Block 1 - Water

Question 1

Hydrosphere

Answer 1

The parts of earth that are mainly water (e.g. oceans, ice caps and lakes)

Question 2

Hydrology

Answer 2

The study of water movement

Question 3

Residence time

Answer 3

The average period that water stays in one part of the system before moving to another

Question 4

Precipitation

Answer 4

Water that transfers from the atmosphere to the Earths surface

Question 5

Interception

Answer 5

Precipitation which is stopped by vegetation before it reaches the ground

Question 6

Evaporation

Answer 6

The process by which water is transferred as vapour from the land or ocean to the atmosphere

Question 7

Humidity

Answer 7

A measure of how close the air is to saturation with water vapour

Question 8

Latent heat of vaporisation of water

Answer 8

The energy required to completely convert one kilogram of water to steam without an increase in temperature.

Question 9

Transpiration

Answer 9

the process by which plants draw up water from the soil through the xylem and transfer it to their leaves, from which it evaporates through stomata in the leaf system

Question 10

Evapotranspiration

Answer 10

The process by which water moves from the land surface into the atmosphere as vapour. It combines both direct evaporation from wet surfaces and transpiration from vegetation.

Question 11

Potential evapotranspiration

Answer 11

The maximum value of evaporation for a saturated surface, such as open water, in a given location.

Question 12

Hydrologically effective precipitation

Answer 12

Effective precipitation. The difference between precipitation and actual evapotranspiration.

Question 13

Aerodynamic resistance

Answer 13

A measure of the effectiveness of air movement in aiding evaporation, as a function of the ‘roughness’ of the surface over which it blows.

Question 14

Stomatal resistance

Answer 14

The resistance to water loss through stomata in the leaves of a plant. Stomatal resistance depends on the number, type and size of the stomata and tends to be about ten times larger than aerodynamic resistance.

Question 15

Canopy resistance

Answer 15

The resistance to evaporation of the overall vegetation canopy.

Question 16

Lake

Answer 16

a body of water which contains a certain volume of water at a given time

Question 17

Inflow

Answer 17

inflow = outflow + change in storage

Question 18

Water balance

Answer 18

Precipitation - (streamflow + evapotranspiration) = Change in ground water + change in soil water storage

Question 19

Ecosystem services

Answer 19

Direct of indirect contribution that ecosystems provide for human wellbeing and quality of life

Question 20

Cultural ecosystem services

Answer 20

benefits that people obtain from an ecosystem through recreation, tourism, intellectual development, spiritual enrichment, creative and aesthetic experiences

Question 21

Provisioning ecosystem services

Answer 21

benefit from the ecosystem such as food, drinking water, fire wood, natural gas, plants and medicine.

Question 22

Regulating ecosystem services

Answer 22

benefit from the ecosystem which moderate natural processes such as pollination, decomposition, water purification, erosion , flood control, carbon storage and climate regulation

Question 23

Supporting ecosystem services

Answer 23

services that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services, e.g. biomass production, production of oxygen, soil formation, nutrient cycling, water cycling, provisioning of habitat.

Question 24

pores

Answer 24

small spaces in a rock or soil

Question 25

infiltration

Answer 25

The process whereby water from rainfall, irrigation, snowmelt

Question 26

permeability

Answer 26

the measure of the ease with which a fluid can flow through rocks of soils

Question 27

unsaturated zone

Answer 27

the zone between the land surface and the water table in which the pore spaces in rock or soil filled with both water and air

Question 28

saturated zone

Answer 28

the zone below the water table in which all the pore spaces in rock or soil are filled with water

Question 29

Water table

Answer 29

the level below which all pore spaces in rock or soil are full of water

Question 30

groundwater

Answer 30

the water that penetrates the ground surface and is contained in pore spaces in rocks located below the water table

Question 31

capillary retention

Answer 31

water clings to the walls of narrow openings

Question 32

porosity

Answer 32

porosity (%) = (pore volume / total volume) X 100%

Question 33

secondary porosity

Answer 33

The porosity that has been caused by fractures or weathering in a sock after it has been formed

Question 34

pore space volume

Answer 34

Pore space volume = (mass rock wet - mass rock dry) / density of fluid