OCR A Level ELSS - 6 OCR A Level ELSS 4.1c Water & Carbon Cycle Pathways Flashcards

Question

How much water and carbon and for how long does water and carbon stay in the Cryosphere?

Answer 1

The component of the hydrological cycle where water is locked up as ice and snow. Stores 29,000km3 of Water (around 2% of global water. Residence time of 15,000years Snow and Glacial Ice store insignificant quantities of CARBON. However the trapped CO2 can be used to help understand past climates.

Answer 2

The rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle (Rock). Stores 9,500km3 of WATER (around 0.7% of global water) in aquifers. Residence time up to 10,000 years. Stores 60,000 - 100 million billion tonnes of CARBON. SLOW Carbon Cycle (~150 million years)

Answer 3

Water located below the Earth's surface, stored in the pores of permeable rocks.

Answer 4

Collective term for all forms of water which fall from the sky including rain, hail, sleet and snow

Answer 5

The combination of two ways in which water enters the atmosphere, directly from the ground or water bodies, and from plants

Answer 6

Melting of a glacier, which occurs especially during the warmer summer months.

Answer 7

the process in which a solid changes directly into a gas

Answer 8

Liquid located just below the Earth's surface in loose, unconsolidated material, above the bedrock.

Answer 9

Processes that break down rock in situ, by changing the minerals in the rock, such as by acidic water, e.g. carbonation, oxidation and hydrolysis.

Answer 10

Water is temporarily stored and delayed from entering channels because it falls on objects such as vegetation. This process temporarily stores water on branches, leaves and stems

Answer 11

The process where water enters the soil from the surface of the ground

Answer 12

Water which travels over the land's surface because all pore spaces (voids) within the soil are already filled with water

Answer 13

The movement of water through the soil

Answer 14

The movement of water from soil into the rock below

Answer 15

The movement of water through the bedrock, towards a stream

Answer 16

The process where liquid water is converted into a gas

Answer 17

the diffusion of water vapour to the atmosphere from leaf pores (stomata) of plants. It is responsible for around 10% of moisture in the atmosphere

Answer 18

the phase change of water vapour to liquid water. It occurs when air is cooled to its dew point and leads to the formation of clouds

Answer 19

Underground rock which can store and transmit water in sufficient quantities to extract for our benefits

Answer 20

Precipitation (P) = Evapotranspiration (E) + Streamflow (Q) ± Storage

Answer 21

the critical temperature when air becomes saturated and can hold no more water vapour.

Answer 22

the process by which the temperature of an air mass decreases as the air mass rises and expands

Answer 23

The rate at which temperature decreases with an increase in altitude.

Answer 24

the energy absorbed or released during a change in state

Answer 25

the rate at which a parcel of dry air (i.e less than 100% humidity so that condensation is not taking place) cools. Cooling caused by adiabatic expansion is approximately 10 degrees C/KM

Answer 26

the rate at which a saturated parcel of air (i.e. one in which condensation is occurring) cools as it rises through the atmosphere. The rate of cooling is slower, about 70C/km because condensation releases latent heat.

Answer 27

the condition of moist air with an environmental lapse rate between the dry and wet adiabatic rates

Answer 28

when the environmental lapse rate is less than the wet adiabatic rate

Answer 29

when the environmental lapse rate is greater than the dry adiabatic rate

Answer 30

A black (when solid), non-metallic element with the atomic number 6, the basis of life on Earth, many rocks and fossil fuels.

Answer 31

A representation of the movement of carbon between different stores including: Soil (pedosphere), Terrestrial biomass (biosphere), Atmosphere Oceans Sea floor sediments and Sedimentary rocks (lithosphere). Through a series of flows including: Photosynthesis Respiration Decomposition Combustion Oxidation Weathering and Volcanic Activity

Answer 32

The storage of carbon element

Answer 33

Chemical process- plants derive their energy source from the Sun

Answer 34

After plants and animals die, their remains are broken down. Carbon is released back into the atmosphere.

Answer 35

The process whereby living things produce CO2 as sugars are broken down to produce energy

Answer 36

The burning of material - products such as coal, oil and gas add carbon, that was previously locked up underground, to the atmosphere.

Answer 37

The burning of carbon reserves, such as coal, oil and gas, releasing carbon dioxide, previously removed millions of years ago, back into the atmosphere

Answer 38

The parts of the carbon cycle that take between 100-200million years to complete. It starts in the Atmosphere - where CO2 + Water vapour combine to form carbonic acid making rainfall slightly acidic. This means that chemical weathering (carbonation) takes place on carbonate rocks (like limestone and chalk) which releases some CO2 back to the atmosphere, but the rest is dissolved in water and enters the Hydrosphere, flowing from rivers into the oceans. Oceans are also able to absorb CO2 directly from the atmosphere through direct ocean uptake (diffusion). Marine organisms fix this ocean carbon with calcium to form calcium carbonate as part of their shells and skeletons. When these organisms die they sink to the ocean floor (sedimentation). Over millions of years, heat and pressure convert these shells and skeletons back into carbon-rich sedimentary rocks (Lithosphere). Again, over 100s of millions of years, tectonic plate movement takes these ocean sediments to destructive plate boundaries where, through subduction, the carbon is then released back into the atmosphere in volcanic eruptions. The SLOW CARBON CYCLE moves between 10 and 100 million metric tons of carbon each year.

Answer 39

The parts of the carbon cycle that are between 10 and 1,000 times faster than the slow carbon cycle. It is unique to Earth as it moves carbon through the biosphere. Atmosphere to Biosphere - Land plants (primary producer organisms) and phytoplankton in the oceans absorb CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and combine it with water to form carbohydrates (sugar/glucose). Biosphere to Atmosphere - Respiration converts sugar and glucose back into CO2. Decomposition and waste gases also releases CO2 and CH4 (methane) back into the atmosphere. Combustion (burning) also releases carbon back to the atmosphere. Biosphere to Pedosphere - Decomposition can release organic carbon into the soils in the form of humus Atmosphere to Oceans through the Biological (organic) pump and Oceans to Atmosphere through diffusion. The FAST CARBON CYCLE moves between 1 billion and 100 billion metric tons of carbon each year.

Answer 40

these are similar to terrestrial plants in that they contain chlorophyll and require sunlight in order to live and grow. Most phytoplankton are buoyant and float in the upper part of the ocean, where sunlight penetrates the water.

Answer 41

the process by which inorganic carbon (particularly in the form of carbon dioxide) is converted to organic compounds by living organisms

Answer 42

10 Gigatons per year

Answer 43

The process by which carbon is removed from the atmosphere and stored in liquid or solid form

Answer 44

The vertical downward movement of surface water in the oceans. It carries dissolved carbon to the ocean depths where individual carbon molecules may remain for centuries.

Answer 45

The vertical upward movement of deep ocean water towards the surface. This cold, carbon rich water rises to the surface and CO2 diffuses back into the atmosphere

Answer 46

When carbon is exchanged between the oceans and atmosphere through the actions of marine organisms. Phytoplankton, floating near the ocean surface combines sunlight, water and dissolved CO2 to produce organic material. Globally, nearly half of all carbon fixation by photosynthesis takes place in the oceans. Around 50 giga tons of carbon is drawn from the atmosphere by the biological pump every year.