Life Habitat Water Survival in Niches Springs
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| Kids&Science Life Habitat Water Survival in Niches Springs |
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| See also: Ground Water, Wells, Mineral Water | |
SpringsWhere Can You Find Springs?It doesn’t matter where you stroll around in our latitudes, the chance to find a spring, that is a place where water bubbles out of a hole in the ground, is almost omnipresent in nature.
Life in A SpringA spring usually has the same temperature all year round, since it is at the beginning of the water cycle, and no sun has shone on it, yet. The inhabitants of the spring are tiny creatures like flatworms or minute spring snails, which can only be discovered under a magnifying glass. Hot SpringsThere are also hot springs, which do humans good! Thermal spas are a lot of fun for the whole family, and do everybody good, not only because of the water slides and artificial wave pools. These spas draw their pleasantly hot water from thermal springs. It comes from great depths in the interior of the earth where it is very hot. The water often has to be cooled down first, before it has the right temperature for bathing. You will find these springs in earthquake areas or in areas with active or extinct volcanoes, mostly. The water from the interior of the earth contains less oxygen than normal water, but it is richer in liquefied gases and salts, which are a blissful relief for our human body. Expected to be a record! There are bacteria which can stand water temperatures of more than 40°C, even survive temperatures of about 83°C!
Picture: The blue-green alga is still happy at hot temperatures. Click on the picture to see an enlarged version.
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In the mountains, they occur as gushing springs, which flow to the valley rapidly, but springs can also be situated in a pond, which overflows and thus forms a stream. There are even marshy springs.