mod5_quiz Flashcards
The sum of all water on a planet
Hydrosphere
The process by which water is continuously exchanged between earth’s various water sources
Hydrologic cycle
Evaporation of water from plants
Transpiration
The process by which a gas turns into a liquid
Condensation
Water falling from the atmosphere as rain, snow, sleet, or hail
Precipitation
Evaporation and condensation of a mixture to separate out the mixture’s individual components
Distillation
The average time a given particle will stay in a given system
Residence time
A measure of the mass of dissolved salt in a given mass of water
Salinity
A dense, icy pack of old snow
Firn
The line between the water-saturated soil and the soil that is not saturated with water
Water table
The process by which water moves downward in the soil, toward the water table
Percolation
The cooling of a gas that happens when the gas expands with no way of getting more energy
Adiabatic cooling
Small airborne particles upon which water vapor condenses to form clouds
Cloud condensation nuclei
What kind of water makes up the majority of earth’s water supply?
saltwater
What is the largest source of freshwater on the planet?
glaciers and icebergs
What is the largest source of liquid freshwater on the planet?
groundwater
In the hydrologic cycle, name the ways water can enter the atmosphere.
evaporation and transpiration
When a raindrop hits the ground, name three ways it can eventually end up in a river.
surface runoff
soak into the groundwater and get to the river via groundwater flow
be evaporated before it soaks into the ground, condensed into a cloud, and precipitated into the river
What process in the hydrologic cycle puts soil moisture into the atmosphere?
Transpiration
In which body of water would the residence time be shorter: a quickly moving river or a lake that
has no river outlets?
The residence time in the river is shorter
What must a lake have in order for it to be a freshwater lake?
A lake must have a way to get rid of water other than just evaporation
Why is the salinity of the ocean evidence that the earth is not billions of years old?
The oceans are not salty enough for the earth to be billions of years old
If you tasted melted sea ice, would it taste like freshwater or saltwater?
Melted sea ice would taste like saltwater
Where do icebergs come from?
Icebergs come from glaciers
Where do glaciers come from?
Glaciers start on mountains as the result of snow that never completely melts in the summer
What is the term for the process by which a portion of a glacier breaks off and falls into the water?
calving
The captain of a ship sees an iceberg and steers clear of it. Why is the captain still worried about a collision?
The captain is worried because 90% of the glacier is underwater and therefore not visible
Suppose you studied two areas of land close to one another. In the first, there are a lot of trees. In the second, there are almost no trees at all. Other than that, the two areas seem identical. They have the same kind of grass and experience the same weather. Which one has the deeper water table?
The water table will be deeper in the area with lots of trees
If no energy is added to air, what happens to the temperature when the air expands?
The air will cool as it expands
Will fog be thicker in a smoky area or an area free of smoke?
the fog will be thicker in the smoky area
What kind of cooling is responsible for most cloud formation?
adiabatic
A bright student notes that with a few modifications, a refrigerator can become a “hot box,” keeping things warm instead of cold. Explain.
If you simply reversed the design so that the pipes carrying the gas after compression are on the inside of the refrigerator, the inside would heat up
What kind of water pollution is the hardest to track back to its source?
Groundwater pollution
