The global hydrological cycle Flashcards
Global hydrological cycle:
- (1) system driven by (2) and (3) potential energy
- Made up of stores, flows, input and outputs
- Relative (4), size of stores and (5) can change over time
1 - closed 2 - solar 3 - gravitational 4 - importance 5 - fluxes
Global hydrological cycle:
- Water on earth is constant and (1)
- Water in the system can change (2) and storage but can’t leave the (3) nor can it be (4)
1 - finite
2 - form
3 - hydrosphere
4 - added
Define ‘hydrosphere’
The combined mass of water below, on and above the Earth’s surface
Define store, flux and processes
S - where water is held
F - Speed of water movement
P - Ways water moves
Name some stores
Atmosphere, Lakes, Ice, Plants and Soil, Ocean and Rocks
Define ‘residence time’
Average duration a water molecule will remain in a store
Why is a long turnover in a store a bad thing?
More vulnerable to pollution
What is the problem with soil acting as a store?
Easily accessible and so can be quickly lost to other stores which is a problem for agriculture and farming
What store has the longest residence time?
Atmospheric water
Name two global extremes
Polar hydrology and Tropical Rainforest Hydrology
Polar hydrology:
- Snow reflects (1)% of solar radiation
- (2) stores are impermeable
- In the summer, processes are; (3)
- Less than (4)mm of annual precipitation
1 - 85
2 - Permafrost
3 - run off and evaporation
4 - 200
Describe seasonal thaws in the polar hydrology
Seasonal thaws increases surface saturation and thinning permafrost, if this is continuous then the water melts and cryosphere is lost
Tropical Rainforest hydrology:
- Few seasonal (1)
- (2)% evaporation
- (3) rainfall and high humidity
- More than (4)mm annual precipitation
- E.g. of a cold desert is (5)
1 - changes 2 - 50-75 3 - convectional 4 - 200 5 - Antarctica
Describe biospheric water
Remains in a body for 1 week
Ice and snow:
- (1)% freshwater
- (2)% total water
- Lasts (3) years depending on size
1 - 69
2 - 2
3 - 15,000
Soil moisture:
- (1)% freshwater
- (2)% total water store
- Lasts (3) weeks
1 - 0.05
2 - 0.01
3 - 2-50
Underground water:
- (1)% freshwater
- (2)% total water stored
- Lasts (3) years if it’s shallow or (4) if it’s deep
- Ancient groundwater aka (5) is not renewable or accessible for human use
1 - 31 2 - 1 3 - 100-200 4 - up to 10,000 5 - fossil water
Define ‘blue water’
Water that is visible in the hydrological cycle
Define ‘green water’
Water that’s invisible in the hydrological cycle e.g. soil and vegetation
Oceans:
- (1)% freshwater
- (2)% of total water
- (3) residence time
1 - 0
2 - 97
3 - 3,600
Lakes and rivers:
- (1)% freshwater
- (2)% total water
- (3) residence time depending on size
1 - 1
2 - 0.01
3 - 2 weeks to 50 years
Atmosphere:
- (1)% freshwater
- (2)% total water
- (3) residence time
1 - 0.04
2 - 0.001
3 - 10 days
What is the carrying capacity of the atmosphere dependent on?
Temperature of the clouds and density of water e.g. vapour or ice crystals - precursor to rain
The agricultural sector is the largest user of freshwater, describe the global distribution of countries using the most and least freshwater for farming
79-100% - North Africa (Not Nigeria) and South West Asia
63-79% - Australia, China, Mexico, South of Africa and Argentina
47-63% - Nigeria, Brazil, Mongolia
31-47% - USA, Alaska, Columbia and Venezuela
0-31% - Europe, Russia, Greenland, Canada
How much of the Earth’s water is accessible for human use?
1%
