Water And Carbon Definitions (E) Flashcards
Input
The matter or energy that enters the system
Output
The matter or energy that leaves the system
Flow
When energy or matter is moving stores
Store
Where energy or matter stays ( is stored )
Positive feedback
Further exaggerating the change
Negative feedback
Returning the change to normal
Dynamic Equilibrium
A balance of two controls
Open systems
Energy and matter can enter + exit the system
Closed systems
Matter cannot enter and exit the system
Energy can enter and exit the system
Lithosphere
Outermost part of the earth, crust + upper mantle
Hydrosphere
Includes all the water on earth, any form, fresh, salty
Cryosphere
All frozen water on earth
Biosphere
Where living things are found
Aquifer
A store of water underground
Soil water budget
The annual balance between precipitation, evapotranspiration and runoff
Weather
Short term atmosphere conditions
Climate
Weather of a specific region averaged over long periods of time
Tricellular model
How energy is transferred polewards via Hadley, Feral and Polar cells
Cyclone
Large mass of air rotating
Anticyclone
Air moves apart and sinks
Depression
Areas of low atmospheric pressure
Convection currents
The movement of magma moving from hotter areas to cooler areas and to hot ones again
Relief
The shape of the land ( how steep)
Topography
Shape of the land (mountains, valleys ect)
Orography
Features + formations of mountains (shape of mountains)
Coriolis
Circulating air is deflected toward the right and left hemisphere
Precipitation
Rain
Interception
The capture of rain by the plant canopy
Stemflow
Water running down a stem/ trunk
Infiltration
Water entering soils
Percolation
Water traveling through rock
Throughflow
Water flowing beneath the surface of the ground
Throughfall
Water dripping from leaf to leaf
Evaporation
When a liquid becomes a vapour
Transpiration
The process of water movement through a plant
Evapotranspiration
Evaporation and transpiration
PET
Potential evapotranspiration
Amount of water that would be lost by evaporation during the year when water availability is not limited
Runoff
Water flowing on the surface
Groundwater flow
Water moving in the ground
Soil water budget
Amount of water that can stored in the soil
Soil water recharge
As water re enters soil
Soil water surplus
Soil is saturated, so water flows OVER soil
Soil water utilisation
Water drawn to surface of soil through capillary action
Soil water deficit
When more water is removed than replaced
Drainage basin
The area of land drained by a river + its tributary’s
Water shed
An area of land that drains all the streams into a channel
Confluence
2 rivers join to form one channel
Tributary
A small river joins a large one
Source
Where the water initially starts
Mouth
End of the river (usually by a sea)
Permeable
Can travel through
Impermeable
Can’t travel through
Hydrograph
Shows how water lives through a system
Lag time
The delay between peak rainfall + discharge
Peak discharge
The highest amount of water in the river after rainfall
Baseflow
The water that is sustained between rainfall in a hydrograph
Flashy basin
Fast, short lag time
Antecedent rainfall
The precipitation before the one on the hydrograph - influences runoff ect
Cumecs
Volume of water
Flood
Water overflowing onto land
Bank full discharge
The total amount of water a river can hold without overflowing
Water abstraction
Taking water from a ground source
River regime
The annual variation in the discharge or flow of a river at a specific point
Insolation
The energy from the sun
Condensation
When vapour becomes a liquid
Dew point
The temperature at which dew forms (when the temperature massively drops suddenly)
Condensation nuclei
Tiny particles that water vapour sticks to, to condense as the water has to form droplets of a certain size
Carbon
CO2 pollutant
Carbon sink
Where carbon is absorbed/ stored = woodland
Carbon source
Release co2 into the atmosphere, fossil fuels
Marine carbon source
Ocean
Terrestrial carbon source
Land
Fossil fuels
Hydrocarbon, large contributor to atmosphere
Net primary productivity (NPP)
Amount of carbon absorbed by forests
Succession
Where a mix of species/ habitat change overtime
Lithosphere
Soil outer layer of the earth
Psammosere
A community, an ecological succession that began life on a newly exposed coastal sand
Halosere
An ecological succession in a saline water/ environment
Hydrosere
A plant succession which occurs in an area of fresh water
Sere
A complete succession of plant communities, which results in the climax community
Seral stage
Each step in plant succession
Climax community
The final stage of ecological succession attainable by a plant community
Photosynthesis
A chemical reaction in plants
Decomposers
Decompose natural material/ organisms once dead
Decomposition
The process of the plant/ animal returning to the soil
Respiration
Breathing
Combustion
Burning a substance in the presence of oxygen to release energy
Carbon sequestration
Capturing and storing atmosphere carbon dioxide
Weathering
The wearing down or breaking of rocks while they are in place
Erosion
Where materials are worn away
Quaternary period
The period of time we are living in
Permafrost
A later that is permanently frozen
Albedo
How reflective a surface is
Industrial Revolution
Using machines instead of handwork
Deforestation
Cutting down trees
Urbanisation
More people living in towns/ city’s
Biomass
The mass of a plant - water
Carbon budget
Amount of carbon stored in carbon cycle
Petagram
A billion metric tons of
Plankton
Small organism in the ocean
Volcanic winter
Earths surface cooling from Ash+ sulfer aerosols
Greenhouse effect
The warming of the earth as the greenhouse gasses increase in the atmosphere
Enhanced greenhouse effect
From human pollution and their impact
CH4
Methane
Greenhouse gases (4)
Carbon dioxide
Methane
Water vapour
Nitrous oxide
Carbonic acid
Chemical weathering (acid rain)
The Paris Agreement
Strengthen global response to climate change
FSC
Forestry stewardship Council
Non government organisation, promote environmentally friendly appropriate, economically viable
Selective tree felling
Selecting certain trees to cut down
Tropical rainforest
Equator, Forrest in hot humid conditions
Drop-Tips
Water falling of leaves with pointy leaves
Leaf litter
The fallen leaves on a forest floor
Tree canopy
The leaves + branches in the forest (high)
Logging
Cutting, process of processing + transport (for trees)
Ranching
Raising herds of animals on large land
Slash and burn
Removing + drying vegetation + burn to create nutrient rich ash to grow crops on
‘Lungs of the earth’
TREES
Indigenous
People or objects native to a certain region
