ecology 3

Question 1

The process by which water travels in a sequence from the air to Earth and returns to the atmosphere, driven by solar radiation and involving evaporation, precipitation, infiltration, and runoff.

Answer 1

Water Cycle (Hydrologic Cycle)

Question 2

Provides energy for the evaporation of water, driving the water cycle.

Answer 2

Solar Radiation

Question 3

Water vapor in the atmosphere falls to the Earth’s surface in various forms, initiating the water cycle.

Answer 3

Precipitation

Question 4

The process where water is intercepted by vegetation, dead organic matter, or urban structures before reaching the soil, evaporating back into the atmosphere.

Answer 4

Interception

Question 5

The process of water moving into the ground. The rate depends on soil type, slope, vegetation, and precipitation intensity.

Answer 5

Infiltration

Question 6

Water that flows across the ground’s surface when soil is saturated, often concentrating into channels.

Answer 6

Surface Runoff (Overland Flow)

Question 7

Water that seeps down to an impervious layer of rock or clay and is stored underground. It eventually flows into springs and streams.

Answer 7

Groundwater

Question 8

The process of water returning to the atmosphere from the surface of water bodies, soil, and vegetation.

Answer 8

Evaporation

Question 9

The evaporation of water from the internal surfaces of plant leaves, stems, and other living parts.

Answer 9

Transpiration

Question 10

The total evaporation from the surfaces of the ground and vegetation, combining surface evaporation and transpiration.

Answer 10

Evapotranspiration

Question 11

Exchanges of water between reservoirs (oceans, rivers, groundwater) in the water cycle.

Answer 11

Fluxes

Question 12

A small but critical component of the water cycle with only 13 km³ of water, replaced on average every nine days (turnover time).

Answer 12

Atmospheric Reservoir

Question 13

The time it takes for the water in a reservoir to be replaced, calculated by dividing the size of the reservoir by the rate of output.

Answer 13

Turnover Time

Question 14

Includes various reservoirs (oceans, ice caps, glaciers, groundwater) and fluxes (exchanges of water between reservoirs).

Answer 14

Global Water Cycle

Question 15

Bodies of water on Earth, including oceans (97%), ice caps/glaciers (2%), and groundwater (0.3%).

Answer 15

Water Reservoirs

Question 16

The structure of water molecules connected by hydrogen bonds, creating an open, tetrahedral shape.

Answer 16

Lattice Arrangement

Question 17

The property of water molecules to stick together due to hydrogen bonding, resisting external forces

Answer 17

Cohesion

Question 18

The force that acts on the surface of water due to cohesion, allowing small objects and organisms to float or move across it.

Answer 18

Surface tension

Question 19

A measure of the force necessary to separate water molecules, which creates resistance to objects moving through the liquid.

Answer 19

viscosity

Question 20

The upward force exerted on a body submerged in water if its density is less than the water it displaces. Aquatic organisms benefit from near-neutral buoyancy.

Answer 20

buoyancy

Question 21

The amount of light reflected from water depends on the angle of incidence. Lower angles result in more light being reflected, varying diurnally and seasonally.

Answer 21

Light Reflection

Question 22

A chemical process in which organisms produce light, an adaptation common in deep-sea species.

Answer 22

: Bioluminescence

Question 23

The region of
the vertical depth profile where the temperature declines most
rapidly is called the

Answer 23

thermocline.

Question 24

the upper layer of warm, well-mixed, less dense water above the thermocline.

Answer 24

Epilimnion

Question 25

the deeper layer of cold, denser water below the thermocline.

Answer 25

hypolimnion

Question 26

when cooler surface water sinks and mixes with warmer, deeper water, circulating nutrients throughout the water column.

Answer 26

Turnover

Question 27

a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances

Answer 27

solution

Question 28

the dissolving agent

Answer 28

solvent

Question 29

the substance dissolved

Answer 29

solute

Question 30

A solution in which water is the solvent

Answer 30

aqueous solution

Question 31

refers to water molecules having a positive charge on one side (hydrogen atoms) and a negative charge on the other side (oxygen atom), allowing them to attract other charged molecules.

Answer 31

permanent dipole

Question 32

measured in practical salinity units (psu), represented as ‰ and expressed as grams of chlorine per kilogram of water.

Answer 32

salinity

Question 33

the general tendency of molecules to move from a region of high concentration to one of lower concentration.

Answer 33

Diffusion

Question 34

the process where warm surface currents move northward and southward, bringing up deep, cold, oxygenated waters from below.

Answer 34

upwelling

Question 35

result from the gravitational pulls of the Sun and the Moon

Answer 35

tides

Question 36

The two bulges caused by the Moon occur at the same time on opposite sides of Earth on an imaginary line extending from the Moon through the center of Earth.

Answer 36

Lunar Tides

Question 37

The Sun also causes two tides on opposite sides of Earth; solar tides are partially masked by lunar tides due to the Sun’s weaker gravitational pull.

Answer 37

Solar tides

Question 38

Occur when the Moon is full or new; Earth, Moon, and Sun are nearly in line, leading to exceptionally large high tides with maximum rise and fall.

Answer 38

Spring Tides

Question 39

Occur when the Moon is at either quarter; the pull is at right angles to the Sun’s pull, resulting in exceptionally small differences between high and low tides.

Answer 39

neap tides

Question 40

The area between high and low tide lines undergoes dramatic shifts in environmental conditions with daily patterns of inundation and exposure.

Answer 40

Intertidal Zone

Question 41

The place where freshwater mixes with saltwater; temperatures fluctuate considerably both daily and seasonally.

Answer 41

Estuary

Question 42

Occurs when a surface wedge of seawater moves upstream more rapidly than the bottom water, leading to unstable salinity and inverted density.

Answer 42

Tidal Overmixing

Question 43

In the Northern Hemisphere, outward-flowing freshwater and inward-flowing seawater are deflected to the right due to Earth’s rotation, affecting salinity distribution.

Answer 43

Coriolis Effect