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Geography AQA A level > Water and Carbon Cycle > Flashcards

Water and Carbon Cycle Flashcards

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1
Q

What is an ecosystem?

A

The interrelationships between living and non-living components within a particular environment

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2
Q

What type of system is the ‘water cycle’?

A

Closed system in its entirety

Open system at a local level because there are inputs, outputs and flows

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3
Q

What type of system is the ‘carbon cycle’?

A

Global scale- closed system

Local scale-open system due to inputs and outputs

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4
Q

What are the 6 main spheres?

A 
Biosphere
Lithosphere
Cryosphere
Atmosphere
Pedosphere
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5
Q

Where is the majority of the total water supply stored?

A

96.6% saline water

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6
Q

How much of the world’s water is saline?

A

97.4%

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7
Q

How much of the Earth’s water is freshwater?

A

2.5%

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8
Q

What are the major stores of freshwater?

A

Snow and ice

Groundwater

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9
Q

What is an aquifer and how much water is stored globally by them?

A

30% of all freshwater

Water stored in rocks deep below the ground surface in underground reservoirs

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10
Q

Where do aquifers form? Why?

A

Areas made up of rocks such as chalk and sandstone, which are porous and permeable

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11
Q

What is the soil water budget?

A

A soils capacity to store and transfer water

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12
Q

What is the ‘water table’?

A

The upper layer of saturated rock which rises and falls in response to groundwater flow, water abstraction or recharge.

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13
Q

Define ‘precipitation’

A

Transfer of water from the atmosphere to the ground

Takes the form of snow, rain, hail or dew

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14
Q

Define evaporation

A

Transfer of water from liquid state to gaseous state.

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15
Q

Define condensation

A

Transfer of water from a gaseous state to a liquid state

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16
Q

Define sublimation

A

Transfer from a solid state to gaseous state

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17
Q

Define interception

A

Water intercepted and stored on leaves of plants

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18
Q

Define overland flow

A

The transfer of water over the land surface

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19
Q

Define infiltration

A

Transfer of water from ground surface into soil where it may then percolate into underlying rocks

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20
Q

Define throughflow

A

Water flowing through the soil towards a river channel

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21
Q

Define percolation

A

Water soaking into the rocks

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22
Q

Define groundwater flow

A

Transfer of water very slowly through the rock

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23
Q

How much of the land was covered by glaciers during end of last ice age?

A

1/3 of Earth’s land area

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24
Q

What model can be used to illustrate cloud formation?

A

The Global Atmospheric Circulation Model

25
Q

How do clouds form at the equator?

A

High temperatures= high rates of evaporation
Warm air rises, cools and condenses to form towering banks of cloud
Heavy rainfall occurs in the ITCZ ( intertropical convergence zone)

26
Q

What happens to the ITCZ seasonally? Why?

A

Moves North and South due to changes in the intensity/ direction of the sun

27
Q

How do clouds form at mid latitudes?

A

Convergence of warm air from tropics and cool air from the Arctic
The polar front (boundary of the two) causes rising air and cloud formation
Strong upper level winds drive these towards UK

28
Q

What is the largest store of water after oceanic water?Where is it stored?

A

Ice

95% locked up in two ice sheets Antarctica and Greenland

29
Q

Explain the feedback loop seen on glaciers

A

Positive feedback loop
Sea levels destabilise ice shelves
Triggers calving
Further melting occurs

30
Q

Explain the effects of farming on the hillslope water cycle

A

Ditches drain the land

Irrigation increases the amount of water on the ground

31
Q

Explain the effects of urbanisation on the hillslope water cycle

A

Infrastructure provides an impermeable surface so there is reduced infiltration
Deforestation occurs too which further reduces interception and infiltration
Water runs through pipes to the nearby river channels

32
Q

Explain the effects of deforestation on the hillslope water cycle

A

The removal of trees reduces interception and infiltration

Overland flow increases

33
Q

Explain what the soil water budget looks like during the wet season

A 
Precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration
Water surplus
Ground water stores fill with water
Increased surface run off
Higher discharge
River levels rise
34
Q

Explain what the soil water budget looks like during the dry season

A

Evapotranspiration exceed precipitation
Ground water store depletion
Water (some) flows into river channel and not replaced by precipitation

35
Q

What is field capacity?

A

How much water soil can hold without any outputs occuring

36
Q

What is a drainage basin?

A

An area of land that is drained by a river and its tributaries

37
Q

What is the watershed?

A

The boundary of a river basin

38
Q

Define stem flow

A

The process of waster dripping through the leaves down the stems

39
Q

What is a rill?

A

A concentrated small channel where water unable to infiltrate flows

40
Q

Give the equation for water balance

A

P =O + E +/- S

P= precipitation
O= total runoff
E= evapotranspiration
S= storage
41
Q

Define river discharge

A

The volume of water that flows through a given area in a given time

42
Q

Give the equation for river discharge

A

Discharge= cross sectional area x velocity

43
Q

What does a flood hydrograph show?

A

The discharge of a river following a particular storm event

44
Q

What is a flashy hydrograph?

A

A hydrograph with a short lag time and a high peak

45
Q

What is the lag time?

A

The time between peak rainfall and peak discharge

46
Q

What characteristics create a flashy hydrograph?

A 
Small basins
High drainage density
Impermeable rocks
Urbanisation
Steep slopes
Saturated soil
Heavy rain exceeding infiltration capacity
47
Q

What characteristics create low, flat hydrographs?

A 
Large basins 
Slow water transfer
Permeable rocks
Forests
Gentle slope
Dry soil
Light rain
48
Q

What are the natural variations that can cause change in the water cycle?

A

Extreme weather events such as storms and droughts

49
Q

Explain the effects on the water cycle during the Californian drought

A

Drought caused reduction in water stores
Vegetation dies back so limited transpiration, interception and infiltration
Ground water flow
High initial rates of evapotranspiration due to heat
Soil dries out so less through flow

50
Q

How can land use impact the water cycle?

A

Urbanisation, impermeable surfaces reduce infiltration

Deforestation, removal of trees= surface run off and soil erosion

51
Q

How is irrigation in the Middle East impacting water stores?

A

Water being abstracted from thousand year old aquifers
Risk of depletion
Rate of recharge slower than formation

52
Q

What are the main stores of carbon?

A 
Lithosphere
Hydrosphere
Cryosphere
Atmosphere
Biosphere
53
Q

Define ‘carbon sink’

A

A store that absorbs more carbon than it releases

54
Q

What is the largest store of carbon? How much does it contain?

A

Marine sediments and sedimentary rocks.

100,000 billion metric tonnes

55
Q

What is photosynthesis?

A

The process whereby plants use the light energy from the sun to produce carbohydrates in the form of glucose

56
Q

How does decomposition link to the carbon cycle?

A

Organisms die
Decomposers consume them
Carbon from the bodies of the organisms is returned to the soil as CO2

57
Q

How does combustion link to the carbon cycle?

A

Organic material contains carbon and is burnt which releases carbon dioxide into the atmospere

58
Q

Define carbon sequestration

A

Transfer of carbon from atmosphere to plants, soils, rock formations and oceans

59
Q

How does weathering link to the carbon cycle?

A 
Weathering breaks down the rocks
CO2 is absorbed by rainwater and forms carbon acid
Rocks dissolve
Carbon held in solution
Transported and used in shell formation

Geography AQA A level (6 decks)

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