Water and Carbon Cycles Flashcards
Water and carbon cycles as natural systems
-Inputs
- The addition of matter and energy into a system
- Water cycle inputs= precipitation
- Carbon cycle inputs= atmospheric CO2
Water and carbon cycles as natural systems
-Outputs
- The removal of matter and/or energy from a system
- Water cycle outputs=Transpiration, evaporation, river discharge
- Carbon cycle outputs= Fossils and fossil fuels
Water and carbon cycles as natural systems
-Stores and components
- A part of the system where energy/matter is held for a long time or transformed
- Water cycle stores= interception, ground water storage and soil moisture storage
- Carbon cycle stores=ocean carbon store, lithosphere, hydrosphere, pedosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, biosphere
Water and carbon cycles as natural systems
-Flows/transfers
- A link between one store and another that involves movement of energy or mass
- Water cycle flows=Stem flow, percolation, channel flow
- Carbon cycle flows= Photosynthesis, respiration, combustion, decomposition, ocean uptake and loss, weathering and sequestration
Water and carbon cycles as natural systems
-Positive feedback
-Where the effects of an action are amplified or multiplied by subsequent knock-on or secondary effects
Water and carbon cycles as natural systems
-Negative feedback
-Where the effects of an action are nullified by its subsequent knock-on effects
Water and carbon cycles as natural systems
-Dynamic equilibrium
-A balance between inputs and outputs within a system
Water and carbon cycles as natural systems
-Isolated systems
-These have no interactions with anything outside the system boundary. There is no input or output of energy or matter
Water and carbon cycles as natural systems
-Closed systems
-These have transfers of energy both into and beyond the system boundary but not transfer of matter
Water and carbon cycles as natural systems
-Open systems
-These are where matter and energy can be transformed from the system across the boundary into the surrounding environment
The water cycle
-Hydrosphere
-All the water on the Earth’s surface, such as lakes and seas, and sometimes including water over the Earth’s surface, such as clouds
The water cycle
-Cryosphere
-The cryosphere contains the frozen parts of the planet
-This sphere helps maintain Earth’s climate by reflecting incoming solar radiation back into space
-The cryosphere contains 5 locations, including:
sea ice, permafrost, alpine glaciers, ice sheets and ice caps
The water cycle
-Atmosphere
- Atmospheric water is found in the atmosphere; mainly as water vapour with some liquid water and ice crystals
- The atmosphere contains 12,900 km3 of water (as vapour)
The water cycle
-Lithosphere
- It is bounded by the atmosphere above and the asthenosphere
- Water held in rocks is stored in aquifers
- Layers of permeable rock which allow the percolation of water
The water cycle
-Water on planet Earth
- There is roughly 1,320,000,000 to 1,370,000,000 km 3 of water on Earth, with an average depth of 3,682m
- The ocean contains 97% of the Earth’s water, with 3% as fresh water
- Oceanic water tastes salty because it contains dissolved salts. These salts allow it stay as liquid water below 0 ^C
The water cycle
-Cloud formation
- There are millions of tiny droplets around us. They are either tiny gas particles, known as water vapour, or aerosols which are tiny particles of salt and dust
- The water vapour and the aerosols are constantly bumping into each other. When the air is cooled, they sometimes stick together- this is called condensation
- Eventually, bigger water droplets form around these aerosol particles and these water droplets start sticking to other droplets, forming clouds
- Clouds will either be composed of ice or water droplets, depending on the height of the cloud and the temperature of the atmosphere. Because the droplets are small, they can remain in liquid from in temperatures as low as -30 C.
- Clouds from when the air is saturated and cannot hold any more water vapor. The warmer the air is, the more water vapour it can hold. As the air rises it cools, reducing the temperature and then resulting in condensation
- As the tiny water droplets group together, they grow heavy and gravity pulls them down as raindrops. If it is cold enough, the rainfall can either be sleet, freezing rain or hail
The water cycle
-Causes of precipitation (frontal rainfall)
- When a warm air mass meets a cold air mass, they don’t mix as they have different densities
- Instead, the warm less dense air is pushed is over the cold dense air creating the ‘front’
- The warm air cools and the water vapour condenses and falls as raindrops