Water And Carbon Cycle Flashcards
System
A set of interrelated components working together towards some kind of process
Stores
A part of the system where energy/ mass is stored or transformed
Flow/ transfer
A form of linkage between one store/ component and another that involves movement of energy or mass
Input
The addition of matter and/ or energy into a system
Closed system
Energy is transferred into and out of the system. All matter is enclosed
Open system
Matter and energy can be transferred from the system into the surrounding environment
Dynamic equilibrium
The balanced state of a system. When opposing forces or inpupts and outputs are equal
Positive feedback
Occurs where the effects of an action are amplified by changes to the inputs/ outputs/ processes
(Process are enhance)
Negative feedback
Occurs where the effects of an action are nullified by changes to the input/outputs/ transfers
(Decelerates a process)
Drainage basin
The area of land surrounding a river, from which the river recieves water and subsequently drains this water
Precipitation
Rain, snow, hail and sleet
Infiltration
When water enters the ground
Interception
When water is caught by trees and plants
Stem flow
Water lands on plants and runs down their stems
Overland flow
Anywhere water flows over the land surface
Through flow
When water flows through the ground
Transpiration
When water vapour comes out of leaves
Evapotranspiration
Water rises as vapour from the ground or released from leaves
Ground water
Water deep in the ground
Soil water
Water held between soil particles
Ground water flow
The slow movement of groundwater
Percolation
Movement of water down through the ground
Surafce storage
Lakes, ponds and puddles
Ground water storage
Water stored underground in bedrock
Atmospheric water
Water found in the atmosphere
Terrestrial water examples
Rivers, wetlands, surface water, groundwater, soil water, biological water, biomass
Water balance
Within a drainage basin teh balance between inputs, outputs is known as water balance/ budget
River regime
How the water levels in a river change over the year
Water suplus
Precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration and the soil above field capacity (causes runoff)
Soil moisture utilisation
Evapotranspiration exceeds precpiitation. Plants and humans have to utilise water from the soil
Soil moisture recharge
When precipitation is greater tahn evapotranspiration agains so soil moisture is replenished until field capacity
Soil moisture deficiency/ water deficit
When all soil moisture is used up. Plants will wilt and may die - not enough water in the soil
Field capacity
The maximum amount of water that soil can hold
Discharge
Teh amount of water passing through the river each second
Discharge equation
Discharge = cross sectional area x velocity
Lag time
Time between peak rainfall and peak discharge
Rising limb
Increase in discharge until peak discharge following rainfall
Falling limb
Decrease in discharge following peak discharge
Base flow
The normal flow/ rate of discharge without precipitation
Peak rainfall
Highest amount of rainfall
Peak discharge
Point of highest amount of discharge
Storm runoff
Amount of discharge above base flow
Storm hydrographs
- bars = rainfall
- line = discharge
Flashy discharge
Discharge increases quickly
Subdued discharge
Very long lag time and peak discharge is low as a result
Carbon sequestration
The capture of CO2 from the atmosphere or capturing anthropogenic CO2 from large scale stattionary source before it is released into the atmosphere
Lithosphere
The crust and uppermost mantle; this constitues the hard and rigid outer layer of the earth
Carbon transfer
These are processes that transfer carbon between the stores - photosynthesis converts it into glucose
Carbon stores
The main stores of carbon are the lithosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere and biosphere
Greenhouse gas
Any gaseous compund in the atmosphere that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere
Carbon sink
A store that absorbs more carbon than it releases
Weathering
The breakdown of rocks in situ by a combination of weather, plants and animals
Biosphere
The total sum of living matter
GtC
Gigatonne of CO2 is used to measure the amount of carbon in stores
Anthropogenic CO2
Carbon dioxide generated by human activity
Carbon source
A store that releases more carbon that it absorbs
6 primary stores
- fossil fuels
- rocks
- oceans
- plant life
- soil
- atmosphere
Lithosphere
Rigid outer part of earths crust
Hydrosphere
All the water on the earths surface
Biosphere
The part of the planet occupied by living things
Atmosphere
All the gases that are around the planet
Cryosphere
Frozen water part of earths system
Pedosphere
