The Water Cycle Flashcards
Gas –> Liquid
Condensation
Liquid –> Gas
Evaporation
Liquid –> Solid
Freezing
Solid –> Liquid
Melting
Solid –> Gas
sublimation
Gas –> Solid
Deposition
What is precipitation?
Transfer of water from the atmosphere to the ground. It can take the form of rain, snow, hail, dew etc
What is interception?
Precipitation intercepted and stored in the leaves of plants
What is throughflow?
Through flow is water flowing through soil towards the river channel
What is inflitration?
Infiltration is the transfer of water from the ground surface into soil where it may the percolate into underlying rocks
What is percolation?
Water soaking into rocks
What is groundwater flow?
Transfer of water very slowly through rocks
What is latent heat?
The energy required to change the state of water by breaking hydrogen bonds between molecules
What is hydrogen bonding?
A strong intermolecular force between the H+ of one water molecule and the O 2- of another, holding them together
What is surface tension?
How the molecules on the surface of water behave and how tightly they are held together by hydrogen bonds
What is atmospheric water?
Water found in the atmosphere mainly water vapour with some liquid water and ice crystals
What is cryospheric water?
The water locked up on the Earth’s surface as ice
what is the hydrosphere?
A discontinuous layer of water at or near the Earth’s surface, groundwater held in soils and rock + atmospheric water vapour
what is oceanic water?
The water contained in the Earth’s oceans and seas BUT NOT including inland seas e.g. the Caspian Sea.
What is terrestrial water?
This consists of groundwater, soil moisture, lakes, wetlands and rivers
Which is the largest store of water?
oceanic water
Where is most of the freshwater on Earth stored?
In the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets
what are inputs into the drainage basin? (2)
-Precipitation
-Energy from the sun
What are the stores in a drainage basin? (5)
-Lakes
-Soil/ Groundwater
-Interception/vegetation
-River flow
-Surface flows
What are transfers in the drainage basin? (4)
-Ground water flow
- Percolation
-Transpiration
-Precipitation
What are the outputs from the drainage basin? (3)
-River discharge
-Evaporation
-Water vapour
What is the fastest movement of water through the drainage basin?
Fastest movement is along the surface where there are relatively few obstacles in the way of the water
how fast is water movement through soil?
Somewhat slow, but varies more as clay soils retain water, slowing it down, but aerated soils and woodland channels allow it to move faster
What is the slowest form of movement in the drainage basin?
Groundwater flow, as it can be held for millennia
How much of the water on Earth is available for use by humans?
2.5%
What is soil storage?
the amount of water stored in the soil
What is vegetation storage?
the water stored in plants as they take it up from the soil