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A Level Geography > Water > Flashcards

Water Flashcards

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1
Q

what is a store

A

reservoirs are where water is stores, these can be in form of oceans, river, aquifers ect

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2
Q

what is a flux

A

how water is transferred between stores

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3
Q

what are processes

A

physical mechanisms which drive fluxes of water between stores
solar and GPE

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4
Q

what is the cryosphere

A

areas of earth where water is frozen into snow/ice (during last ice age sea levels were 140m lower than today)

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5
Q

what is a systems approach

A

approaches that study hydrological phenomena by looking at balance of inputs and outputs and how water is moved between stores and flows

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6
Q

what is an open system

A

recieves inputs from + transfers outputs of energy to other systems eg) drainage basins

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7
Q

what is a closed system

A

fixed amount of water or earth + atmosphere system (1385million km^3) there are no external inputs/outputs and the system remains constant

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8
Q

what is blue water

A

water that is stored in rivers, streams, lakes and groundwater in liquid form

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9
Q

what is green water

A

water stored in soil and vegetation

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10
Q

what proportion of worlds water is stored in:

  • Oceans
  • freshwater
  • saline
A

Oceans- 96.5%
Fresh- 2.5%
Saline- 0.9%

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11
Q

Of the 2.5% freshwater, how much is stored in the cryosphere and groundwater

A
  1. 7% Glaciers

30. 1% ground water this includes atmosphere, rivers swamps, soil moisture and living things

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12
Q

how much of the groundwater water is stored in rivers?

A

0.49% less than in swamps which is 2.6%

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13
Q

Examples of fluxes

A 
evaporation
rain/precipitation
snowfall
percolation
overland flow
interception
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14
Q

examples of stores

A 
sea/ ocean
ice
lakes
river
soil moisture
swamps
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15
Q

what is the water budget

A

annual balance of water fluxes (flows) ad size of water stores

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16
Q

is water considered a renewable source

A

water stores have different residence times (amount of time the water is held for) but it is generally considered renewable

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17
Q

what 2 places might water not be considered renewable

A

fossil water and cryosphere

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18
Q

what is fossil water

A

untapped ancient stores of freshwater that exist in polar regions or beneath deserts in the form of aquifers
eg) Kenyas lotihipi aquifer which contains est. 200 billion cubic meters of saline water)

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19
Q

how is the cryosphere non renewable source of water

A

major ice sheets store water for very long periods such as Greenland and Antarctica
ice core dating has found that some water in Antarctica is over 800,000 years old

69% locked up in snowflakes ice sheets and icecaps and glaciers in high altitudes and latitudes where inaccessible to humans

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20
Q

what are the2 processes driving the hydrological cycle

A

solar energy and GPE

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21
Q

how does solar energy drive the water cycle

A

energy from sun heats+causes evaporation/transpiration more as climate warms globally which increases moisture levels in atmosphere

this can lead to more condensation as air cools so more rain

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22
Q

how does Gravitational potential energy drive water cycle

A

keeps water accelerating through system under influence of gravity

on land energy is converted to kinetic as water moves through system by plant inception/ overland flow surface run-off

23
Q

where is solar energy concentrated the most?

A

in the tropics where much of it is absorbed by the sea
»> this produces high rainfall 74% of rainfall is in sea in tropics, the rest of the worlds rainfall is unevenly distributed
»>seasonal monsoons in asia and africa which contrasts with climate in NW europe

(different climatic regions differ in inputs, nature and size of transfers, and flows of water)

24
Q

describe characteristics of polar hydrology

A

> permafrost creates impermable surfaces
winter snow insultes ground and causes 85% of solar radiation to be reflected
freeze thaw cycles in spring cause rapid surface run-off
and release of bigenic gases to atmosphere

25
Q

what is the annual precipitation in polar regions

A

200mm or less

26
Q

what kind of rainfall generally occurs in polar regions

A

orographic or frontal

low humidity

27
Q

describe characteristics of of tropical rainforest hydrology

A

> constant high temps and 50-75% of rainfall returns by evaportransiration
75% of precipitation consumed by trees
less than 25% of rainfall reaches the rivers or other surface water
few seasonal variations
evapotranspiration cools the air as energy is used during the process

28
Q

whats the annual precipitation in the rainforest

A

2000mm

29
Q

what kind of rainfall occurs in the rainforests

A

convectional rainfall and high humidity

30
Q

how will deforestation effect the rainforest

A

reduces evapotranspiration and therfore vapor and local rainfall

31
Q

explain how the hydrological cycle is a closed system

A

A closed system is one with a fixed amount of water on the earth and atmospheric system

1) evaporation, clouds , precipitation restarts cycle again
2) ground water added from other stores through things like percolation. groundwater transfers to ocean stores where it is evaporated again and returns to groundwater as rain.

