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Geography Physical > The Water cycle EQ1 > Flashcards

The Water cycle EQ1 Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the water cycle?

A

The water cycle is a continuous movement of water within the Earth and atmosphere. It’s a closed system with solar energy and gravitational potential energy that drive the cycle.

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2
Q

What is evapouration?

A

Water heated by the sun turns into gas and rises.

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3
Q

What is surface run off?

A

Water that runs across the land into rivers/ lakes/ oceans.

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4
Q

What is transpiration?

A

Water that is released as a gas into the atmosphere from leaves in plants.

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5
Q

What is groundwater flow?

A

Water flow deep underground into aquifers.

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6
Q

What is precipitation?

A

Rain, sleet, snow.

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7
Q

What is interception?

A

Trees, plants catch precipitation and slows surface run off.

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8
Q

What is infiltration?

A

Water moves from the surface into the soil and rock below.

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9
Q

What is condensation?

A

Water vapour turns back into a liquid and forms clouds.

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10
Q

What is vegetation storage, surface storage, groundwater storage and channel storage?

A
  • Any moisture taken up by vegetation.
  • Any surface water in lakes, ponds and puddles.
  • Water held within permeable rocks.
  • Water held in rivers and streams.
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11
Q

What is throughflow?

A

Water seeping laterally through soil below the surface, but above the water table.

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12
Q

What is prelocation?

A

The downward seepage of water through rock under gravity, especially on permeable rocks.

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13
Q

What is stem flow, base flow and channel flow?

A
  • Water flowing down plant stems or drainpipes.
  • Known as groundwater flow. Slow moving water that seeps into a river channel.
  • Volume of water contained within a river channel.
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14
Q

What is evapotranspiration?

A

The combined effect of evaporation and transpiration.

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15
Q

Whats the biggest store of water?

A

Oceans. 97.5%

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16
Q

Where is the most freshwater stored?

A

Glaciers. 68.7%

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17
Q

What is blue and green water?

A
  • The amount of rainfall that enters lakes, rivers and groundwater.
  • The amount of rainfall that is either intercepted by the vegetation, or enters the soil and is picked up by plants and evapotranspired back into the atmosphere.
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18
Q

What is residence time and what water source has the shortest and longest one?

A

The length of time water spends in the groundwater.

  • Biosphere
  • Groundwater
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19
Q

What are the 3 types of fluxes?

A
  • Oceans and land:
    Evaporation 60,000
    Precipitation 90,000
  • Oceans and air:
    Evaporation 400,000
    Precipitation 370,000
  • Air and land:
    Surface runoff 30,000
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20
Q

What is the cryosphere?

A

Water stored in glaciers and ice sheets.

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21
Q

What is fossil water?

A

Untapped ancient stores of freshwater. These are often non renewable.

22
Q

What is the global water budget?

A

The balance of water between stores in the hydrological cycle.

23
Q

What is a drainage basin?

A

An area of land drained by a river and its tributaries. it includes water found in the water table and surface run off. Any rain falling outside the watershed, water will flow into another river basin.

24
Q

What is a water shed?

A

High ridge of land making the edges of the drainage basin.

25
Q

What is a confluence?

A

The junction of two rivers, especially rivers of approximately equal width.

26
Q

What is a tributary?

A

A river or stream flowing into a larger river or lake.

27
Q

Kenya aquifers case study.

A
  • Huge water source has been found in the arid Turkana region of northern Kenya which could supply for the next 70 years.
  • They were found using satellites and radar.
  • Test drilling confirmed there was water underground.
  • Kenya currently uses about 3 billion cubic metres per year.
28
Q

What is the rain shadow effect?

A

The eastern side of the UK receives less rain than the west because the western hills force moist air to rise as it approaches from the Atlantic leading to orographic rainfall in the north and west.

29
Q

What are the 3 types of rainfall?

A
  • Convectional rainfall
  • Orographic rainfall
  • Frontal rainfall
30
Q

What is convectional rainfall?

A
  1. Convectional rainfall usually occurs during the summer in the UK, when the sun heats the land.
  2. This creates rising pockets of warm air, known as convection currents.
  3. Warm air rises rapidly, where it starts to cool and condenses to form clouds.
  4. These clouds can be large cumulonimbus clouds.
  5. The clouds can produce heavy rainfall and thunderstorms.
31
Q

What is orographic (relief) rainfall?

A
  1. Relief rainfall occurs when warm, moist air from the Atlantic Ocean rises up over mountains.
  2. When the warm air rises, it cools and condenses to form clouds, which brings rain.
  3. Once the air has passed over the mountains, it descends and warms.
  4. This creates drier conditions known as a rain shadow.
32
Q

What is frontal rainfall?

A
  1. Frontal rainfall occurs when a warm front meets a cold front. The heavier cold air sinks to the ground and the warm air rises above it.
  2. When the warm air rises, it cools.
  3. The cooler air condenses and form clouds.
  4. The clouds bring heavy rain.
33
Q

What are the physical factors affecting drainage basins?

