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Geography IBDP > Freshwater > Flashcards

Freshwater Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the stores and flows of the hydrological cycle?

A

Flows

    - Precipitation 
- Evaporation 
- Transpiration 
- Surface flow 
- Groundwater

Stores

- Lakes 
- Ice 
- Clouds 
- Snow 
    - Oceans
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2
Q

Is the hydrological cycle an open or a closed system?

A

The hydrological cycle is a closed system

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3
Q

What are the stores and flows of the drainage basin?

A

Stores

  • River
  • Soil
  • Rock

Flows

  • Interception
  • Infiltration
  • Surface runoff
  • Throughflow
  • Percolation
  • Groundwater flow
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4
Q

What are the inputs and outputs of the drainage basin?

A

Inputs
- precipitation

Outputs

  • evapotranspiration
  • River run-off
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5
Q

Define the term ‘Drainage Basin’

A

A drainage basin includes all the area that is drained by a river and its tributaries

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6
Q

Define the term ‘Water Shed’

A

Drainage basins are divided by watersheds which are imaginary lines that separate neighbouring basins.

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7
Q

What is an aquifer?

A

Aquifers are permeable rocks (eg sandstone and limestone) where the water moves very slowly and acts as a natural regulator in the hydrological cycle.

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8
Q

What is the cryosphere?

A

The cryosphere is the snow and ice environment. Up to 66% of the world’s fresh water is in the form of ice and snow.

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9
Q

What factors affect the drainage basin?

A

Geology:

  • The permeability of the rocks
  • Impermeable rock decreases percolation which will probably increase throughflow

Land Use:

  • A lot of vegetation means more interception so potentially less infiltration
  • In cities with tarmac, there is less infiltration and more surface runoff which has an increased flooding risk

Precipitation:

  • More rainfall, more chance of flooding but it depends on geology and land use
  • More snow, more water is stored as snow and ice, less chance of flooding as it is frozen but when it melts, there is more chance of surface runoff

Relief:
- Steep slopes reduce the amount of infiltration and increase surface runoff which can increase the chances of flooding

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10
Q

What are the 4 types of erosion?

A
  • hydraulic action
  • abrasion
  • attrition
  • solution
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11
Q

What are the 4 types of transportation?

A
  • traction
  • saltation
  • solution
  • suspension
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12
Q

What is traction?

A

Traction is where large boulders roll along the bed

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13
Q

What is saltation?

A

Saltation they will bounce along the river bed

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14
Q

What is suspension?

A

Suspension is where small and fine particles float along in the river

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15
Q

What is solution? (transportation)

A

Solution is where small particles dissolve in the water

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16
Q

What is discharge?

A

Discharge is the volume of water passing a given point over a certain period of time.

Discharge is normally expressed as cubic metres per second (cumecs)

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17
Q

Which type of flow causes more erosion in a river?

A

Turbulent flow

Turbulent flow is more likely to happen. There is a corkscrew motion that happens within the channel. This motion is called helicoidal flow. The turbulent movement affects the banks and the bed which causes more erosion

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18
Q

What is laminar flow?

A

Laminar flow is where there are no obstructions. The river will always take the path of least resistance. Water tends to move in a series of sheets.

It is common in groundwater and in glaciers, but not in rivers, although it can occur in the lower course of a river. 
The conditions for laminar flow are:
	- Shallow channels 
	- Smooth, straight channels 
	- Low velocities
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19
Q

Velocity and Friction - the effect?

A

The effect of friction is to create an uneven distribution of velocity in a stream. Water closest to the bed and banks travels the slowest, while water nearest the centre travels fastest. The highest velocity is thus mid-stream about a third of the way down

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20
Q

What is the most efficient stream shape?

A

Semi-circular

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21
Q

What is abrasion?

A

The wearing away of the bed and banks by the load carried by a river

22
Q

What is attrition?

A

The wearing away of load by the river

23
Q

What is hydraulic action?

A

The force of air and water on the sides of rivers and in cracks

24
Q

What is solution?

A

The removal of chemical ions, especially calcium.

25
Q

What are the factors that affect the rate of erosion?

A
  • Load
  • Velocity
  • Gradient
  • Geology
  • pH
  • Human Impact
26
Q

Factors Affecting flood risk:

- Drainage Basin Shape

A

Elongation:
- Longer lag time because it takes longer for water from the extremities to arrive at the gauging station

Circular:
- Shorter lag time because all the tributaries are approximately equidistant from the gauging station

27
Q

Factors Affecting flood risk:

- Drainage density

A

Big:
- Lag time is longer because there are more tributaries so it takes longer for peak discharge to be reached

Small:
- Lag time will be shorter in a smaller basin because there are fewer tributaries leading into the main river channel so the peak discharge will be reached faster

28
Q

Factors Affecting flood risk:

- Soil type

A

Clay
- Clay has much smaller pore spaces and they are less well connected. This reduces infiltration and throughflow, but encourages surface runoff and increases the risk of flooding. This shortens lag time.

Sandy Soils
- Sandy soils with large pore spaces allow rapid infiltration and do not encourage flooding. This increases lag time.

29
Q

Factors Affecting flood risk:

- Vegetation

A

Interception
- Interception is less during the winter when deciduous trees have shed their leaves and crops have been harvested to expose the bare earth. Lag time is increased

30
Q

Factors Affecting flood risk:

- Rock type

A

Impermeable
- rocks that are impermeable do not allow water to pass through them and so they are characterized by more surface runoff and a greater number of streams. E.g. granite

Permeable
- permeable rocks are rocks that allow water to pass through them. There are two types of permeable rock: Porous, which contain numerous pores able to fill with and store water. Pervious, which allow water to flow along bedding planes and down joints within the rock. Both types of rocks permit rapid infiltration.

