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OCR A level Geography > Support systems KQ1 The hydrosphere > Flashcards

Support systems KQ1 The hydrosphere Flashcards

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1
Q

Why is water important to life on Earth? (Give 3 reasons)

A

Any from:

  • oceans help to moderate global temperatures
  • clouds reflect 1/5 solar radiation which lowers surface temperature
  • makes up living organisms
  • water vapour is a greenhouse gas
  • used in chemical reactions in living organisms
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2
Q

Why is water important to humans?

A
  • used commercially for manufacturing
  • used in agriculture for irrigation of crops
  • needed for chemical reactions
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3
Q

What is the hydrosphere?

A

The parts of the Earth made up of water

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4
Q

Why is the hydrological cycle?

A

The continuous movement of water driven by the sun and gravity

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5
Q

What type of system is the hydrological cycle?

A

A closed system

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6
Q

What are the two types of water on Earth?

A

Saline water and Meteoric water

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7
Q

What is largest store of water on Earth?

A

The oceans

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8
Q

What percentage of water on Earth is stored in the oceans?

A

97

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9
Q

What is the 2nd largest store of water on Earth?

A

Polar ice and glaciers

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10
Q

What is the smallest store of water on Earth?

A

Biosphere

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11
Q

What is the 3rd largest store of water on Earth?

A

Groundwater

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12
Q

What percentage of water is stored in polar ice and glaciers?

A

2

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13
Q

What percentage of water is stored in groundwater?

A

0.7

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14
Q

What percentage of water is stored in soils?

A

0.005

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15
Q

0.001% of the Earth’s water is stored where?

A

Lakes

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16
Q

What is the 6th largest store of water on Earth?

A

The Atomsphere

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17
Q

What is the 7th largest store of water on Earth?

A

Rivers

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18
Q

What is residence time in terms of the water cycle?

A

The average length of time water stays in a reservoir

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19
Q

Which reservoir of water has the shortest residence time?

A

Atmospheric moisture

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20
Q

Which reservoir of water has the greatest residence time?

A

Ice caps

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21
Q

What is the residence time of ice caps?

A

15,000 years

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22
Q

What is the residence time of groundwater?

A

Up to 10,000 years

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23
Q

What is the residence time of atmospheric moisture?

A

10 days

24
Q

What is channel flow?

A

Flow of water in river channels

25
Q

What is groundwater recharge?

A

The process by which groundwater is replenished by movement of water downwards to the groundwater store

26
Q

By what process does groundwater recharge primarily occur?

A

Percolation

27
Q

Why do clouds form?

A

When invisible water vapour in the air condenses into visible water droplets or ice crystals

28
Q

What 5 things can cause clouds to form?

A
  • Surface heating
  • Topography
  • Fronts
  • Convergence
  • Turbulence
29
Q

How does surface heating cause clouds to form?

A
  • Ground heated by the sun
  • Heats the air in contact with the ground
  • causing air to rise
30
Q

How does topography cause clouds to form?

A
  • air forced to rise over barriers such as mountains

- as the air rises it cools

31
Q

How do fronts cause clouds to form?

A

-a mass of warm air rises over a mass of cold air

32
Q

How does convergence cause clouds to form?

A
  • streams of air flowing from different directions
  • forced to rise when they converge
  • as they rise, they cool
33
Q

How does turbulence cause clouds to form?

A
  • sudden change in wind speed with height

- creates turbulent eddies in the air

34
Q

What are the 3 different types of rain?

A
  • convectional rain
  • relief rain
  • frontal rain
35
Q

How does convectional rain occur?

A
  • produced by convectional clouds, formed in vertical motions
  • when ground is heated water vapour rises
  • air above ground is heated
  • when air is heated from below gives smaller bubbles of rising air
  • forming areas of rain
36
Q

How does relief rain occur?

A
  • result of clouds formed from topography of land

- with high ground moist air is forced up creating clouds and precipitation

37
Q

How does frontal rain occur?

A
  • when two air masses of different temperature and density meet
  • the cold air is heavier than the warmer air
  • warmer air is forced over the cold air
  • as the warmer air rises it cools and forms rain
38
Q

What % of moisture in the atmosphere comes from evaporation of lakes and oceans?

A

90

39
Q

What % of evaporation from oceans reaches land in precipitation?

A

10

40
Q

What 3 things control the rate of evaporation?

A
  • temperature
  • humidity
  • air pressure
41
Q

What is saturated overland flow?

A
  • if more rain falls when soil is already saturated

- surface run off is produced

42
Q

What is overland flow?

A

Occurs when rainfall intensity exceeds infiltration rate

43
Q

What is the difference between saturated overland flow and overland flow?

A
  • SOF occurs in well vegetated areas
  • SOF occurs much later in a storm than OF
  • OF occurs in deserts of other areas where soil infiltration capacity is reduced
44
Q

What 4 things affect the rate of infiltration and throughflow?

A
  • precipitation
  • base flow
  • soil characteristics
  • soil saturation
45
Q

How does precipitation affect the rate of infiltration and throughflow?

A

-amount, intensity, duration of precipitation which infiltrates into the ground over a period of time

46
Q

How does base flow affect the rate of infiltration and throughflow?

A
  • water in streams have a sustained flow even in periods lacking rain
  • base flow comes from groundwater seeping into the bed and banks of a stream
47
Q

How do soil characteristics affect the rate of infiltration and throughflow?

A
  • some soils (clays) absorb less water at slower rate than sandy soils
  • less absorbent soils = more runoff overland
48
Q

How does soil saturation affect the rate of infiltration and throughflow?

A
  • like a wet sponge, soil already saturated from previous rainfall can’t absorb more water
  • so surface run off increases as saturation increases
49
Q

How does water move through rock?

A

-gravity pulls water down though permeable rock, creating a water table

50
Q

How do ice sheets form?

A

Through the accumulation of snowball

51
Q

How do ice sheets lose mass?

A

Melting due to ablation

52
Q

What are the effects on the water cycle as the % impervious surface increases?

A
  • decrease in evapotranspiration
  • decrease in deep infiltration
  • decrease in shallow infiltration
  • increase in runoff
  • increases overland flow
  • decreases groundwater flow
53
Q

Explain the effect of urbanisation on evapotranspiration

A
  • urban areas have lower levels of vegetation
  • Evapotranspiration occurs from vegetation
  • therefore less vegetation means less evapotranspiration
54
Q

Explain the effect of urbanisation on groundwater flow

A
  • urban areas have a high % impervious surfaces
  • impervious surfaces reduce infiltration rates
  • lower infiltration rates means less water in the ground
  • so less groundwater flow
55
Q

Explain the effect of urbanisation on river levels

A
  • urban areas have high % impervious surfaces
  • impervious surfaces reduce infiltration rates
  • increases surface run off and overland flow
  • after rainfall water gets into rivers more quickly
  • increases river levels

OCR A level Geography (31 decks)

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