A
  • Climate
  • Soils
  • Geology
  • Relief
  • Vegetation
34
Q

What are the human factors affecting drainage basins?

A
  • River management
  • Deforestation
  • Changing land use - agriculture
  • Changing land use- urbanisation
35
Q

What are the components of the drainage basin most affected by humans?

A
  • Evaporation and evapotranspiration
  • Interception
  • Infiltration
  • Groundwater
  • Surface run off
36
Q

Amazonia case study.

A

The amazon basin contains the world’s largest area of tropical rainforest. Deforestation has disrupted the drainage basin cycle in a number of ways.

  • A lowering of humanities
  • Less precipitation
  • More surface runoff and infiltration
  • More evaporation and less transpiration
  • More soil erosion

At least 17% of the Amazon forest has been lost. This forest released 20 km³ of water into the atmosphere every day, but this amount is now reducing. Deforested areas are 30° warmer and much drier than forested areas. Dry seasons are getting longer, with a 21% reduction in rainfall by 2050. Drought and more common – examples include 2005 2010 and 2015/16.

37
Q

What is the water balance budget?

A

Is the balance between precipitation, evaporation and run off. It’s a tool to access the current status and trends in water resources availability in an area over a specific period of times.

38
Q

What is water surplus?

A

Areas that has a positive water balance. More inputs than outputs.

39
Q

What is water deficit?

A

The area that has a negative water balance. More outputs than inputs. Precipitation is lower than evapotranspiration.

40
Q

What does a water balance graph show and look like?

A

The inputs (precipitation) and outputs (evaporation) of water in an area often vary throughout the year with the seasons. The graph shows the annual water balance for an area. It shows when there is a surplus and when there is a deficit. It shows the results annually with the months on the x axis.

41
Q

What is a river regime and what do their graphs show?

A

River regimes indicate the annual variation of discharge of a river and result from the impact of climate, geology and soils as shown in regimes from contrasting river basins. (Yukon, Amazon, Indus).

River Regimes Graphs show the amount of water in the river channel across a year. As with the water balance graphs the amount of water changes with the season.

42
Q

What are the factors affecting river regimes?

A
  • The size of the river and where measurements are taken in the basin.
  • The amount, pattern and intensity of precipitation.
  • The temperatures experienced; greater evaporation when temperatures are higher.
  • The geology and overlying soils, especially their permeability and porosity.
  • The amount and type of vegetation cover:
  • Wetlands can hold water and release it very slowly into the system.
  • Human activities, such as dam building, which can regulate the flow.
43
Q

The Amazon river.

A

6308km long and drains nearly 6 Million km2, it is in a humid tropical climate and flows over ancient Shield area of rock: its peak discharge is in April – May and lowest discharge in September which is linked to wet and dry seasons and snowmelt from the Andes.

44
Q

The Yukon river.

A

3540km long and has a drainage basin area of about 850,000km2, it is in a tundra climatic area and flows through a mountain range: its peak discharge is in May –June with a dramatic increase due to melting snow and ice, it is low from December to may due to low precipitation and frozen condition.

45
Q

The River Nile.

A

Has been significantly changed by the construction of the Aswan Dam in 1970. The flow below the dam was reduced by 65% and became regulated between seasons so that the flood peaks in September were reduced.

46
Q

What are the 4 types of river regime graphs?

A
  • Oceanic rainfall/ evapotranspiration
  • Snowmelt
  • Glacier melt
  • Tropical seasonal rainfall (monsoonal)
47
Q

What does a storm hydrograph show?

A

Shows changes in the discharge of a river over a period of time.

48
Q

What is the order of the components of a hydrograph?

A
  • Peak rainfall
  • Rising limb
  • Base flow
  • Lag time
  • Peak discharge
  • Falling limb
49
Q

Define all terms of a hydrograph.

A
  • Peak rainfall= The time when the rainfall reaches its highest.
  • Rising limb= Discharge starts to rise.
  • Base flow= The normal day to day discharge of a river.
  • Lag time= Time interval between peak rainfall and peak discharge.
  • Peak discharge= The time when a river reaches its highest flow.
  • Falling limb= Where the water in a river starts to decrease.
50
Q

What is the water balance equation?

A

P= Q+E±ΔS

P - Precipitation
Q - Run off
E - Evaporation
ΔS - Storage in the soil, aquifers or reservoirs

51
Q

What are the factors of a short lag time? (Flashy hydrograph)

A
  • Small basin
  • Circular basin
  • Steep slopes
  • Clay soils and thin soils
  • Impermeable rocks
  • High drainage density
  • Thin grass
  • Urban
  • High intensity
  • Fast snowmelt
  • Prolonged
  • Low rates
52
Q

What are the factors of a long lag time? (Low, flat hydrograph)

A
  • Large basins
  • Elongated basins
  • Gentle slopes
  • Sandy soils and thick soils
  • Permeable rocks
  • low drainage density
  • Forest and woodland
  • Rural
  • Low intensity
  • Sort duration
  • Slow snowmelt
  • High rates

Geography Physical (13 decks)

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