sewage treatment plants. Knowing this Amber Wise, Kacie O'Brien and Tracey Woodruf set out to determine the true cause of estrogen levels in water. By analyzing drinking water they found that estrogen from natural sources such as animal waste and fertilizers made from animal waste was far more prevalent than EE2 from oral contraceptives. In fact it was concluded that estrogen from these natural sources makes up as much as ninety percent of the estrogen found in today’s water ways.

Cited Source:
American Chemical Society. "Don't blame the pill for estrogen in drinking water." //ScienceDaily//, 15 Feb. 2011. Web. 16 May 2011..

Summary:
In a study done by Duke University, researchers sampled 68 wells and tested water samples to see if the chemicals used in natural gas drilling had permeated into the water supply. While they found no evidence of chemical leakage, they did find that the levels of methane in the water were well above what is considered safe. While drinking water with such high levels of methane is not a health hazard in of itself, the methane poses a fire hazard inside the homes of people nearby.

Cited Source:
Ritter, Steven K., and Glenn Hess. "Methane Fouls Well Water." //Chemical & Engineering News//. American Chemical Society, 16 May 2011. Web. 16 May 2011. .

==Article 3 (Ryan): "High Levels of Chromium Found in Chicago-area Tap Water"==

Summary:
This article touches on the recent findings of cancer-causing hexavalent chromium (chromium-6) in the drinking water of Chicago and other major cities. Even very trace amounts of this metal can cause harm, as evidenced by the concern over levels as low as .18 parts per **billion**, the amount found in Chicago. The regulations of this chemical have not yet come about because it was previously thought that the stomach could convert this chromium-6 into the essential nutrient chromium-3 after ingestion. It has been shown that the stomach cannot always handle this.

Cited Source:
Hawthorne, Michael. "High Levels of Chromium Found in Chicago-area Tap Water - Chicago Tribune." //Featured Articles From The Chicago Tribune//. 22 Dec. 2010. Web. 15 May 2011. .

=**Article 4 (Patrick): [|"Antarctic Icebergs Help Ocean Take Up Carbon Dioxide"]**=

Summary: It has been recently discovered that Antarctic icebergs “fertilize the Southern Ocean” by “enhancing the growth of algae” that take up atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and transfer it to the deep sea. A team of scientists took an excursion to the Weddell Sea in 2005, 2008, and 2009. These researchers tracked individual icebergs, and through this, they were able to document a process that had never been previously suspected. The icebergs carry iron rich sediment out into the ocean, and as the icebergs melt, they release iron into the ocean which acts as a fertilizer to the growth of microscopic algae. To track the icebergs, the scientists used an advanced GPS system that was dropped on the icebergs via a remote controlled airplane. The researchers also designed an instrument that would test the sediment water and collect samples from the trail of the iceberg. Then, the researchers compared the amount of carbon sinking down to 600 meters beneath the iceberg with the amount of carbon sinking in the open ocean. They found that twice as much carbon sank into the deep sea within a 30 kilometer radius of the iceberg. The researchers concluded that icebergs play an important role in controlling how much carbon from the atmosphere was taken up by algae and ultimately transported into the deep sea.

Cited Source: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. "Antarctic icebergs help ocean take up carbon dioxide." //ScienceDaily //, 11 May 2011. Web. 12 May 2011.

Discussion Question: Ø Why do you think it is better for carbon to be put in the deep ocean rather than in the upper ocean?