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Geography > Earths life support systems. > Flashcards

Earths life support systems. Flashcards

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1
Q

List some of the importances of water

A
  • Creates benign thermal conditions
    (Ocean slow release of heat, clouds reflecting solar radiation and water vapour absorbing long-wave radiation)
  • Metabolic medium for photosynthesis, respiration and transpiration streams.
  • Economic activity
    (Generate electricity, irrigate crops, provide public demand for water and used in industry)
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2
Q

List some of the importances of carbon.

A
  • Biological significance (carbon is used in the composition of biological molecules such as proteins, carbohydrates and nucleic acids)
  • Economic resource (fossil fuels utilised in industry)
  • Domestic purpose (heating)
  • Insulator
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3
Q

What type of systems are the global carbon and water cycle and why?

A
  • Closed systems

Driven by the suns energy, only energy crosses the boundary, not material.

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4
Q

Can a carbon and water cycle be an open system?

A

YES
In small scale, such as in drainage basins and forest ecosystems material can move across defined boundaries.

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5
Q

What % of all water on earth does the ocean comprise?

A

97%

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6
Q

What is one of the smallest stores of water and why?

A
  • Atmospheric store.

There is a rapid flux of water into and out of the atmosphere (residence time 9 days)

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7
Q

List inputs of water into the atmosphere

A
  • Evapotranspiration
  • Ablation (melting and sublimation)
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8
Q

List outputs of water from the atmosphere

A
  • Precipitation
  • Condensation
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9
Q

Name flows in the water cycle

A
  • Precipitation
  • Evaporation
  • Runoff
  • Groundwater flow
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10
Q

What is the difference between groundwater flow and runoff?

A
  • Groundwater flow is the HORIZONTAL movement of water within aquifers
  • Runoff is the movement of water across land surface.
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11
Q

Define infiltration

A

The vertical movement of rainwater through the soil

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12
Q

Define ‘system’

A

A system is a set of interrelated objects comprising components and processes that are linked to create a dynamic whole.

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13
Q

What does the global carbon cycle consist of?

A
  • Stores
  • Sinks
  • Flows (connects)
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14
Q

Name the principal stores in the carbon cycle

A
  • Atmosphere
  • Oceans
  • Carbonate rocks
  • Fossil fuels
  • Plants
  • Soils
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15
Q

What is the biggest carbon store?

A

Carbonate rocks (such as limestone and chalk alongside deep ocean sediments)

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16
Q

What are the two categories of carbon cycle?

A
  • Slow carbon cycle
  • Fast carbon cycle
17
Q

What is the slow carbon cycle

A

The circulation of carbon that has been stored in rocks, sea floor sediments and fossil fuels.
These are characterised by long residence times (150M years)

18
Q

What is the fast carbon cycle?

A

The rapid circulation of carbon between atmosphere, oceans and biosphere.
These transfers are between 10-1000x faster than the slow carbon cycle transfer.

19
Q

What are the key components of the fast carbon cycle

A
  • Terrestrial plants and phytoplankton (absorb CO2)
  • Respiration and decomposition (returns CO2)
  • Dissolving in the ocean.
20
Q

What are the main flows involved in the slow carbon cycle?

A
  • Accumulation of crustacean remains that have been subjected to pressure, becoming sedimentary rocks. (INPUT)
  • Subduction: the sedimentary rock is sub-ducted into the upset mantle and are vented in volcanic eruptions. (OUTPUT)
  • Weathering:
    If exposed, the rocks are attacked by chemical weathering such as carbonation. Rainwater combines with atmospheric CO2 to form a weak acid which attacks carbonate minerals. OUTPUT
21
Q

State the water balance equation

A

Precipitation (P) = Evapotranspiration (E) + Streamflow (Q) ± Storage

22
Q

What are the 7 principal flows in the water cycle?

A
  • Precipitation
  • Evaporation
  • Transpiration
  • Run-off
  • Infiltration
  • Percolation
  • Throughflow
23
Q

How is precipitation formed?

A
  • Water vapour in the atmosphere cools to its dew point.
  • It condenses into tiny water droplets or ice particles, forming clouds.
  • The droplets or ice particles aggregate, reach a critical size and leave as precipitation
24
Q

In what 3 ways can precipitation impact drainage basins?

A
  • Form of precipitation
    Precipitation can fall as snow in high latitude and mountainous catchments and remain on the ground for months - creates considerable time lag between precipitation and runoff
  • Intensity of precipitation
    The amount falling in a given time, if high it undergoes through-flow, as it is falling at a rate exceeding the infiltration capacity in the soil.
  • Duration of precipitation
    Length that the event lasts - prolonged events cause saturation of the soil which creates overland flow and potential river flooding
25
Q

How is transpiration influenced by temperature and wind speed?

A
  • Deciduous trees shed their leaves in climates with dry or cold seasons to reduce moisture loss.
  • In areas with higher wind speed, such as the unsheltered tundra, water potential is effected.
26
Q

What is a feature of cumuliform clouds and how are they formed?

A
  • Flat bases and considerable vertical development
  • Occur when air is heated locally through contact with earths surface, causing heat parcels to rise in convection and expand (due to fall in altitude pressure) which then cool.
27
Q

What is a feature of stratiform clouds and how are they formed?

A
  • Layered clouds
  • Air moves horizontally across a cooler surface and mixes with turbulence (ADVECTION)
28
Q

What is a feature of cirrus clouds?

A
  • Wispy clouds formed at high altitude.
  • DO NOT produce precipitation so have little influence on the water cycle.
29
Q

What are the 4 ways in which clouds are formed?

A
  • Convection
    Air is warmed by contact with the ground or sea surface and rises. As the air rises and pressure falls it cools by expansion (adiabatic expansion).
  • Advection
    Air masses move horizontally across a relatively cooler surface.
  • Frontal
    A relatively warm air mass mixes with a cooler one.
  • Orthographic uplift
    Air masses are forced upwards as they cross a mountain barrier or turbulence forces ascent.
30
Q

Name the 3 lapse rates.

A
  • Environmental lapse rate (ELR)
  • Dry adiabatic lapse rate (DALR)
  • Saturated adiabatic lapse rate (SALR)
31
Q

What is a lapse rate referring to?

A

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

32
Q

What is the environmental lapse rate (ELR)

A
  • The vertical temperature profile of the lower atmosphere at any given time.
  • The temp falls by 6.5°C for every kilometre of height gained.
33
Q

What is the dry adiabatic lapse rate?

A

The rate at which a parcel of dry air (less than 100% humidity so condensation isn’t taking place) cools.

  • Cooling is caused by adiabatic expansion at approx. 10°C/km.
34
Q

What is the saturated adiabatic lapse rate?

A

The rate at which a saturated parcel of air (where condensation IS occurring) cools as it rises through the atmosphere.

  • As condensation releases latent heat the SALR is 7°/km, lower than DALR.
35
Q

Describe convection in more detail

A
  • The ground heated by the sun warms the air in contact with the surface to a temperature warmer than it’s surroundings
  • As the air is now warmer than it’s surroundings, it is less dense and therefore buoyant.
  • This is atmospheric instability, creating freely rising air in a convection current.
  • When it’s internal temperature reaches dew point (the same temperature externally) condensation occurs and clouds form.

Geography (8 decks)

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