Water Cycle Flashcards
Solar energy
The driving force of evaporation and transpiration. Water vapour wheee is rises upwards, cools and condenses to form clouds
Gravitational potential energy
Idea that water ‘accelerates’ under gravity, thus transporting water towards rivers by surface runoff, through flow
Hydrological cycle
-The movement, or transform of water through the major stores of the global system
-human activities are having an increasing impact upon the form and function
-drainage basins are the major transfer system
Drainage basin
The total area drained by a river and its associated tributaries
Source
Starting point of river/ tributary. With saturated, impermeable soil
Mouth
End of a river, point where it meets the sea
Estuary
When the lower mouth is flooded
Tributary
Smaller stream or river joining a larger stream or river
Confluence
Where tributary’s and rivers join/meet
Watershed
Area on top of drainage basin. Area of high ground that separates two adjacent drainage basins.
Infiltration capacity
The maximum rate at which soil is capable of absorbing water in a given condition
Biosphere
Vegetation store
Hydrosphere
-ocean store
-surface store, ice, rivers, lakes
Lithosphere
Groundwater, store
Atmosphere
Gases surrounding the earth
Precipitation
Any liquid that forms in the atmosphere and falls back to earth
Aquifers
Water bearing rocks, holds groundwater
System
A way of modelling how water moves in, through and out of the local drainage basin
Infiltration
Water seeps into the ground
Percolation
Water going through the bedrock- further infiltration.
Water flows. Vertically through the soil and. Rocks
Groundwater storage
Gives rivers their water. At the bottom of the ground
Water flows horizontally. Through the rock into the river
Transpiration
Water vapour is released through the. Stomata in the leaves
Interception
Water is stored on leaves and branches of vegetation
Throughflow
Water flows horizontally through the soil into the river
Evaporation
Water turns from water droplets into water vapour
Surface run off
Water flows horizontally over the land into the river
Antecedent weather conditions
Previous weather
Topography
Posh word for relief
Global water budget
Is the difference between the inputs and outputs of water in a given area
Global water balance
Is the amount of water transferred by surface runoff from land masses to oceans, ensuring that excess of water falling o ver land masses is returned to oceans
Water residence time
Is the amount of time water stays within a particular store
Global extremes
Different climatic regions vary in the nature and size of their inputs, transfers and flows of water.
Cyrosphere
the frozen water part of the Earth system
Residence time
Average time a molecule of water will spend in one of the stores
Climate change on residency times
-Causes a rise in sea levels
-causes everything to be warmer
Therefore more water is evaporated, decreasing residence time
-residence time in atmosphere will shorten as it will be at its capacity more often as there is more evaporation
Fluxes
A stream of water
Discharge
Quantity of water that passes a given point on a stream with a given time
Rising limb
-Determined by level of surface run off
-amount of surface run off
What is a storm hydrograph
Amount of discharge after rainfall
Falling limb
-amount of through flow
-decrease after the peak discharge
Lag time
Time between peak rainfall and peak discharge in a hydrograph
Water year
-1st October - 30 September
-what water companies use at water year
Soil moisture deficit
When soil moisture has been used so we’re borrowing more than what we have stored
Eventually all the available water stored in the soil will have been used up
Soil moisture recharge
When precipitation is greater than evapotranspiration the pores of the soil are refilled with water
Soil moisture surplus
When the soil becomes saturated, excess water will have difficulty infiltrating into the ground. If it cannot infiltrate into the soil it will run over the surface as overland flow
Soil moisture utilisation
When evapotranspiration is greater than precipitation there is a reduction in the amount of water stored with the soil. The amounted of water stored in the soil is also been reduced because some of the water is been transferred as through flow to the river
Wet seasons
Precipitation is greater than evapotranspiration = a water surplus (October to April). Therefore ground stores fill with water leading to increased surface run off, higher discharge and higher river levels (surplus)
Water budget
Balance between inputs(precipitation) and outputs(evapotranspiration)
Sometimes in deficits, sometimes in surplus
Can be influenced by seasons and climate
River regime
-How discharge in a river fluctuates over time (annually, seasonly)
-water budget has an effect on rivers regime.
Field capacity
How long it takes to recharge
Point at which you have reached soil moisture recharge
Relief/orographic rainfall
Frontal rainfall
Conventional rainfall
Groundwater flooding
-ground is saturated
-infiltration can’t happen
-antecedent conditions
Surface water flooding
-if the ground is impermeable
-flash flood
-urban areas where water can’t infiltrate
-intense rainfall has insufficient time to infiltrate the soil, so flows overland
Flash flooding
-an exceptionally short lag time- often minutes or hours
Physical causes of flooding
-relief
-drainage density
-natural disasters
-previous weather conditions
-snowmelt
-rock type
-vegetation
-amount and type of rain
800 gallons of water per day are required to produce enough food for one person
Integrated drainage basin management scheme
Looking after a river so everyone in each state can have their necessary needs of water
Grey water
Reusing water that’s already used such as washing a car or watering plants
Transbounday rivers
Those that run through multiple countries and thus shared,often cross international borders
Water stress
Below 1700m2 per person
Water scarcity
Below 1000m2 per person, affects environment, personal wellbeing, health etc
