Module 5: The Hydrosphere Flashcards
transpiration
the emission of water vapor from plants
emission
something sent out or given off
condensation
the process by which water vapor turns into liquid water
residence time
the average time a given molecule of water will stay in a given water source
percolation
the process by which water passes from above the water table to below it
adiabatic cooling
the cooling of a gas that happens when the gas expands
Where does the majority of earth’s water reside?
in the oceans
What is the largest source of liquid freshwater on the planet?
groundwater
What water source is a molecule of water in once it has gone through transpiration?
in the atmosphere
Water was in the ocean and now it is in a cloud. What two hydrologic cycle processes happened in order to make that transfer?
Evaporation allowed it to leave the ocean
condensation put it in the cloud
Where is the residence time longer: in the ocean or in a fast-moving stream?
the ocean
If a lake has no means of getting rid of water except evaporation, does it contain saltwater or freshwater?
saltwater
What do the oceans tell us about the age of the earth?
that the earth can’t be billions of years old
An enormous amount of ocean water in the polar region freezes. Does it form an iceberg? Why or Why not?
it does not form an iceberg. [ Icebergs are freshwater and come from glaciers. Sea ice has salt mixed in with it.]
What process in the hydrologic cycle is responsible for making glaciers?
precipitation [remember, glaciers start because of snow and snow is precipitation]
What causes the condensation that makes most clouds?
adiabatic cooling
If a sample of gas is compressed and nothing else is allowed to change, what will happen to the temperature of the gas?
the temperature will increase
If there is a lot more rain than normal in an area over an extensive length of time, what happens to the depth of the water table?
the depth will decrease [ if a lot more water enters the soil, then more soil than usual will become saturated. That means you don’t have to go down as far to find the saturated water, so the water table is higher]
Why is groundwater pollution so hard to trace back to its original source?
the nature of groundwater flow makes it such that a lake can be polluted by groundwater that originally soaked into the soil hundreds of miles away [when you find a lake polluted by groundwater pollution, how will you know where it came from?]