The outermost layer of the earth that is composed of soil and subject to soil formation processes
Net carbon sink
When more carbon entres a store than leaves it
Net carbon source
When more carbon leaves a source than enters is
Carbon transfer
Movement of carbon between stores
Stores or stocks
The total amount of the material of interest held within a part of the system
Fluxes
Measurements of the rate of low of material between the stores
Processes
The physical mechanisms which drive the flux of material between stores
Sere
An ecological community formed by vegetatio sucession that relates to a specific environment
The global budget
The amount of carbon gained and lost in teh natural and manmade workings of the world
Enhanced greenhouse effect
The impact on teh climate from the additional heat retained due to increased amount of carbon dioxide and other gases that humans have released into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution
Geo-sequestration
Technology capturing ghg emissions from power stations and pumping them into underground reservoirs
Rediative forcing
The difference between the incoming solar energy absorbed by the earth and energy radiated back to space
Soil organic carbon
The organic constituted in the soil; tissue from dead plants and animals, products produces as these decompose and the soil microbial biomass
Climate change mitigation
Efforts to reduce or prevent emission of greenhouse gases
Atmosphere inputs
- water
- CO2, SO4
- volcanic ash
- solar radiation
- O2
Atmosphere outputs
- weather
- erosion
- winds
- evaporation
- precipitation
- solar radiation
Cryosphere inputs
Soild precipitation, water, cold temperatures
Cryosphere outputs
Snow fall, iceburg, ice sheets
Hyrdosphere inputs
- precipetation
- condensation
- infiltration
- surface runoff
Hydrosphere outputs
- cryosphere water
- evapotrasnspiration
- evaporation
- plant-up take
Biosphere inputs
- carbon
- nitrogen
- hydrosphere
- crysophere
- seeds
- sediment
Biosphere outputs
- gas loss
- migration and harvesting
- transportation
Factors changing flow rate
- impermeable surfaces
- agriculture
- snow melt and precipetation
- throughflow and groundwater flow
- percolation and inflitration
- vegetation
- rock type and bed rock (clay, limestone, sandstone)
Water balance equation
P=Q+E+-change in storage
- P=precipitation
- Q=total runoff
- E=evapotranspiration
Positive water balance
precipitation exceeds runoff and evapotranspiration
Negative water balance
Runoff and evapotranspiration exceeds precipitations
Changes to discharge
- tributaries
- precipitation
- runoff
- glacial periods
- human activity
- gradient
- human land use
Flows in the water cycle
- infiltration
- stem flow
- evaporation
- overland flow
- through flow
Factors altering flows
- vegetation
- soil/rock type
- temperature
Oceanic water
- largest store of water
- 72% of the earths surface
Cryospheric water types
- sea ice
- ice sheet = more than 50,000km2
- ice shelf
- ice cap = less than 50,000km2
- glaciers
- permafrost
Atmospheric water
- 0.04% of world’s freshwater
- 0.001% of total water
- exists in all three states in the atmosphere
Physical factors affecting drainage basin
- drainage basin shape
- slope angles
- drainge density
- antecendent rainfall
- rock type
- vegetation cover
- anount and intensity of precipitation
- basin size
Human factors affecting drainage basin
- deforestation
- afforestation
- agriculture
- growth of urban areas (SUDS)
- soft engineering flood management
- water abstractions
Phsyical factors changing the water cycle
- droughts
- precipitation levels
- floods
- temperature
- topography
- vegetation
- evaporation rates
- soil properties
- extreme weather events
- desertification
- glacial periods
Human factors affecting water cycle
- urbanisation
- antropogenic climate change
- deforestation
- farming
- water abstraction
- irrigation methods
Biotic pump theory
Forests helping inland areas to get water by drawing in from the ocean
Aquifer
Water in the ground
- unconfined aquifer = top layer
- confined aquifer = lower levels
Where is carbon found
- all life forms
- sedimentary rocks
- diamonds
- graphite
- coal
- oil
- gas
Carbon stores
- marine sedimentary rock = 100,000 metric tonnes
- ocean = 38000 metric tonnes
- fossil fuel deposits = 4000 metric tonnes (2.8%)
- soil organic matter = 1500 metric tonnes
- atmosphere = 750 metric tonnes
- terrestiral plants = 560 metric tonnes
Lithspheric carbon store
- crust and upper mantle
- marine sediment
- over 99% of earths carbon
- biggest store
- 100,000 billion tonnes
Cryospheric carbon store
- less than 0.01% of earths carbon
- most in soil
Atmospheric carbon store
- around 0.04%
- CO2 is highest in 800,000 years
