Hillslope water cycle Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the hillslope water cycle affected by?

A
  • natural and human factors
  • changes in stores over short timescale
  • magnitude of stores change in response to a variety of processes
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2
Q

What are the factors affecting the hillslope water cycle?

A
  • deforestation
  • storm events
  • seasonal change
  • farming
  • urbanisation
  • water abstraction
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3
Q

What is a river regime?

A

the variability in a rivers discharge throughout the course of the year, in response to precipitation, temperature, evapotranspiration and drainage basin characteristics

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4
Q

How does deforestation lead to changes in the water cycle?

A
  • removes water-absorbent forests which trap and transpire rainfall
  • heavy machinery compacts soil decreasing infiltration
  • less evapotranspiration/interception from tree canopy
  • increased overland flow and throughflow - less friction from plants
  • shorter lag time

extensive deforestation eg.in the Amazon leads to:
- reduced water vapour in the atmosphere due to decreased evapotranspiration - lower precipitation rates so river levels fall

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5
Q

How do farming practices affect the water cycle?

A
  • livestock lead to the trampling and compaction of soil - lower infiltration capacity
  • crops - increase infiltration and evapotranspiration - crops are dormant in late autumn/winter so overland flow is high
  • irrigation techniques - more water in surface stores - higher rates of evaporation
  • ploughing - aerates soil so increased infiltration capacity
  • heavy machinery can compact soil - reduced infiltration
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6
Q

How does water abstraction affect the water cycle?

A
  • taking water from a ground source

over-abstraction can lead to:
- rivers drying up
- damage to wetland ecosystems
- sinking water tables

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7
Q

How do storm events lead to changes in the water cycle?

A
  • including flash floods and unexpected weather events
  • intense rainstorms - less infiltration, more surface runoff and more flooding due to saturation of soil
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8
Q

How do seasonal changes lead to changes in the water cycle?

A

wet seasons - precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration leading to a water surplus. groundwater stores are full and more surface runoff results in higher discharge levels

dry seasons - precipitation lower than evapotranspiration and groundwater stores are depleted . Water used by humans and plants is not replaced so water deficit

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9
Q

What is river discharge?

A

the volume of water flowing through a river channel; measured at any given point in cubic metres per second.

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