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Geography Paper 1: Carbon and water cycle > 1. Water cycle processes/stores > Flashcards

1. Water cycle processes/stores Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the three main stores of the global water cycle?

A

The atmosphere, oceans, and land

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2
Q

What is the biggest and smallest store of water?

A 
Biggest = oceans 1,370,000 (km3 x 10^3)
Smallest = atmosphere 13 (km3 x 10^3)
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3
Q

Describe the oceanic store of water:

A

Five oceanic bodies and several smaller seas

Biggest is Pacific

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4
Q

Describe the atmospheric store of water:

A

Held as water vapour and absorbs and reflects incoming solar radiation
Warm air holds more vapour than cold air

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5
Q

Describe the ‘land’ store of water:

A 
Cryospheric = sea ice, ice caps, ice sheets, Alpine glaciers, and permafrost – high altitudes and latitude
Terrestrial = rivers (Amazon), lakes (Canada) wetland, groundwater
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6
Q

What processes are involved in the water cycle x5?

A 
Precipitation 
Evapotranspiration 
Condensation
Run-off
Groundwater flow
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7
Q

Define precipitation:

A

Moisture falling from clouds towards the ground (rain, snow, hail)

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8
Q

Define evapotranspiration:

A

Combined loss of water at the surface through evaporation and transpiration (evaporation of moisture from pores on the leaf surfaces) of plants

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9
Q

Define run-off:

A

The movement of water across the land surface

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10
Q

Describe groundwater flow:

A

The horizontal movement of water within aquifers

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11
Q

What are the 3 biggest global reservoirs of water on Earth?

A
  1. Oceans 1,370,000 (km3 x 10^3) = 97% of global water
  2. Polar ice/glaciers 2900 (km3 x 10^3) = 2% of global water
  3. Groundwater 9,500 (km3 x 10^3) = 0.7% of global water
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12
Q

How much freshwater is stored in ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland?

A

Three-quarters

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13
Q

How much freshwater is stored below ground in permeable rocks?

A

One-fifth

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14
Q

What is the average time a water molecule spends in the atmosphere?

A

Just 9 days

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15
Q

What is the water cycle budget?

A

The annual volume of movement of water by flows (precipitation, evapotranspiration, run-off etc) between stores (oceans, permeable rocks etc)

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16
Q

How much water does the water cycle budget circulate per year?

A

505,000km^3 – USGS

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17
Q

What are the inputs of water into the atmosphere?

A

Evapotranspiration
Water vapour evaporated from oceans, soils, lakes
Vapour transpired through leaves

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18
Q

What are the outputs of water from the atmosphere?

A

Precipitation eg rain

Condensation eg fog

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19
Q

How does run-off accumulate?

A

Precipitation drains from the land into rivers – most water does this once it has infiltrated the soil
Water under gravity percolates into aquifers which eventually reach the surface as springs and contributes to run-off

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20
Q

What is groundwater?

A

Water stored underground in permeable rocks known as aquifers

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21
Q

What is infiltration?

A

The vertical movement of rainwater through the soil

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22
Q

What is percolation?

A

The movement of surface and soil water into underlying permeable rocks

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23
Q

What is the water balance equation?

A

Precipitation = evaporation + streamflow +/-storage
Positive water balance: precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration
Negative water balance: evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation

24
Q

What are the principle flows in the water cycle that link the various stores?

A

Precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, catchment hydrology (run-off, infiltration, percolation, and through-flow) and cryospheric processes

25
Q

What are the various forms of precipitation?

A

Rain, snow, hail, sleet, and drizzle

26
Q

How does precipitation form?

A
  • Forms when vapour in the atmosphere cools to its dew point and condenses into tiny water droplets or ice particles to form clouds
  • The tiny droplets aggregate, reaching a critical size, and leave the cloud as precipitation
27
Q

What are the three types of rainfall?

A
  1. Orographic = air is forced to rise over mountains
  2. Frontal = two fronts meet; warm air rises over the cooler air
  3. Convectional = warm air rises from hot surfaces on a sunny day
28
Q

What is the dew point?

A

The critical temperature at which condensation occurs

29
Q

What characteristics of precipitation affect the drainage basin scale?