- change due to anthropogenic change
- 750 billion tonnes
Biospheric carbon store
- 0.04% earth’s carbon
- main store - living vegetation = 19%
- 560 billion tonnes
Hydrospheric carbon store
- 3 = surafce layer, intermediate, living organic matter
- ocean is the second largest store of carbon
- death of organisms
- 38,000 billion tonnes
Processes involved within the transfers of carbon
- photosynthesis
- respiration
- decomposition
- combustion
- burial and compation
- carbon sequestration
- geologicaal sequestration
- carbon pumps
- deforestation
- weathering
Local scale carbon cycle
- plant
- photosynthesis
- decomposition
Contenental scale carbon cycle
- slow process
- leaves atmosphere as carbonic acid
- transported in minerals and rocks
- weathering and subduction
Global scale carbon
- all the carbon working in the system
El nino
Normal year = trade winds east to west, push warm surface water from south america to aus
El nino year = trade winds weaken, warm water washes back across western pacific causing drought in aus
Water cycle feedback loop - ice
- ice reflects radiation
- ice melts = warm waters = ice melts
- changes transfers of water
Carbon cycle feedback loop
- high temps increased growing season
- melt permafrost
Phytoplankton cycle
- use energy from sun to photosynthesis
- cold temps = increase phytoplankton = increase clouds = global cooling = less sunshine = less phytoplankton = reduced cooling effect
Human causes - carbon cycle
- 90% anthropogenic from combustion of fossil fuels
- farming practices - cow = 20% of methane emissions, rice fields = 40% increase in methane emissions
- carbon sequestration
- deforestation = 13 million hectares of forest cut down, 3% forest lost between 1990 and 2005
- urbanisation= = cities responsible for 47% co2 emissions
- cement producaiton
Natural changes to the carbon cycle
- wild fires - amount depends of fuel type
- volcanic activity - emit 130 - 180 million tonnes of CO2 a year (30 billion from buring fossil fuels)
- orbital changes (Milankovitch cycles) - delay between co2 and temp changes, due to eccentricity (100,000 year cycle), sun further away means less radiation
Impacts of carbon budges - atmosphere and global climate
- increasing atmospheric co2 = highest change in 800,000 years, enhanced greenhouse effect causes radiation
- radiative forces = 30% sunlight refelected back into space
- relgional clime = vegetation , volcanic activity etc
Impacts of carbon budget - land
- affects soil
- more CO2 = more photosynthesis
- increased growing season
Impacts of carbon budget - ocean
- ocean salinity = more freshwater (esspecially in deep north atlantic), decreasng large scalse oceanic circulation
- ocean acidification = ocean pH dropped bu 0.1 scince 1750, coral reef is food and job security
- melting sea ice = habitat, releases stored carbon
- sea level rise = 3.5mm/year since 1990s, thermal expansion
Political initiatives for climate change
- IPCC
- Kyoto
- Paris agreement - legally binding, 195 countries, limit of 1.5C
- regional commitments - 27 EU countries, trading greenhouse gas allocations
- bilateral commitments - USA (reduce 27% by 2025) and China (cap 2030) limit emmitions
Climate change key facts
- ocean surface temp warming by 0.85C between 1880 to 2012
- upper 75m ocean warmed by 0.11C
- ph of ocean decrease by 0.1
- high rates of permafrost melting
- sea levels rose by 0.19m
- arctic sea lice extent decreased at a rate 0f 3.5 - 4.1% per decade
Human factors affecting water cycle
- deforestation
- agricultural soil drainage
- water abstratction
Physical factors affecting water cycle
- el nino
- tropical storms
- droughts
Quaternary period
The last 2.5 million years
- seen glacial and interglacial periods
Ocean acidification
Carbon acidifies the ocean water
Sea ice melt
Ice melts = exposed sea = warming of sea (low albedo) = melting of ice ….. (causes an increase in the temperatures
What is the IPCC
International panel for climate change
- an a political, global approach that focuses on scientific and other approaches to climate change (helps find strategies for lower income countries)
Examples of positive feedback
- water - sea ice melt
- carbon - dieback deforestation and wildfires
Examples of negative feedback
- carbon - carbon sequestration (removal of carbon from the atmosphere)
- water and carbon - phytoplankton
What is dieback deforestation
We deforest trees = reduced carbon stores = increase wildfires = more natural deforestation = less carbon etc
Water store numbers
- 96.5% of water is stored in the ocean
- of freshwater stores 68.7% are in glaciers and ice caps
Carbon stores in fossil fuels
- 4,000 billion tonnes
- 90% of carbon released is from fossil fuels
Pedosphere carbon stores
1,500 billion tonnes
