Drainage Basins and Hydrological Cycle Processes

Question 1

Where 2 river meet/ join it’s called a …

Answer 1

Confluence

Question 2

A smaller river that flows into a larger river is called a…

Answer 2

Tributary

Question 3

The edge/ boundary of the drainage basin is called the..

Answer 3

Watershed

Question 4

Where the river starts is called the…

Answer 4

Source

Question 5

Where the river joins the sea is called the…of the river

Answer 5

Mouth

Question 6

True or false, drainage basin and river catchment mean the same thing

Answer 6

True
(The area of land drained by a particular river and its tributaries)

Question 8

Is a drainage basin an open or closed system

Answer 8

Open
(As matter is transferred in, through and out of the system- water enters through precipitation, is transferred through infiltration/ percolation etc and leaves by flowing out into the sea)

Question 9

4 key water stores in the drainage basin hydrological cycle

Answer 9

Interception storage
Soil storage (soil water)
Surface storage
Groundwater

Question 10

Soil porosity meaning

Answer 10

The percentage of soil that is air space (pores)

Question 11

What is meant by the interception store in the drainage basin hydrological cycle

Answer 11

Precipitation that is temporarily stored on the surface of vegetation (e.g leaves) or human-made cover

(The density of the vegetation determines how much precipitation is intercepted and stored)

Question 12

What is meant by soil storage (soil water) in the drainage basin hydrological cycle

Answer 12

The amount of water stored in the soil

(The water (alongside air) is stored in the pore spaces around the soil particles and different types of soil have different amounts of pores so some soil types can store more water than others)

Question 13

Surface storage meaning in the drainage basin hydrological cycle

Answer 13

Water that builds up on the surface of the land (e.g puddles) as it can no longer infiltrate through the soil below

Question 14

Groundwater meaning in drainage basin hydrological cycle

Answer 14

Water stored in pore spaces in rocks

Question 15

7 examples of flows (transfers) of water within the drainage basin hydrological cycle

Answer 15

Stem flow
Through fall
Throughflow
Infiltration
Percolation
Groundwater flow (base flow)
Overland flow (surface run off)

Question 16

Stem flow meaning (flow/ transfer of water in the drainage basin hydrological cycle)

Answer 16

Water flows down stems/ stalks/ tree trunks (in very heavy storms) from the interception store (e.g the leaves) to the ground

Question 17

Through fall meaning (flow/ transfer of water in the drainage basin hydrological cycle)

Answer 17

Water on the leaves drips/ falls from one leaf to another (between interception stores) until it eventually reaches the ground)

Question 18

Infiltration meaning (a flow/ transfer of water in the drainage basin hydrological cycle)

Answer 18

Where water soaks downwards into the soil

(Coarser textured soils have larger pores than fine grained soils so increases the infiltration rate)
(The burrowing of worms and penetration of plant roots can also increase the size and number of pores and channels in the soil)
(Soil becomes saturated (meaning no more water can infiltrate through) when the rate of rainfall is greater than the infiltration rate)

Question 19

Which type of soil has larger pores out of fine-grained soil and coarser textured soils

Answer 19

Coarser textured soils- this increases the infiltration rate

Question 20

How does the burrowing of worms and penetration of plant roots in the soil affect the infiltration rate

Answer 20

They increase it as they increase the size and number of pores and channels for water to flow through

Question 21

Percolation meaning (flow/transfer of water in the drainage basin hydrological cycle)

Answer 21

The downward movement of water through the soil and rock

(The rate depends on the permeability of the rock and soil porosity)

Question 25

Overland flow meaning (flow/ transfer of water in the drainage basin hydrological cycle)

Answer 25

Where water flows very quickly across the land surface when the surface stores (e.g puddles) are full

(And for the surface storage to be full it means that no water is infiltrating into the soil as it is saturated)

Question 26

Groundwater flow meaning (flow/ transfer of water in the hydrological cycle)

Answer 26

The slow movement of water through underlying rock

Question 27

The input of water into the drainage basin hydrological cycle is…

Answer 27

Precipitation

Question 28

Evapotranspiration meaning (output of water form drainage basin hydrological cycle)

Answer 28

The total amount of water outputted from the interception store of plants directly into the atmosphere

Question 29

Why do hills decrease the infiltration rate compared to flat surfaces

Answer 29

The water flows downhill due to the influence of gravity so it’s harder to soak down into the soil
(Therefore less infiltration means that there’s more overland flow on hills)