Concepts of System and Mass Balance Flashcards
What is the significance of inputs and outputs in the system?
They move to and from stores within the system, none cross the system boundaries.
What is the amount of water fixed in the system?
1.38 million km3
What does it mean for the mass balance when the amount of water is fixed?
The mass balance will not change.
What are the main flows within the system?
Precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, cry-spherical processes and fluxes.
What % of the worlds water does the ocean hold?
97%
What % of the world water is in the cryosphere?
1.9%
How does the oceanic store change?
Sea level change - eustatic change has resulted in significant change over time.
During glacials, more water is frozen, decreasing water holding capacity.
Climate warming increases ice sheet melting, raising sea levels.
How have changes in cryosphere processes affected the global water stores?
Short-term changes in accumulation and ablation occur annually due to seasonal temperature changes
Climatic changes in inter/glacials, cause significant changes in cryosphere size.
Human-induced global warming is permanently reducing the cryosphere by increasing ablation.
What are the processes that control transfers in the water cycle?
Short-term storm events increase local transfers.
Seasonal variations in climate impact on transfer rates (monsoon season)
Climatic variability due to events lasting years such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation impacts precipitation
Global Warming impacts on precipitation and evaporation, influencing land-atmosphere flows.
Climate change impacts on ablation rates, affecting transfers between cryosphere and other parts.
what is a drainage basin?
A subsystem of the global water cycle - it is open because water crosses the boundaries of the basin.
What is the input to a drainage basin?
Precipitation: type, amount, duration and intensity influence transfers and stores in the system.
What is the drainage basin flow throughfall?
Water dripping from plants from plants to the ground - influenced by leaf canopy
What is the drainage basin flow stem flow?
Water flowing down stems and trunks
What is the drainage basin flow infiltration?
Water soaking into the soil - infiltration rate is the rate at which water can pass into the soil.
What is the drainage basin flow overland flow?
Saturation excess overland flow - soil is saturated and cannot hold any more moisture
Infiltration excess overland flow - rainfall intensity is so great it exceeds infiltration rate
What is the drainage basin flow throughflow?
low lateral movement downslope through the soil.
What is the drainage basin flow percolation?
Downward movement from soil to underlying rock.
What is the drainage basin flow groundwater flow?
Slow, downward and lateral movement through bedrock.
What is the drainage basin flow channel flow?
Flow of water in streams and rivers.
What is the drainage basin Interception store?
Water held on leaf and plant surfaces
What is the drainage basin vegetation store?
Water contained in plants
What is the drainage basin surface store?
Water collected in depressions in the ground surface, includes snow cover
What is the drainage basin groundwater store?
Water stored in underground rocks; the water table marks the upper level of saturated rock.
What is the drainage basin output evaporation?
Water changing state from a liquid to water vapour - occurs from any surface store or flow
What is the drainage basin output transpiration?
Release and evaporation of water from vegetation.
What is the drainage basin output channel discharge to oceans?
The volume of water leaving a drainage basin and flowing into the sea.