31
Q

Factors Affecting flood risk:

- Slope Angle

A

Steep
- Water moves downstream faster due to the steeper slopes causing peak discharge to be reached quicker

Shallow
- Water moves downstream slower due to the flatter land so peak discharge is reached slower

32
Q

Factors Affecting flood risk:

- Human Impact

A

Urbanisation
- Urbanisation has increased the flood risk as cities are full of impermeable surfaces such as tarmac and concrete. Gutters and drains carry water more quickly to the nearest river which may already be full, hence the risk of flooding is increased.

Flood Prevention Techniques
- There are many things people can do to stop flooding. Such methods include flood barriers and floodplain zoning. Dams are a type of hard engineering which are used to control the flow of water into certain areas. This helps reduce the flooding of certain areas and further increase the lag time.

33
Q

What is Lag Time?

A

the period between maximum precipitation and peak discharge.

34
Q

What is a hydrograph?

A

is a means of showing the discharge of a river at a given point over a short period of time

35
Q

What is hard engineering?

A

Hard engineering –> strategies that require construction, they are more expensive but longer-lasting and sometimes are generally less aesthetically pleasing

36
Q

What is soft engineering?

A

Soft engineering –> strategies that use nature to combat the impact of flooding, less expensive but not as long-lasting and a generally more aesthetically pleasing

37
Q

River Nene

A 
○ Embankments
→ 450m clay embankment 
→ Earth embankment 
→ Set 10m back from the river 
→ Covered in plants to improve aesthetics and for interception

○ Flood storage Reservoir
→ Billing near the aquadrome
→ Weedon

○ Floodgates
→ Near Sixfields —> 1.2 million cubic meters of water

○ Warning Systems
→ Was upgraded in 2003

○ Flood walls
→ Near the railway station —> 4m high
→ Sixfields —> protect the road, 2m high

○ Washland
→ Upton near Sixfields —> cost £8 million

○ Floodplain zoning
→ Upton square

○ Afforestation
→ On the earth embankment to improve aesthetics and for interception

38
Q

Sacramento River

A

SACRAMENTO RIVER:

Excess water is routed elsewhere, away from the city by using:
	- Levees 
	- Dams 
	- Weirs 
	- Bypasses
All of these surround the rivers

They built bypasses that move the water away from Sacramento itself and allow the water to occupy large areas of unpopulated land

When the water reaches certain levels in the Sacramento River, the Malton and Colusa rivers release water into the Butte Basin in a controlled manner

The Butte basin then feeds excess water into the Sutter Bypass which receives even more water from the Tisdale Weir and Bypass and the feather river (downstream)

The Sutter bypass and the Sacramento river eventually intersect and open into the larger conveyance area called the Yolo Bypass. The Fremont Weir helps regulate the water flowing into the Yolo Bypass, further downstream the Yolo River reconnects to the Sacramento River on its way to the pacific ocean.

The Levees were constructed a long time ago by farmers and don’t meet the current design standards, they have geotechnical issues such as erosion, seepage and instability

39
Q

Explain economic water scarcity

A

Where a country physically has sufficient water to meet its needs but requires additional storage and transport facilities. This means having to embark on large and expensive water-development projects, as in many sub-Saharan countries

40
Q

Explain physical water scarcity

A

Where water consumption exceeds 60% of the usable supply. To help meet water needs some countries such as Saudi Arabic and Kuwait have to import much of their food and invest in desalinisation plants

41
Q

What is water quantity?

A

Water quantity is the supply of the water and factors that affect this are:

- Rate of rainfall
- Evaporation 
- The use of water by plants (transpiration) 
- River and groundwater flows
42
Q

What is water quality?

A

Water quality is if the water is safe to drink or not. Factors that affect access to safe drinking water are:

- Water availability
- Water infrastructure 
- Cost of water
43
Q

What is water stress

A

a continuous water shortage for a long period of time

44
Q

What is water shortage?

A

the demand for water is greater than the supply they have

45
Q

Explain the process of Eutrophication?

A

○ Eutrophication happens when nitrates and phosphorus is added to water from fertilizers
○ This causes an algal bloom, cutting off sunlight and feeding bactera
○ The bacteria use up the oxygen in the water causing it to become anoxic (no oxygen)
○ This causes everything living in the water to die because it cannot respire due to the lack of oxygen

46
Q

Advantages of irrigation

A

Social:

  • Irrigation leads to more people having access to water
  • Irrigation can be used during time of drought so food can still be produced for consumption

Environmental:

  • Water lost due to seepage goes into groundwater storage, increasing the volume of groundwater
  • Irrigation can help prevent desertification

Economic:
- Irrigation can be used during times of little rainfall so profits from farming can be made

47
Q

Disadvantages of irrigation

A

Disadvantages

Environmental:

  • Irrigation can cause the water table to rise which can then cause salinization
  • Irrigation can reduce the Earth’s albedo as light, sandy surfaces are getting replaced by green, crop filled surfaces

Social:

  • Leakage and seepage can sometimes cause marshes and ponds to form which can cause mosquitos to inhabit the area, which could increases the levels of malaria
  • Under irrigation can cause valuable residential and industrial land to be lost

Economic:
Initial costs of irrigation is high so cultivators have to pay a lot to supply their fields

48
Q

What are wetlands?

A

Wetlands are a piece of land consisting of marshes, swamps or saturated land

49
Q

Why are wetlands important?

A

They provide food, timber, water, medicine to humans and enable the water cycle to keep turning

50
Q

What are the advantages of wetlands?

A

They protect the shores from wave action, reduce the impacts of floods, absorb pollutants and improve water quality and provide a habitat for plants and animals.

Geography IBDP (8 decks)

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