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geography > option A hydrology > Flashcards

option A hydrology Flashcards

1
Q

drainage basin

A

the area drained by a river and its tributaries

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2
Q

freshwater

A

rivers, lakes, wet lands, glaciers, groundwater, ice caps.

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3
Q

hydrological cycle

A

conceptual model describing the storage and movement of water between the biosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere and the hydrosphere.

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4
Q

water shed

A

drainage divide: imaginary line defining the boundary of a river or steam drainage basin separating it from adjacent basin.

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5
Q

discharge

A

volume of water passing a given point over a set time

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6
Q

physical water scarcity

A

lack of available water- resource development is approaching or has exceeded unsustainable levels- relates availability to demand and implies that arid areas are not necessarily water scarce

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7
Q

economic water scarcity

A

lack of water where it is available locally but not accessible for human, institutional or financial capital reasons

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8
Q

storm hydrographic

A

graph showing how a river changes over a short period (couple of days/ day)

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9
Q

flood

A

a discharge great enough to cause a body of water ti overflow its channel and submerge surrounding ground.

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10
Q

open systems

A

contains varying inputs (precipitation of varying intensity), outputs (evaporation and transpiration), flows and stores.

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11
Q

flows examples

A
  1. infiltration
    2 .throughflow
  2. overland flow
  3. baseflow
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12
Q

stores examples

A
  1. vegetation
    2 soil
    3 aquifers
    4 cryoshpere (world ice)
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13
Q

closed drainage basin

A

does not reach the sea but drains into an inland depression

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14
Q

outputs- losses in hydrological cycle

A

1 evapotranspiration
2 runoff

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15
Q

evaporation

A

process by which liquid or solid is changed into gas- conversion of precipitation to water vapour in the atmosphere

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16
Q

factors affecting evaporation

A

temperature (most important)
humidity
winded
water availability
vegetation cover
colour of surface (albedo)

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17
Q

transpiration

A

water vapour escaping from living plants (leaves) into atpmosphere

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18
Q

evapotranspiration (EVT)

A

combined effects of transpiration and evaporation

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19
Q

precipitation

A

flow of water into a drainage basin by rainfall, snow frost, hail and dew

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20
Q

characteristics of precipitation affecting hydrology

A

total amount of precipitation
intensity
type
geographic distribution
variability

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21
Q

additional inputs to drainage basin (not precipitation)

A

irrigation water
water transfer schemes
use of desalinated water

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22
Q

potential evapotranspiration

A

-moisture availability
water loss that would have occurred if there was an unlimited supply of watering soil for vegetation use

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23
Q

infiltration
infiltration capacity

A

-process where water is soaked into the ground and absorbed by the soil
-maximum rate at which rain can be absorbed by soil conditions

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24
Q

why does infiltration capacity decrease over time?

A

during rainfall periods- decrease in capacity as the soil soaks up water until a more or less constant value is reached

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25
Q

clay soils infiltration rate
sand soils infiltration rate

A

clay- 0-4 mm^-1/hour
sand- 3-12 mm^-1/hour

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26
Q

why does vegetation increase infiltration

A

intercepts some of the rainfall slowing down arrival at ground

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27
Q

overland flow (surface run off)

A

water that flows over the land’s surface

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28
Q

2 ways of over land flow

A

-precipitation exceeds infiltration rate
-soil is saturates (all pores are filled with water)

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29
Q

throughflow

A

water flowing in natural pipes and percolines

30
Q

percolines

A

lines of concentrated water flow between soil horizons

31
Q

base flow

A

part of a river’s discharge provided by groundwater seeping into the bed of the river
(relatively constant but increase slightly follow¡wing a wet period)

32
Q

vegetation

A

water that is caught and stored by vegetation

33
Q

vegetation elements (3)

A
  • interception
    -throughfall
    -stemflow
34
Q

interception

A
  • interception- water retained by plant surfaces and which later evaporates away or is absorbed by the plant and used (photosynthesis)
35
Q

throughfall

A

water that wither falls through gaps in vegetation or drops from leaves, twigs or stems

