Water and Carbon Cycles - Keywords

Question 1

Recharge

Answer 1

• When water is added to soil moisture storage

- Happens when precip > POTET but soil is not yet at field capacity

Question 2

Surplus

Answer 2

• Happens when precip > POTET and soil is at field capacity
• So any extra water applied to soil runs off
• Flooding can occur in this season as water may run off into streams + rivers and cause them to overflow
• So intensity + duration of surplus can be used to predict severity of flooding

Question 3

Utilization

Answer 3

• When water is withdrawn from soil moisture storage

- Happens when POTET > price but soil storage is not yet at 0 (i.e. soil is not completely dry)

Question 4

Deficit

Answer 4

• Happens when POTET > precip and soil storage is at 0 (i.e. soil is completely dry)
• In this season there is no water for plants, so farmers have to irrigate their crops, either by tapping into ground water reserves or using water from streams + lakes

Question 5

Interception storage

Answer 5

• The precipation that falls and is temporarily stored on vegetation or human made surfaces
• From here can be evaporated directly to atmosphere, absorbed by vegetation, or transmitted to ground surface

Question 6

Overland flow

Answer 6

• The water that has to flow horizontally across land surfaces bc soil has reached its infiltration capacity and all surface stores are saturated

Question 7

Percolation

Answer 7

• When water moves downwards within rock under the soil surface

Question 8

Run-off

Answer 8

• All the water that enters a river channel and flows out of its drainage basin.

Question 9

Saturated

Answer 9

• Any water store that has reached its full capacity

Question 10

Stemflow

Answer 10

• The precip intercepted by the canopy that reaches the ground via flowing down stems, stalks, or tree bole.

Question 11

Storm

Answer 11

A rainfall period separated by dry intervals of at least 24 hours

Question 12

Rainfall event

Answer 12

A rainfall period separated by dry intervals of at least 4 hours

Question 13

Throughfall / Leaf drip

Answer 13

• The precip intercepted by the canopy that reaches the ground via falling through gaps in the canopy or dripping from leaves, twigs, and stems
• Only happens then canopy-surface rainwater storageis saturated

Question 14

Throughflow

Answer 14

• The water that moves down-slope through the sub-soil due to gravity
• Particularly effective when underlying permeable rock prevents further downward movement

Question 15

Transpiration

Answer 15

The loss of water from vegetation through pores (stomata) on their surface

Question 16

Water balance

Answer 16

The balance between inputs (precipitation) and outputs (run-off, evapotranspiration, soil and groundwater storage) in a drainage basin.

Question 17

Condensation

Answer 17

The process by which water vapour changes to liquid water

Question 18

Cryospheric Processes

Answer 18

Those processes that affect the total mass of ice at any scale from local patches of frozen ground to global ice amounts. They include accumulation (the build-up of ice mass) and ablation (the loss of ice-mass).

Question 19

Drainage basin

Answer 19

The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries. Includes water found on the surface, in the soil, and in near-surface geology.

Question 20

Evaporation

Answer 20

The process by which liquid water changes to a gas. Requires energy, which is provided by the sun, and aided by wind.

Question 21

Evapotranspiration

Answer 21

The total output of water from the drainage basin directly back into the atmosphere.

Question 22

Groundwater flow

Answer 22

The slow movement of water through underlying rocks.

Question 23

Infiltration

Answer 23

The downward movement of water from the surface into soil.

Question 24

Enhanced greenhouse effect

Answer 24

The impact on the climate from the additional heat retained due to the increased amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that humans have released into the Earth’s atmosphere since the industrial revolution.

Question 25

Geo-sequestration

Answer 25

The technology of capturing greenhouse gas emission from power stations and pumping them into underground resevoirs.

Question 26

Radiative forcing

Answer 26

The difference between the incoming solar energy absorbed by the Earth and energy radiated back to space.

Question 27

Soil organic carbon

Answer 27

The organic constituents in the soil: tissues from dead plants and animal products produced as these decompose and the soil microbial biomass.

Question 28

Anthropogenic CO2

Answer 28

Carbon dioxide generated by human activity

Question 29

Biosphere

Answer 29

The total sum of all living matter

Question 30

Carbon sequestration

Answer 30

The capture of CO2 from the atmosphere or capturing of anthropogenic CO2 from large-scale stationary sources like power plants before it is released into the atmosphere. Once captured, the CO2 gas or carbon portion of it is put into long-term storage.

Question 31

Greenhouse gas

Answer 31

Any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere.

Question 32

Lithosphere

Answer 32

The crust and the uppermost mantle; this constitutes the hard and rigid outer layer of the Earth.

Question 33

Weathering

Answer 33

The breakdown of rocks ‘in situ’ by the combination of weather, plants and animals.

Question 34

Discharge

Answer 34

The volume of water in a river flowing past a particular point in a given time. It is expressed in cumecs.

Question 35

Bankfull

Answer 35

The maximum discharge that a river is capable of carrying without flooding.

Question 36

Base flow

Answer 36

The normal day-to-day discharge of a river, that is the consequence of slow moving soil through flow and groundwater seeping through the river channel.

Question 37

Lag time

Answer 37

The time between the peak rainfall and peak discharge.

Question 38

Storm flow

Answer 38

Discharge resulting from storm precipitation involving both overland flow, through flow, as well as groundwater flow.

Question 39

Storm hydrograph

Answer 39

A graph of discharge of a river over the time period when the normal flow of a river is