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Geography: Water And Carbon > The Water Cycle > Flashcards

The Water Cycle Flashcards

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1
Q

what is atmospheric water?

A

Water found in the atmosphere mainly water vapour with some liquid water (cloud and rain droplets) and ice crystals.

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2
Q

What is cryospheric water?

A

The water locked up on the earths surface as ice.

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3
Q

What is discharge?

A

The amount of water in a river past a particular point (expressed as cumecs.)

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4
Q

What is a greenhouse gas?

A

Any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that allows short wave ultraviolet radiation from the sun to pass through the atmosphere, but then prevents outgoing terrestrial infrared radiation from escaping to space.

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5
Q

What is the hydrosphere?

A

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

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6
Q

What is oceanic water?

A

The water contained in the earth’s oceans and seas but not including such inland seas as the Caspian Sea.

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7
Q

What is terrestrial water?

A

This consists of groundwater, soil moisture, lakes, wetlands and rivers.

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8
Q

Water can be stored in four areas.

A

Hydrosphere - any liquid water
Lithosphere - water stored in the crust and upper mantle
Cryosphere - any water that is frozen
Atmosphere - water vapour

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9
Q

Describe and explain the varying size of global water stores.

A
  1. Largest store OCEANIC WATER: oceans (97% of global water)
  2. Feshwater of which is locked in land in the form of glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets (CRYSOPHERIC WATER) makes up the remaining 3%
  3. Surface and ground only account for for around 1% of global stores (TERRESTIAL WATER)
  4. ATMOSPHERIC WATER makes up 0.4%, mainly in the form of water vapour, liquid water (clouds and rain drops ) and ice crystals.
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10
Q

What are the processes driving the change in magnitude of water stores?

A

1.Evaporation
- process by which liquid water changes to gas
- the amount of solar energy, availability of water, humidity of the air (closer to saturation point, slower rate), temp of air (warmer air can hold more water than cold air)
- as water evaporates it uses energy in the form of latent heat and so it cools its surroundings

  1. Condensation
    - As air cools it is able to hold less water vapour. When it gets to a point that it becomes saturated this is known as the DEW POINT. Excess water in the air will be converted to a liquid (condensation) but the water molecules need a nuclei (e.g. salt, dust etc).
  2. Cysopheric process
    - Accumulation (increasing through snow falls)
    - Ablation (melting)
    - 5 major glacials (sea level c. 120m lower than today) = interruption to the hydrological cycle. Interglacials - when ablation exceeds accumulation - like todays hydrological cycle.
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11
Q

Describe and explain the varying size of these stores?

A

…

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12
Q

Define condensation

A

The process by which water vapour changes to liquid water

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13
Q

What are crysopheric processes?

A

Those processes that affect the total mass of ice at any scale from local patches of frozen ground to global ice amounts. They include accumulation (build up of ice mass) and ablation (loss of ice mass).

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14
Q

What is a drainage basin?

A

Thus is an area of land drained by a river and its tributaries. It includes water found on the surface, in the soil and near-surface geology.

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15
Q

What is evaporation?

A

The process by which liquid water changes to gas. This requires energy, which is provided by the Sun and aided by the wind.

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16
Q

What is evapotranspiration?

A

The total output of water from the drainage basin directly back into the atmosphere.

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17
Q

What is groundwater flow ?

A

The slow movement of water through underlying rocks

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18
Q

What is infiltration?

A

The downward movement of water from the surface into the soil

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19
Q

What is the interception store?

A

The precipitation that falls on the vegetation surfaces (canopy) or human - made cover and is temporarily stored on these surfaces. Intercepted water is either can be evaporated directly to the atmosphere, absorbed by the canopy surfaces or ultimately transmitted to the ground surfaces.

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20
Q

What is overland flow?

A

The tendency of water to flow horizontally across the land surfaces when rainfall has exceeded the infiltration capacity of the soil and all the surface stores are overflowing.

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21
Q

What is percolation?

A

The downward movement of water within the rock under the soil surface. Rates vary depending on the nature of the rock.

22
Q

What is runoff?

A

All the water that enters a river channel and eventually flows out the drainage basin.

23
Q

Define saturated?

A

This applies to any water store that has reached its maximum capacity

24
Q

What is stem flow?

A

The portion of precipitation intercepted by the canopy that reaches the ground by flowing down stems, stalks or tree boles.

25
Q

What is a storm and rainfall event?

A

An individual storm is defined as a rainfall period separated by dry intervals of at least 24 hours and an individual rainfall event is defined as a rainfall period separated by dry intervals of at least four hrs.

26
Q

What is throughflow?

A

The movement of water downslopes through the subsoil under the influence of gravity. It is particularly effective when underlying permeable rock prevents further downward movement.

27
Q

What is throughfall?

A

The portion of the precipitation that reaches the ground directly through gaps in the vegetation canopy and drips from leaves, twigs and stems. This occurs when the canopy-surface rainwater storage exceeds its storage capacity.

28
Q

What is transpiration?

A

The loss of water from vegetation through pores (stomata) on their surfaces.

