WET Hydrology & Hydrogeology

Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO)

• It is the most abundant molecule on Earth. It can be found in solid (Ice), liquid, or gas (water vapour) form.

  • Water circulates to great depths (525 - 660 km) within the Earth in the Deep Water Cycle. The water is polymorphous and bound together within crystal structures such rocks as olivine, forsterite, and ringwoodite. 

    • Recent scientific research has established that magma contains water - on average 4wt% (percentage by weight) of water. 

• It can't be destroyed. It continuously cycles through the planetary hydrologic cycle.

• It is one of the main components that regulate the Earth's Climate via the Greenhouse Effect. 

• Biological life as we know it is dependent on it. The only known biological form that can live for extremely long periods without water are are Tardigrades.

• Its consumption is a significant concern to healthcare professionals - excess consumption is known to result in frequent trips to the lavatory, which can indicate disease and, in contaminated form, is a leading form of morbidity and mortality in biological organisms. 

  • Over the past two centuries, intensive efforts to introduce safe drinking water and sanitation have increased human life expectancy worldwide at unprecedented rates.

  • A public health livestock wastewater surveillance project is now being planned by researchers at the University of Calgary.     

• Excessive heating and placing it under pressure can cause some of the largest, most destructive, and deadliest explosions ever experienced on the planet.  On January 15, 2022, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano eruption provided one of the greatest learning opportunities for Earth Scientists. This volcanic eruption result in a 10 percent increase in the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere.  

• It has the potential to massively alter and destroy natural landscapes. Melting Glaciers have the same potential. 

  • Less than a five-hour drive from our current location is one of the world's largest groundwater stabilization projects, it was undertaken to permit BC Hydro to build a Hydroelectric Dam.  They didn't want another Vajont Dam like incident.

• The cryosphere contains 70% of the Earth's Fresh Water. If it completely melted, the amount of ice in the Antarctica ice sheet would raise the ocean level by 59 m.  

• It is called the "universal solvent" because its highly corrosive properties cause various materials to deteriorate or erode and eventually fail.