The Water Cycle

Question 1

What is the atmosphere?

Answer 1

The air that surrounds the earth, made up of gases no water vapour

Question 2

What is the lithosphere?

Answer 2

The crust and the uppermost mantle; this constitutes the hard and rigid outer layer of the earth. It is this layer which is split into a number of tectonic plates.

Question 3

What is the hydrosphere?

Answer 3

A discontinuous layer of water at or near the earths surface. It includes all liquid and frozen surface waters groundwater help in soil and rock and atmospheric water vapour.

Question 4

What is the biosphere?

Answer 4

The sum of all living matter. The biological component of earth systems.

Question 5

How much of the Earth’s water is oceanic water?

Answer 5

97%

Question 6

What is sea ice?

Answer 6

Forms when ocean waters are cooled to a temperature below freezing. It doesn’t raise the sea level when it melts because it forms from ocean waters.

Question 7

What are ice sheets?

Answer 7

Mass of glacial ice extending more than 50000km*3. Antarctica and Greenland ice sheets contain more than 99% of freshwater ice on Earth.
Forms when winter snow fall doesn’t entirely melt, so piles up and grows thicker.
Sea level would rise 6m if Greenland sheet meted and 60m for Antarctica.

Question 8

What is permafrost?

Answer 8

Ground that remains at, or below, zero degrees celsius for at least 2 consecutive years.
Thickness varies from 1-1500m.
Beginning to melt as the climate warms, which is releasing methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Question 9

How and why does the distribution of water stores change over time?

Answer 9

Seasonal changes: arctic ice caps will grow with winter snow fall and increase water stores.
Rainfall patterns: more rainfall = bigger stores in lakes, rivers etc and also more evaporation.
With climate change glacier and ice sheet stores are deplenishing.
Deforestation is reducing biological water stored in plants.

Question 10

Define latent heat

Answer 10

The heat that is needed for or released from these changes in state.

Question 11

What is frontal rainfall?

Answer 11

Occurs when 2 air massed meet
When warm and cold air meet, a depression forms - they do not mix and they form fronts
The lighter, warmer air rises over the top of the heavier, colder air
Warm air is forced to rise and cool
Condensation and clouds
Rain

Question 12

What is orographic (relief) rainfall?

Answer 12

Produced as result of clouds formed from the topography, or shape, of the land
Cloud formation
Rain
Air descends on the other side of the mountain
Warms up and becomes drier

Question 13

What is convective rainfall?

Answer 13

Produced by convective cloud
Formed in vertical motions that result from instability of the atmosphere e.g. from heating by the sun
Ground warms up, moisture on the ground to evaporate and rise, and the hot ground heats the air above it
Water vapour rises it cools and condenses
Rain

Question 14

Define accumulation

Answer 14

The build up of a glacier due to snow being compacted into ice

Question 15

Define ablation

Answer 15

The melting of the ice, mainly during summer months, and usually at the snout end of a glacier.

Question 16

What is a drainage basin?

Answer 16

An area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.

Question 17

What is the water balance?

Answer 17

Or the soil moisture budget or water budget

Balance between inputs (precipitation) and the outputs (evapotranspiration and run-off).

Question 18

What is the Greenland Ice Sheet?

Answer 18

Contains 8% of the total global fresh water
2400 km long
3km thickest point
Melting reduces the albedo, leading to further melting.
Jet stream will oscillate more wildly, greater changeability of weather.

Question 19

What is river regimes?

Answer 19

The variation in the discharge of a river over the course of a year (mainly determined by climate)
They are measured and recorded so that river levels can be maintained. Helps with:
- flood prediction and management
-managing water supply and consumption

Question 20

What factors affect hydrograph shape?

Answer 20

Drainage basin relief 
Drainage basin shape 
Drainage density 
Actecedent rainfall 
Soil/rock type
Vegetation
Precipitation 
Size of drainage basin 
Deforestation
Afforestation 
Agriculture

Question 21

How does drainage basin relief affect hydrographs?

Answer 21

Steeper sided slopes will produce flashier hydrographs because water flows more quickly as throughflow or overland flow.

Question 22

How does drainage basin shape affect hydrograph shape?

Answer 22

Basins that are more circular produce flashy hydrographs than long and thin ones because each point in the basin is roughly equidistant from the measuring point on a river.

Question 23

How does drainage density affect hydrograph shape?

Answer 23

Lots of surface streams acting as tributaries = high drainage density. Have flashy hydrographs as all water arrives at the measuring station at the same time.

Question 24

How does antecedent rainfall affect hydrograph shape?

Answer 24

Overland flow increases when rainfall has been high because the infiltration capacity has been reached.

Question 25

How does soil/rock type affect hydrograph shape?

Answer 25

Impermeable rocks means overland flow will be higher - results in a flashy hydrograph. Similar for surfaces baked by the sun or frozen.

Question 26

Define drought?

Answer 26

Period of below average precipitation in a region, resulting in prolonged shortages in the water supply, whether atmospheric, surface water or groundwater. It can lost for months or years, or may be declared after as little as 15 days.

Question 27

What is water abstraction?

Answer 27

The process of taking water from any source, either temporarily or permenantly. This is mostly for agriculture and domestic water supplies.

Question 28

What problems are caused by abstraction?

Answer 28

Abstraction for agriculture and tourism in the Meditteranean causes salinisation.

Question 29

What is soil drainage?

Answer 29

Practiced in areas in order to reduce the amount of water near the surface as too much can cause damage to crops. This is because too much water in the soil restricts the oxygen available to crops and reduces yields.
Tiles (pipes) are placed above the water table. They drain the soil to prevent it from becoming waterlogged but they don’t deplete the groundwater.

Question 30

Negative effects of soil drainage?

Answer 30

Discharge of rivers may become flashy, peak discharges increase so flooding more likely.
Topsoil can dry out in periods of low rainfall. Dry soil can be blown away. Nitrates from fertilisers are easily carried in sub-surface drains. These get into water courses and wetland and can cause eutrophication.