PS Module 5 Flashcards
Hydrosphere
The sum of all water on a planet
Hydrologic cycle
The process by which water is continuously exchanged between earth’s various water sources
Transpiration
Evaporation of water from plants into the atmosphere
Condensation
The process by which a gas turns into a liquid
Precipitation
Water falling from the atmosphere as rain, snow, sleet, or hail
Distillation
Evaporation and condensation of a mixture to separate out the mixture’s individual components
Residence time
The average time a given particle will stay in a given system
Salinity
A measure of the mass of dissolved salt in a given mass of water
Firn
A dense, icy pack of old snow
Water table
The line between the water-saturated soil and the soil not saturated with water
Percolation
The process by which water moves downward in the soil, toward the water table
Adiabatic cooling
The cooling of a gas that happens when the gas expands with no way of getting more energy
Cloud condensation nuclei
Small airborne particles that water vapor condenses on to form clouds
The majority of the earth’s water supply
Saltwater (ie: Oceans)
The majority of the earth’s freshwater supply
Frozen in glaciers and icebergs
The largest source of liquid freshwater
Groundwater
Ways water can enter the atmosphere in the hydrologic cycle
Evaporation & transpiration
Four ways a raindrop can eventually end up in a river
- Surface Runoff 2. Groundwater flow (underground) 3. Absorbed by a plant, then either transpired, condensed, or precipitated 4. Evaporation
What hydrologic cycle process puts soil moisture into the atmosphere?
Transpiration
Where would residence time be shorter: quickly-moving river or lake with no outlets?
The quickly-moving river
What must a lake have in order for it to contain fresh water?
It 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
Melted sea ice would taste how?
Salty
Where do icebergs come from?
Glaciers that originate in the mountains
Where do glaciers come from?
They start on mountains from snow that never completely melts in the summer
Why would a ship captain still be worried about a collision after he steered clear of an iceberg?
Because 90% of the glacier is underwater and he can still hit the part underwater
Comparing two pieces of land with the same kind of grass, and weather, but one with trees and one without, which one has a deeper water table?
The one with lots of trees
If no energy is added to air, what happens to the temperature when the air expands?
The air will cool
Will fog be thicker in a dusty area or one free of dust and dirt?
The dusty area
What kind of cooling is responsible for most cloud formaiotn?
Adiabatic
What kind of water pollution is the hardest to track back to its source?
Groundwater pollution because there is no accurate way to tell where the polluted groundwater came from