29
Q

What is the ‘water balance’?

A

The balance between inputs (precipitation) and outputs (run off, evapotranspiration, soil and groundwater storage) in a drainage basin.

30
Q

What are the flows in the drainage basin system?

A

Overland flow
Infiltration
Channel flow
Through flow
Stem flow
Percolation
Ground water flow

31
Q

What are the stores in the drainage basin system?

A

Lakes and surface water
River channels
Interception from plants
Soil water
Ground water
Channel storage
Surface

32
Q

What are the inputs in the drainage basin system?

A

Precipitation onto land
Precipitation into the sea

33
Q

What are the outputs from the drainage basin system?

A

Evaporation and transpiration from vegetation (evapotranspiration )
Evaporation from water surface
Run off from rivers
Evaporation from the sea

34
Q

What type of system is a drainage basin

A

Open system

35
Q

What is the concept of the water balance?

A

Precipitation (P) = Discharge (Q) + Evapotranspiration (E) + changes in stores.

Within a drainage basin, the balance between inputs (precipitation) and outputs (runoff, evapotranspiration, soil and groundwater storage) is known as the water balance or budget.
Rivers only occour if the stores are able to release water, there is direct precipitation or there is over and flow into the rivers. As they move downstream, larger rivers are also fed by their tributaries streams.
Discharge levels rise and fall, often showering an annual pattern (rivers regime). They can also vary in the short term following heavy rainfall ?

36
Q

What does the water balance look like in wet seasons?

A

Inputs > outputs

37
Q

What does the water balance look like in dry seasons?

A

Outputs > inputs

38
Q

What are the two types of hydrographs? And their features?

A
  1. Flashy
    - short lag time
    - steep rising and falling limb
    - higher flood risk
    - high peak discharge
  2. Delayed
    - long lag time
    - gradually rising and falling limb
    - lower flood risk
    - low peak discharge
39
Q

What factors determine the runoff variation in the drainage basin?

A
  • size of DB
  • shape of DB
  • ground steepness
  • soil / rock type
  • vegetation
  • land use
  • agriculture
  • urbanisation
40
Q

What are the three natural changes that have caused variations in the water cycle ?

A
  1. storm events (on spec )
    - causes sudden increase in rainfall, leading to flooding and replenishment of some water stores. Unlikely to cause long term change
  2. seasonal changes / variations (on spec)
    - less precipitation, more evapotranspiration in summer because of higher temperatures.
    - reduced flows in the water cycle in winter as water stored as ice
    - reduced interception in winter, when deciduous trees lose their leaves
    - increased evapotranspiration in summer, deciduous trees have their leaves / higher temps
  3. Droughts (own knowledge)
    - cause major stores to be depleted and the activity of flows acting within the water cycle to decrease. May cause long term change as they become more common as a result of climate change
41
Q

What are the three man made changes causing variation in the water cycle ?

A
  1. land use change
    - deforestation. When forests are removed, the new vegetation generally has fewer leaves and shallower roots. This means it uses less water than the forest it replaces.
    - deforestation also reduce interception, evapotranspiration but infiltration increases (dead plant material usually would prevent infiltration)
    - urbanisation/ construction can prevent infiltration, percolation and storage of water due to impermeable concrete. Therefore runoff increases.
  2. Farming
    - ploughing can break up the surface, increasing infiltration
    - Arable farming (crops) can increase interception and evapotranspiration
    - pastoral (animal) farming compacts soil, reducing infiltration and increasing run off
    - irrigation removes water from local rivers, decreasing their flow
  3. Water abstraction (water removed for human use)
    - this reduces the volume of water in surface stores (lakes)
    - water abstraction increases in dry seasons (eg, water is needed for irrigation)
    - human abstraction from aquifers as an output to meet water demands is often grater than the inputs to the aquifer, leading to a decline in global long-term water stores
42
Q

What factors will cause the greatest change to the water cycle ?

A

Combination of human activity and natural variation

43
Q

Define Bankfull?

A

The maximum discharge that a river channel is capable of carrying without flooding

44
Q

What is base flow?

A

This represents the normal day to day discharge of the river and is the consequence of slow moving soil throughflow and groundwater seeping into the river channel.

45
Q

What is lag time?

A

The time between the peak rainfall and peak discharge

46
Q

What is peak discharge?

A

The point on a flood hydrograph when river discharge is at its greatest

47
Q

What is storm flow?

A

Discharge resulting from storm precipitation involving both overland flow, through flow and groundwater flow.

48
Q

What is a storm hydrograph?

A

A graph of discharge of a river over the time period when the normal flow of the river is affected by the storm.

49
Q

Explain the role of cloud formation in the water cycle ?

A

…

50
Q

Outline the causes of precipitation in the water cycle?

A
  • CONDENSATION
    It is the direct cause of all precipitation:
  • When the temperature of the air is reduced to a dew point but its volume remains constant.
  • When the volume of air increases but the is no addition of heat (ADIABATIC COOLING) - when air rises and expands.
51
Q

Outline the role of evaporation in the water cycle?

A

……

Geography: Water And Carbon (6 decks)

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