Hydrosphere Flashcards

1
Q

What percentages of water do Industry, Domestic and Agriculture use?

A

Industry - 22%
Domestic - 8%
Agriculture - 70%

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2
Q

Why can demand for water increase?

A
  • Population increase
  • Increased affluence means more people use more water for more things
  • Increased irrigation
  • Industrialisation
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3
Q

What is residence time? How do you calculate it?

A

How long on average water stays in a particular form within the hydrological cycle. Volume of Water / Transfer Rate

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4
Q

How does Deforestation have an impact on the Hydrological Cycle?

A

Vegetation intercepts rainfall before it reaches the ground and release water from the soil via transpiration, losing trees would cause increased infiltration

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5
Q

How does Agriculture have an impact on the Hydrological Cycle?

A

Soil can be compacted by farm machinery or livestock reducing infiltration, crop irrigation increases evaporation rates and loss of soil biota can reduce infiltration and reduces water retention

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6
Q

How does Urban Development have an impact on the Hydrological Cycle?

A

Urban areas have impermeable surfaces that reduce infiltration and increase runoff, which can cause flooding downstream

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7
Q

How does Global Climate Change have an impact on the Hydrological Cycle?

A

Higher temperatures affect the rate of melting, evaporation and condensation and wind patterns.

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8
Q

What 3 things do we typically abstract water from?

A

Rivers, reservoirs and aquifers

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9
Q

What environmental effects can reservoirs have?

A
  • Flooding of the area destroys old habitats but makes a new one
  • Can act as wildlife barriers preventing migration or recolonisation
  • reduces flooding risk down river
  • reduces low-tide time in rivers
  • sediments settle in the dam and are not carried downstream
  • Warmer winter water, colder summer water
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10
Q

What factors affect reservoir site selection

A
  • Topography
  • Geology (impermeable rock)
  • Water Supply
  • Pollution Risk
  • Sedimentation
  • Existing land-use
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11
Q

What happened to the rivers and main body of the Aral sea?

A

Aral sea was the fourth largest lake in the world until water was diverted in 1960s to irrigate crops, resulting in the lake areas being reduced by 90% and being filled with waste, fertilisers and pesticides

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12
Q

What happened in the Tibetan Plateau and its rivers

A

Tibet was incorporated into China in 1950 and the water flowing from its plateau that feeds most rivers in Asia was subject to increasing population and industry, leading to over-exploitation and it is only made worse by climate change, reducing or removing a lot of Asian rivers

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13
Q

What are the 3 key features of an aquifer? Define each of them

A
  • Porosity: The measure of the proportion of a rock that is free space and can therefore hold water.
  • Permeability: How easily water can flow through a rock.
  • Layout: Bottom of the aquifer must be low permeability while at least some of above has to be permeable, the actual aquifer must be porous rock
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14
Q

What is Aquifer Recharge? How does it work?

A

Aquifer Recharge is the process that keeps aquifers in equilibrium usually in the form of infiltrating precipitation. Some aquifers were only recharged in the last ice age 10-20,000 years ago

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15
Q

What are potential impacts of over-exploiting aquifers?

A
  • Reduction in river lakes and marshes fed by aquifer
  • higher water requirement plants may die
  • salt water incursion may occur
  • It may cause subsidence where the spaces in porous rock is compacted by above material
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16
Q

How can we monitor aquifer depletion?

A
  • Checking water levels in wells or bore holes
  • GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) satellites can detect the change in mass caused by aquifers
17
Q

What new methods of exploitation of water are there?

A
  • Rainwater collection
  • River water collection
  • Estuary Barrages
  • Sea Water
18
Q

What is the issue with River Water and when does it arise?

A

Pollution from upsteam communities arises when said communities grow large enough that waste does not have time to break down before reaching the next community

19
Q

How does artificial recharge of aquifers work?

A

Surplus water from high-rainfall periods can be pumped into aquifers directly or diverted to a place where it infiltrates easily

20
Q

What are inter-basin transfers?

A

The transferal of water from an area with surplus to an area with a shortage through canals or pipes

21
Q

How can afforestation help sustainable water management?

A

Trees reduce soil erosion and rainwater flow into rivers, reducing flooding and sedimentation after strong rainfall

22
Q

What are common water conservation methods?

A
  • Low volume water use appliances
  • Low volume irrigation
  • Recycling grey water (used but still clean enough)
  • Control of acid mine drainage
  • Sewage treatment
  • buffer strips next to rivers to reduce fertiliser runoff
23
Q

What is the sedimentation step of water treatment?

A

Water is allowed to remain static to let suspended solids settle

24
Q

What is the Screen step of water treatment?

A

Metals grills or meshes filter out vegetation and litter

25
Q

What is the Aeration step of water treatment?

A

Bubbles of air are used to ensure a high dissolved oxygen content, this also removes some dissolved metals

26
Q

What is the Flocculation step of water treatment?

A

Clay particles, not removed earlier due to electrostatic repelling, are neutralised by flocculants like aluminium sulphate and allowed to settle

27
Q

What is the Filtration step of water treatment?

A

Plant filters can be used to remove suspended solids or bacteria

28
Q

What is the Activated Carbon Filter step of water treatment?

A

Particles of activated carbon are used to remove organic chemicals

29
Q

What is the Sterilisation step of water treatment?

A

The addition of chlorine, ozone or UV light to kill pathogens and sterilise water

30
Q

What is the pH Control step of water treatment?

A

Crushed lime is used to adjust pH

31
Q

What is the Fluoridation step of water treatment?

A

Fluorides are added to water to improve drinker’s dental health

32
Q

What is the Ion Exchange step of water treatment?

A

Toxic ions such as lead are adsorbed onto polymer beads to remove them