36
Q

stemflow

A

water that trickles along twigs and branches and finally down the main trunk

37
Q

soil moisture

A

subsurface water in the soil

38
Q

field capacity

A

amount of water held in soil after excess water drains away (saturation or near saturation)

39
Q

wilting point

A

range of moisture - permanent wilting of the plant

40
Q

aquifers

A

rocks that contain significant quantities of water

41
Q

groundwater

A

subsurface water

42
Q

percolation

A

water moving slowly from soil to bedrock (dependent on permeability of rock)

43
Q

phreatic zone

A

permanently saturated zone in solid rocks and sediments

44
Q

water table

A

upper layer of phreatic zone

45
Q

freshwater distribution on earth

A

69% resides in glaciers, 30% underground, and less than 1% is located in lakes, rivers, and swamps.

46
Q

recharge

A

refiling of water in pores where the water had dried up or been extracted by human activity.

47
Q

when is water not a renewable source?

A

when the location does not go through recharge process

48
Q

why does water in aquifers move slow

A

it acts as a natural regulator in the cycle- absorbs rainfall that would otherwise reach streams rapidly
maintains stream flow during dry periods

49
Q

groundwater recharge reasons:

A

-infiltration- part of the total precipitation at the ground surface
-seepage through the banks and bed of surface water (ditches rivers, lakes and oceans)
-groundwater leakage, inflow from rocks and aquifers
-artificial recharge- irrigation, reservoirs etc

50
Q

discharge formula:

A

(cross section area of river)x(mean velocity of the water) -m^3/sec

51
Q

impact of weight/depth ratio

A

large rivers- high width to depth ratio more effective than small

52
Q

velocity

A

speed at which water is moving down a channel

53
Q

channel shape

A

measured by hydraulic radius:
(cross sectional area)/ (wetted perimeter)

54
Q

erosion

A

corrasion/abrasion (interchangeable) - wearing away of the bed and bank by the load carried by the river.

55
Q

erosion elements:

A

attrition
hydraulic action
solution

56
Q

attrition

A

wearing away of load carried by river - created smaller rounder particles

57
Q

hydraulic action

A

force of air and water on sides of river and cracks- formation of air bubbles that damage the rock on the banks breaking it apart

58
Q

solution

A

removal of chemical ions (calcium)- mostly occurs when fast flowing water passes over soluble rocks (limestone)

59
Q

factors impaction erosion

A

-load
-velocity
-gradient
-pH
-human impact (deforestation, dams, bridges)

60
Q

transport

A

load in river transported down stream

61
Q

transport elements

A

-suspension (smallest particles- silts and clays)
-saltation (larger particles hopping across bed)
-solution (material carried dissolved in the water)

62
Q

deposition

A

deposition of sediment on river banks

63
Q

causes for deposition

A

-shallowing gradient decreasing velocity and energy
-decrease in volume of water
-increase in friction between water and channel

64
Q

river landforms

A

waterfalls
floodplains
meanders
levees
deltas

65
Q

waterfall formation

A

-horizontally bedded rock
-soft rock undercut by hydraulic action+abrasion
-weight of water and lack of support cause waterfall to collapse and retreat

66
Q

flood plains

A

-main features of deposition
-areas of low relief formed by flooding of plains by the banks
-soil generally a mixture of sand gravel, transported by the river.

67
Q

uses of flood plains

A

due to the fertility of sediment making up the ground of flood plains, and proximity to river (water) - often used for agriculture

68
Q

meanders

A

meanders occur to allow store to spread energy over entire length of the channel.
- created by riffles and pools that change water velocity and direction costing a change in deposition patters which result in bends in the river (meanders)

69
Q

levees

A

-raised banks of rivers
-involve deposition of sediment on the banks of a channel due to flooding

70
Q

deltas

A
  • arcuate delta (curved shoreline)
    -bird’s foot delta (looks like a birds foot)

geography (6 decks)

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