A
  • Type of precipitation – in high latitudes precipitation falls as snow which causes a time lag between snowfall and runoff
  • Intensity of precipitation – high intensity (10-15mm/hour) moves rapidly overland
  • Duration of precipitation – prolonged events may cause river flooding
  • Occurrence of precipitation – precipitation can be concentrated into a rainy season when river discharge is high eg Mediterranean
30
Q

What is transpiration?

A

The diffusion of water vapour to the atmosphere from the leaf pores (stomata) of plants and is responsible for 10% of the moisture in the atmosphere

31
Q

What factors affect transpiration?

A

Temperature, wind speed, humidity, water availability to plants

32
Q

What is condensation?

A

The phase change of vapour to liquid water that occurs when air is cooled to its dew point

33
Q

How do clouds form?

A

When the air is saturated because it has cooled below the dew point OR condensation nuclei are present

34
Q

What are the 3 main types of cloud?

A
  1. Cumuliform clouds
  2. Stratiform clouds
  3. Cirrus clouds
35
Q

Describe cumuliform clouds:

A

Form when the air is heated through contact with the Earth’s surface and causes heated air parcels to rise by convection, and expand due to a fall in pressure
As cooling reaches thew dew point, condensation begins and clouds form

36
Q

Describe how stratiform clouds form:

A

Develop when an air mass moves horizontally across a cooler surface ie ocean through the process of advection

37
Q

Describe how cirrus clouds form:

A

Wispy clouds form at high-altitudes and produce tiny ice crystals – do not produce precipitation

38
Q

What is adiabatic expansion?

A

The expansion of a parcel of air due to a decrease in pressure – expansion causes cooling

39
Q

When does cooling occur?

A
  • Air is warmed by contact with ground and rises freely – adiabatic expansion occurs
  • Air mass moves horizontally across a cooler surface – advection
  • Air masses rise as they cross a mountain
  • Warm air mixes with cooler air
40
Q

What is a lapse rate?

A

The vertical distribution of temperature in the lower atmosphere, and the temperature changes that occur as it rises vertically away from the ground

41
Q

What are the three types of lapse rates?

A
  1. Environmental lapse rate = vertical temperature profile of the lower atmosphere at any given time
  2. Dry adiabatic lapse rate = the rate at which a parcel of dry air cools as it rises
  3. Saturated adiabatic lapse rate = the rate at which a saturated parcel of air cools as it rises (SALR is lower than the DALR as condensation releases heat
42
Q

Why do clouds rise?

A

Atmospheric instability = air parcels are warmer inside the cloud than the external atmosphere

43
Q

What are cryospheric processes?

A
  • Accumulation
  • Ablation
  • Sublimation
44
Q

What is a drainage basin?

A

An area of land drained by a river and its tributaries that forms a subsystem, in particular an open system, of the water cycle

45
Q

What are the inputs of a drainage basin?

A

Precipitation

Condensation

46
Q

What are the stores in a drainage basin x5?

A
  • Vegetation store: vegetation cover intercepts precipitation eg 58% rainfall intercepted in rainforests
  • Surface storage: mainly in built environments as puddles
  • Soil storage: pores between soil particles fill with water eg clay has 40-60% volume
  • Groundwater store: permeable rocks
  • Channel store: volume of water in a river channel
47
Q

What are the flows in a drainage basin x7?

A
  • Stemflow
  • Infiltration
  • Run-off (overland flow + saturated overland flow)
  • Throughfall
  • Throughflow
  • Percolation
  • Groundwater flow
48
Q

Describe stemflow:

A

Occurs when water flows down the stems of plants

49
Q

Describe infiltration:

A

Occurs when water soaks into the soil

Infiltration rate is affected by texture, soil structure, and organic content

50
Q

Describe run-off (overland flow) + the two theories:

A

Rainfall flowing over the ground surface due to

  1. Saturated overland flow: soil become saturated and the water table rises to the surface
  2. Overland flow infiltration rate being exceeded
51
Q

Describe throughfall:

A

Water moving from vegetation to the ground

52
Q

Describe throughflow:

A

Lateral movement of water down a slope to a river channel

53
Q

Describe percolation:

A

Downward movement of water into groundwater stores

54
Q

Describe groundwater flow:

A

Downward and lateral movement of water within saturated rock (aquifers)

55
Q

What are the outputs of a drainage basin?

A

Evapotranspiration
Leakage: loss from groundwater stores
Run-off: movement of water across the land surface

Geography Paper 1: Carbon and water cycle (8 decks)

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