elss sg1

Question 1

importance of water

Answer 1

Earth: forms clouds and these modify global temps, 97% of store is in ocean, 0.1% in atmosphere, 3% is on land.
Fauna and people: animals and humans use water to cool themselves e.g. sweating and panting, water balances all chemical reactions in the body, domestic use, water makes up 65-95% of all living organisms.
Flora: use it to make food: photosynthesis, respiration, maintain rigidity, transpiration and evaporation,

Question 2

processes of drainage basin: formation of clouds

Answer 2

• ground heated by suns energy, through convection a parcel of warmer rises as it is warmer than surroundings.
• dry adiabatic lapse rate -cooling will be 10 degree celcious for every 1km. As parcel of air cools it reaches its dew point(condesation point),it condenses and cloud starts to form
• As condensation occurs, latent heat is given off. The air is saturated with water and the parcel of air rises at a slower rate of 7 degree every km.
• air continues to rise until it is the same tempurature as its surrounding air, condensation will stop and mark the top of the cloud. Atmosphere is now stable.

Question 3

processes, flows and definitions

Answer 3

interception - some precipitation never reaches ground as vegetation stops it from doing so.
throughfall - wet leaves shed excess water onto geound surface
stemflow - flow of intercepted water down the trunk or stem of a plant
infiltration - water that travls through the soil and infiltrates through
percolation - water that infiltrates through prous rock
throughflow - water that travels through the soil to a body of water
groundwater flow - wter that travels horizontally though rock
overland flow - water that flows on top of a surface

Question 4

factors affecting interception loss

Answer 4

1 - interception storage capacity - depends on how saturated begetation is . when vegetation sufaces are dry they retain water and intercept rainfall. As vegetation becomes saturated intercepted water will be lost by throughfall and stemflow.
2 - wind speed - higher wind speed = more evaporation = more interception loss
3 - vegetation type - interception loss is greater from grassland because they have a larger surface area to intercept water.
4 - tree species - interception loss is greater from evergreen than deciduous as conifers have leaves all year round, water is held here and then can evaporate.

Question 5

factors affecting infiltration

Answer 5

1 - soil type - sandy soils have large pores so more infiltration, clay soils have small pores so low infiltration but mroe overland flow.
2 - saturated soil - less water will be able to infiltrate into the soil as the soil is too saturated, it causes overland flow.
3 - arable land in winter - in winter there are less crops meaning there is less interception so water will easily infiltrate.
4 - rock type - permeable rocks allow water to flow through mineral pores or along joint, faults and fissures. Impermeable rock - a type of rock that neither absorbs water nor allows water to pass through it.

Question 6

factors affecting transpiration

Answer 6

1 - tempurature - higher tempuratures means more water isheatedso more transpirtion.
2 - wind - high wind speeds as water is blown away and lost so less transpiration.
3 - water availability to plants - less water available for example during a ry season or less preciitation so less transpiraiton
4 - seasons - some trees e.g. deciduous trees shed their leaves so less transpiration.