32
Q

in order for rain to form what things must there be?

A
  • air cooled to saturation point w/ 100% humidity
  • condensation nuclei such as dust particles to facilitate the growth of water droplets in clouds
  • temp below dew point
33
Q

What is the saturation point

A

no more substance can be absorbed into vapor

34
Q

what is the dew point

A

as temp drops and objects cool down, air becomes cooler around object, colder air less able to hold vapor than warm air which causes condensing of air to water

35
Q

what is frontal rainfall and how is it formed

A

> when warm lighter air is forced to rise over colder denser air
as it rises the air cools and its ability to hold water vapor decreases
condensation occurs and clouds form and rain forms

36
Q

what is convectional rain and how does it form

A

> when the land becomes hot, air above it becomes warmer, expands and rises
as it rises the air cools and its ability to hold water decreases
condensation occurs and clouds develop
if the air continues to rise, the rain will fall

37
Q

what is orographic rain

A

> when air is forced to rise over a barrier such as a mountain and cools and condenses
clouds form and precipitation occurs on the leeward (downwind) slope which recieves relatively little rain which is known as the ‘rain shadows effect’
east of england is dryer because of this

38
Q

what is interception

A

process in which water is stored in vegetation:

1) interception loss (water retained by plants)
2) through fall (when water drops from leaves)
3) stem flow (water trickles along branches/stems)

39
Q

what is infiltration

and what is infiltration capacity

A

process of water being absorbed by soil

>max rate of rain that is absorbed and depends on the saturation level and slope angle

40
Q

what is direct runoff

A

water travelling on surface of ground

41
Q

what is saturated overland flow

A

slower transfer of water caused by water table rising to the surface caused by succession of winter storms

42
Q

what is through flow

A

lateral transfer of water downslope through soil below the surface but above the water table

43
Q

what is percolation

A

deeper transfer of water into permeable rocks eg sandstone/chalk

44
Q

what is groundwater flow

A

aka base flow, This is the very slow transfer of percolated water through pervious/ porous rock

45
Q

what are 3 outputs to the water cycle

A
  • evaporation- moisture directly lost to atmosphere from water surfaces and soil as a result of suns heat
  • transpiration- (or evapotranspiration) a biological process where water is lost from plants to atmosphere
  • channel flow- (river discharge) volume of water flowing within a river channel
46
Q

which factors effect the outputs to the water cycle

A
  • hours of sunlight
  • temperature
  • size and depth of water
  • surface colour
  • humidity
  • wind speed
  • vegetation cover
47
Q

what is a drainage basin defined as

A

an area of land drained by a river and its tributaries and can be referred to as a river catchment area.

at a local scale, hydrological processes operate within these areas and it is an open system which has inputs and outputs which causes the amount of water to vary.

48
Q

what are the physical factors which infleunce a drainage basin

A 
Climate
Soils
Geology
Relief
Vegetation
49
Q

how does climate effect a drainage basin

A

role in influencing the amount of precipitation overall and the amount of evaporation. This also has an impact on vegetation

50
Q

how do soils effect a drainage basin

A

determines the amount infiltration, through flow and indirectly, the type of vegetation

51
Q

how does geology effect a drainage basin

A

This can impact subsurface processes such percolation and ground waterflow (and therefore aquifers) It can indirectly alter soil formation

52
Q

how does relief effect a drainage basin

A

Altitude can impact on precipitation totals. Slopes can effect the amount of runoff

53
Q

how does vegetation effect a drainage basin

A

Presence/absence has impact on rate of interception, infiltration and occurrence of overland flows as well as transpiration

54
Q

how have physical factors effected the hydrological cycle in an arid environment

A
  • lower altitude near equator in an area of higher pressure so recieves little rain
  • therefore there is little vegetation cover and less soil
  • sand geology means water can percolate through so there is very little residence time. Low altitude so little surface run-off

A Level Geography (12 decks)

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