GEOG S1 chap 3 AND 4 Flashcards
What are water stores and where can they be found?
Water stores are places where water is contained and can be categorised into Saltwater stores and freshwater stores. Water stores are not evenly distributed on Earth’s surface.
Freshwater stores (contain low amounts of salt and can be used more readily): Groundwater, lakes, glaciers, soil, rivers
Saltwater stores (contains high amounts of salt that cannot be used directly): Ocean.
Water can move from one store to another. These movements are known as flows. e.g. glaciers may melt and flow into rivers, which eventually flow into oceans.
What are the physical states of water?
Solid- Ice
Liquid- Water
Gas- water vapour
Describe what lakes, rivers, groundwater, soil, glaciers, and oceans are and how they receive water.
LAKES- water bodies surrounded by land. Lakes may receive water from the rain, snow or rivers (not connected to the sea).
RIVERS- Natural wide flows of freshwater across the land that store water temporarily before water flows into another water body. They flow from places of higher elevation to places of lower elevation as gravity pulls water downwards. The river source is where a river begins. The river mouth is where water from the river flows into another water body.
**SOIL- **the loose topmost layer of Earth’s surface where plants grow. It receives water from rain etc. which infiltrates the soil’s small openings known as pores. Water stored in the soil is known as soil moisture.
GROUNDWATER- Found below the surface of the Earth. Water enters the ground through pores in the soil due to gravity. G.W. forms when a part of this water makes its way to the rocks beneath, filling up the pores and cracks of these rocks. Countries (china) use this to grow crops or for household activities (indo, thai).
**GLACIERS- **Large masses of ice that rest on land or float in the sea (snow accumulates and hardens into ice). They are found in places where it snows throughout the year so that enough snow accumulates and hardens into ice. Moreover, glaciers move slowly as they are very heavy.,
**OCEANS- **Large masses of water that are connected to one another. There are 5 oceans in the world (largest to smallest): the Pacific (surrounded by the countries in Asia, Australia, and the Americas), the Atlantic Ocean (separates countries in the Americas from Europe and Africa), the Indian Ocean (surrounded by countries in Asia, Africa and Australia), the Southern Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean.
What is the hydrological cycle?
The H.C. is a sequence of processes that occur to ensure that water is naturally replenished on the Earth.
State the 8 processes of the H.C. in order and what each process does.
Precipitation- Water falls as rain, or snow if the air is cold enough.
Infiltration- Water enters the ground or soil.
Percolation- Downward flow of water through the soil into the groundwater (due to gravity)
Groundwater-Water that seeps into the ground may be absorbed by plants or stored as groundwater.
Surface Runoff- Water flows from the highlands and over the ground surface into streams and rivers.
Evaporation- The Sun’s heat causes water to evaporate into water vapour.
Transpiration- Plants give out water vapour through their leaves.
Condensation- Warm moist air cools as it rises, and condenses into water droplets. The small droplets combine to form bigger droplets. Large amt of water droplets combine to form clouds.
Categorise each of the processes of the H.C. into inputs, outputs, and/or flows.
Input: Precipitation
Flows: Infiltration, Percolation, groundwater, surface runoff
Output: Evaporation, Transpiration, discharge into the sea
Condensation does not fall under any of these categories.
Define a water budget.
The water budget equation describes the flow of water in and out of a catchment area/ How much water is available in an area.
What are inputs and outputs?
Processes that increase the amount of water in a catchment are known as inputs. Processes that decrease the amounts of water in a catchment are known as outputs. When input is more than output, there will be more than enough water needed which is known as water surplus. This causes higher chances of floods. When there is more output than input, there will likely not be enough water available. This is known as water deficit and causes higher chances of droughts. To prevent either of these situations, inputs and outputs need to be balanced to have just the right amount of water.
How does precipitation affect areas?
The amount of precipitation that an area receives determines how much water is available. This can result in droughts and floods.
What are floods?
A flood is an overflow of a large amount of water onto what is normally dry land. Flash floods and river floods are two types of common floods.
How does a flash flood occur?
Flash floods are caused by exceptionally heavy rainfall over a short period of time. These floods often occur in dry areas where there is not enough soil or vegetation to allow rainwater to infiltrate the ground. Therefore, most of the rainwater that falls onto the ground becomes surface runoff which quickly floods low-lying areas.
How does a river flood occur?
River floods are typically caused by sustained heavy rainfall, or meltwater produced when snow and ice start to melt in the spring season. The large amounts of rainwater and meltwater enter streams and tributaries, which then flow into rivers. The water level in the river rises rapidly and it eventually overflows the bank, flooding the surrounding areas.
What are droughts?
A drought is a long period of little to no rainfall in a specific area; Droughts may last for months or even years., causing areas to be drier than normal. There might not be enough water available to replenish the amount used for human activities or lost through evaporation and transpiration. As a result, water stores such as reservoirs and groundwater will start to dry up.
How does water support river ecosystems?
Precipitation provides a regular supply of water to river ecosystems so that organisms can live in the rivers.
What are river ecosystems?
River ecosystems refers to the community of plants and animals found in rivers that interact with one another.
