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Earth's life support systems > Water and Carbon cycles > Flashcards

Water and Carbon cycles Flashcards

1
Q

What percentage of the Earth’s atmosphere is oxygen?

A

21%

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2
Q

What percentage of the Earth’s atmosphere is carbon dioxide?

A

0.04%

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3
Q

How is the Earth’s atmosphere kept on the planet?

A

The pull of gravity.

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4
Q

How does Earth use light effectively?

A

Plants use light from the sun for photosynthesis which gives off oxygen into the atmosphere. The planet only takes 24 hours to spin on its axis compared to other planets like Venus which take 243 days.

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5
Q

What are features of planets that lie within the ‘Goldilocks zone’?

A

They have just the right temperature for there to be liquid water on its surface.

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6
Q

What is a biogeochemical cycle?

A

It is the way in which an element or compound moves between its living and non-living forms and locations.

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7
Q

Name the different spheres of the Earth?

A

Lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere and cryosphere.

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8
Q

Why are the spheres of the Earth important?

A

They keep in the Earth’s atmosphere, control the temperature, weather and climate and they help the Earth’s climate stay consistent.

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9
Q

What things would you typically find in the cryosphere?

A

Glacier, iceberg

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10
Q

What would you usually find in the hydrosphere?

A

Oceans, lakes

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11
Q

What would you usually find in the biosphere?

A

Birds, humans, trees, lions.

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12
Q

What would you usually find in the lithosphere?

A

Limestone, volcanos, mountains

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13
Q

What would you usually find in the atmosphere?

A

Clouds, oxygen, ozone

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14
Q

Why is the water cycle a closed system?

A

No water leaves or enters the Earth and so the inputs and outputs remain the same meaning that the system remains closed.

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15
Q

Why is our planet classed as a closed system?

A

No mass leaves or enters it, however it has many open and closed systems within it.

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16
Q

Why is our planet not classed as an isolated system?

A

There can be a transfer of energy from and to the earth e.g. from the sun.

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17
Q

Name and describe the two types of systems.

A

Closed- input, output and transfer of energy but not matter or mass e.g. the hydrological cycle.
Open- Inputs and outputs of both energy and matter e.g. drainage basin system.

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18
Q

What is a river basin?

A

It is the net area drained by a river. We are generally talking about the bottom of a river- water comes from mountains and tributaries and gravity pulls it down towards the river mouth.

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19
Q

What is the water balance equation?

A

Precipitation= Evapotranspiration + Stemflow +/- storage.

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20
Q

What is capillary rise?

A

When water is pulled up to the surface from soil moisture.

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21
Q

What is baseflow?

A

When water goes from the ground into the river channel.

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22
Q

What has to happen to water droplets and ice crystals for them to fall to the ground?

A

They have to be transformed into heavier particles this means they have to attach to tiny particles in the atmosphere to fall.

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23
Q

Name the 5 main types of precipitation?

A

Rain, drizzle, snow, sleet, hail.

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24
Q

What is the difference between rain and drizzle?

A

Rain is water droplets greater than 0.5mm diameter. Drizzle is water droplets smaller than 0.5mm.

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25
Q

What is the difference between sleet and hail?

A

Sleet is a mixture of snow and rain. Hail is large, roughly spherical ice pellets 5-500mm or more in diameter.

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26
Q

What is topography?

A

The shape of the land.

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27
Q

How can oceans influence the amount of precipitation in two places at the same latitude?

A

Warm ocean waters evaporate much water into the atmosphere. Near warm water the air has enough moisture to produce abundant precipitation.

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28
Q

What is the rain shadow?

A

The area past where the rain has fallen- usually after mountains.

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29
Q

What does cloud type depend on?

A

How high water vapor rises before it condenses.

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30
Q

What are condensation nuclei?

A

Particles that water needs to attach to in order to form raindrops. Examples are salt grain, soil, particle, soot, ash.

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31
Q

Where do clouds form?

A

Below the troposphere- where all the Earth’s weather takes place.

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32
Q

What is environmental lapse rate?

