Water and Carbon cycles: The water cycle Flashcards
Define aquifer:
A permeable or porous rock which stores water
Define convectional precipiation:
Solar radiation heats the air above the ground causing it to rise, cool and condense forming precipitation.
Define desalination plant:
The conversion of seawater to freshwater, suitable for human consumption.
Define economic water scarcity:
When water resources are available but insufficient economic wealth limits access to it.
Define global hydrological cycle:
The continuous transfer of water between land, atmosphere and the oceans (closed system)
Define meteorological drought:
When long term precipitation trends are below average
Define percolation:
Water moving from the ground/soil into porous rock or rock fractures.
Define physical water scarcity:
A physical lack of available freshwater which cannot meet demand.
Define relief precipitation:
Precipitation caused when air masses are forced to rise over high land, determined by the relief of the land
Define river regime:
The pattern of river discharge over a year
Define smart irrigation:
Providing cops with a water supply less than optimal, to make crops resistant to water shortages.
Define storm hydrograph:
Variation of river discharge over a short period of time.
Define through flow:
Water moving horizontal through the soil, due to gravity
Define tipping point:
A critical threshold where any changes to a system after the threshold are irreversible.
Define water budget:
The annual balance between inputs and outputs within a system
What is atmospheric water?
Water found in the atmosphere.
What is cryospheric water?
The water locked up on the Earth’s surface as ice.
___% of water is frozen in the cryosphere.
69%
___% of water is groundwater (in the lithosphere)
30%
Name the 3 types of rainfall:
- Convectional
- Relief
- Frontal
Explain frontal rainfall:
Warm air rises over cool air when two bodies of air at different temperatures meet. As the warm air is less dense and lighter it condenses at higher altitudes and falls as rain.