A

It is the decrease in temperature usually expected with an increase in height through the troposphere.

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33
Q

Why is atmospheric moisture vitally important?

A

It absorbs, reflects and scatters insulation to keep our planet habitable.

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34
Q

What is humidity?

A

A measure of water vapour content in the atmosphere . As air gets warmer humidity increases.

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35
Q

What is absolute humidity?

A

the mass of water vapour in a given volume of air measured in g/m cubed

36
Q

What is specific humidity?

A

The mass of water vapour in a given volume of air measured in g/km of air

37
Q

What is relative humidity?

A

The amount of water vapour in the air at a given temperature as a % of the maximum amount of vapour that the air can hold at that temperature.

38
Q

Why does evaporation need heat energy?

A

In order to break the bonds that hold the water molecules together.

39
Q

What is latent heat?

A

The energy needed to change the state of a substance without affecting its temperature.

40
Q

Why is evaporation important for the hydrological cycle?

A

It supports the surface to atmosphere portion of the cycle. It is the main pathway for water to the atmosphere and allows huge quantities of heat to be transferred around the planet.

41
Q

How does temperature affect transpiration levels?

A

Rates go up as temperature goes up. Higher temperatures causes stoma to open which releases water.

42
Q

What would happen to the hydrological cycle if evapotranspiration ended?

A

The hydrological cycle would end as all of the water would be stuck as liquid and would never leave the system.

43
Q

What causes the high biodiversity of the Amazon?

A

Hot and wet climate, easy for plants to grow and for animals to populate the area. It has developed over a long period causing a complex food web to develop. the soil is very nutrient rich. There are many ecological niches meaning plants are well adapted to their function in the system.

44
Q

What is the carbon cycle?

A

It is a biogeochemical cycle whereby carbon is exchanged by different spheres of the earth.

45
Q

In what forms is carbon exchanged?

A

Atmospheric gases, oceanic carbonates, as organic materials, non-living remains.

46
Q

What is residence time?

A

The amount of time carbon is naturally held in stores for.

47
Q

What is the difference between residence time of carbon in the oceans and that of carbon in rocks.

A

Carbon in the oceans has a residence time of 10 to 100 times faster than of carbon in rocks which is 150 million years.

48
Q

Describe the slow carbon cycle

A

Carbon mainly stored in rocks- circulates around 100 million tonnes a year. Same carbon vented into atmosphere by volcanic eruptions. Some are exposed to chemical weathering.

49
Q

Describe the fast carbon cycle.

A

Carbon circulates between the atmosphere, oceans, biosphere and soils. It is 10 to 1000 times faster than the slow cycle.

50
Q

What percentage of the rainfall that is evapotranspired into the atmosphere falls back down as rain again in the Amazon?

A

Around 48%

51
Q

What does the flood hydrograph show?

A

How long it takes for precipitation to enter a river and affect water levels. Can help judge steepness of landscape, permeability of rock and amount of trees and plants in the way.

52
Q

What would the flood hydrograph of the Amazon be like?

A

Quite stable due to the constant patterns of rain every day. Would take quite a while for water to get to rivers, most would be intercepted by plants and will be used by plants before making it to the river. Flat land also means water moves slowly.

53
Q

What is primary productivity?

A

Plant productivity

54
Q

What is secondary productivity?

A

Animal productivity

55
Q

What is cross primary productivity?

A

The measure of all photosynthesis that occurs in a system.

56
Q

What is net productivity?

A

energy left after losses as a result of respiration, growth, etc…

57
Q

What is net primary productivity?

A

Amount of energy made available by plants to animals, only at the herbivore level, is expressed in kg/msquared/year

58
Q

What is biomass?

A

Total weight of organic material.

59
Q

Why does deforestation lead to a change in the water and carbon cycles (Amazon rainforest)?

A

It leads to a slowing down of photosynthesis meaning less carbon is taken in from the atmosphere. Soil receives more water and more surface runoff happens meaning there will be more floods.

60
Q

What is the issue with farming in the Amazon?

A

Farming creates monocultures which wipe out the soil breaking links in the carbon and water cycles.

61
Q

What are the atmospheric impacts of deforestation? (unfinished)

A

Reduces the forest flux rate by approximately 1km cubed per year. Replaces cover and decreases precipitation, causes 18 day onset of the rainy season. More wildfires and greater drought intensity. Positive feedback loop- droughts become more severe with continued climate change and deforestation.

62
Q

How does deforestation contribute to climate change?

A

Degradation and deforestation releases carbon stored within the atmosphere. 30% of anthropogenic carbon emissions come from burning rainforests alone.

63
Q

What percentage less carbon do disturbed forests have than undisturbed forests?

A

40%

64
Q

What will happen to most of the species within the Amazon due to climate change?

A

Some species will be fast enough to move to a new environment. Fish distribution will change. Reduced rainfall and increased temperatures may reduce suitable habitats causing invasive species.

65
Q

How does deforestation impact soil?

A

Removing trees deprives the forest of its canopy- they block the suns rays during the day. Causes soils to dry out due to too much heat.

66
Q

Why are flash floods more likely due to deforestation?

A

There is less interception by rainforests and less absorption by the trees so the soil becomes more saturated leading to flash floods.

67
Q

How big are the forest conservation areas that the Brazilian govt created since 1998 and what is the percentage cover that is protected?

A

20 times the size of Belgium. 44%

68
Q

positives of protection areas.

A

Allow for biodiversity (need to finish)

69
Q

Amount of carbon cycled in slow and fast carbon cycles (annually)

A 
slow= 10-100 million tonnes
fast= 1000-100,000 million tonnes
70
Q

What is diurnal change?

A

A change of activity in the water and carbon cycles between the day and night.

71
Q

How does the water cycle change from night to day?

A

Lower night time temperatures
reduce flows of evaporation and transpiration,
however they can create conditions perfect for
condensation leading to the formation of fog,
mist, dew and frost. Convectional precipitation
does not occur at night.

72
Q

How does the carbon cycle change from night to day?

A

CO2 flows from the atmosphere to vegetation during the day but at night it is reversed. This is also true of phytoplankton.

73
Q

What is the residence time of the oceans?

A

350 years

74
Q

How does sea floor sediment form?

A

Corals and clams create their shells out of carbon, when they die their shells sink to the sea bed and these compact over time to form sedimentary rocks.

75
Q

What % of global water is stored in oceans, glaciers, aquifers and lakes?

A

Oceans-97%
glaciers - 2%
Aquifers 0.7%
Lakes 0.01%

76
Q

How much carbon is stored in rocks but what range does it potentially have?

A

65,000 billion tonnes, can go up to 100,000,000 billion tonnes

77
Q

How much carbon is stored in oceans?

A

38,000 billion tonnes

78
Q

How much carbon is stored in sea floor sediments?

A

6,000 billion tonnes

79
Q

How much carbon is stored in fossil fuels?

A

4,130 billion tonnes

80
Q

How much carbon is stored in soils?

A

2,300 billion tonnes

81
Q

How much water does the water cycle circulate per year?

A

505,000 km cubed of water a year.

82
Q

What influence does water have on the temperature of the earth?

A

It regulates the Earth’s temperatures. Clouds reflect 20% of incoming short wave radiation, water vapour absorbs long wave radiation keeping temperatures 15 degrees above what they would be otherwise.

83
Q

How is water used economically?

A

It is required in order to produce certain goods. Most food requires a lot of water e.g 1kg of chocolate needs 17,000kg. 1 tonne of steel would require up to 150,000 litres of water.

84
Q

What is carbon used for in manufacturing?

A

Carbon which is in oil is used for plastics, paints and synthetic fibers.

85
Q

What % of fresh water does water in the cryosphere count as? What about aquifers?

A

75%

20%

86
Q

What % of global carbon is stored in rocks?

A

99.9%

87
Q

How much carbon is transferred from rocks to the atmosphere and oceans annually by chemical weathering?

A

0.3 billion tonnes.

Earth's life support systems (10 decks)

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