Water cycle

Question 1

How are clouds formed?

Answer 1

Evaporation from ocean storage that condenses to form clouds

Question 2

How does water move from vegetation?

Answer 2

Acts as an interception from precipitation. Transpiration, respiring leaves, stem flow to surface storage

Question 3

State the stages that water takes to get to groundwater storage and aquifers

Answer 3

Precipitation (interception, stem flow), surface storage, infiltration, soil storage, percolation (through rocks), groundwater storage

Question 4

What is percolation?

Answer 4

movement of surface and soil water into underlying permeable rocks

Question 5

What is an aquifer?

Answer 5

Water bearing band of pourrous or permeable rock, water infiltrates through soil then percolates into rocks.

Question 6

How can geology affect the water cycle under ground?

Answer 6

more porous and permeable rocks = more water held via percolation forming aquifers.

Question 7

What is channel storage and what does it lead to?

Answer 7

Storage of water In river channels. Goes to channel flow them ocean storage via estuarys

Question 8

What is infiltration?

Answer 8

Movement of water from surface storage to soil storage

Question 9

What is transpiration?

Answer 9

Evaporation of water from the pores (stoma) of leaves

Question 10

Where can water go from soil storage?

Answer 10

Either percolate into rocks or move through soil via through flow into channel storage.

Question 11

What type of system is the water system?

Answer 11

It’s closed

Question 12

Why is the water cycle a closed system?

Answer 12

Only energy crosses boundaries, not matter because no new water is added, it just circulates

Question 13

define a system

Answer 13

A group of objects and the relationship between them

Question 14

What is sublimation?

Answer 14

Ice to water vapour directly

Question 15

What is the difference between melting and sublimation?

Answer 15

Sublimation does not have a liquid phase but melting does

Question 16

Where does precipitation go?

Answer 16

Onto interception (vegetation), surface storage, ocean storage and channel storage.

Question 17

How do clouds moderate global temperature?

Answer 17

They absorb insolation (the suns radiation) as well as reflecting it, leading to reduced surface temperatures

Question 18

How do oceans moderate global temperature?

Answer 18

Oceans absorb heat and release it via evaporation

Question 19

How much of the earth surface is ocean storage?

Answer 19

71%

Question 20

Socioeconomic uses of water:

Answer 20

• Irrigation for farming and food cycle maintenance
• energy generation (hydroelectric, wave, geothermal)
• recreational activities eg fishing, surfing, swimming
• manufacturing eg. paper, jeans, plastic

Question 21

Biospheric importance of water:

Answer 21

• habitat maintenance
• photosynthesis input
• transport of nutrients in organisms
• metabolism
• forming and splitting molecules
• food cycle

Question 22

define biosphere

Answer 22

The space at the Earth surface and within the atmosphere occupied by living organisms

Question 23

Role of water vapour in the atmosphere

Answer 23

Absorbs long-wave radiation in the atmosphere to regulate global temperatures.

Question 24

Define residence time

Answer 24

The length of time a molecule [eg H2O or CO2] that it spends in natural storage eg ocean, atmosphere

Question 25

What are the 3 main water stores?

Answer 25

AOL - Atmosphere, oceans and land

Question 26

Residence time of water molecule in the ocean

Answer 26

3000 years on average

Question 27

Residence time of water molecule in the atmosphere

Answer 27

10 days on average

Question 28

Residence time of water molecule on land

Answer 28

its variable

Question 29

How much water is stored in the ocean in gigatonnes?

Answer 29

1,370,000 GT

Question 30

How much water is stored in the atmosphere in gigatonnes?

Answer 30

13Gt

Question 31

How much water is stored on land in gigatonnes?

Answer 31

39,000Gt

Question 32

What’s the process of water from Land to atmosphere?

Answer 32

Evapotranspiration

Question 33

What’s the process of water from atmosphere to the land or ocean?

Answer 33

Precipitation

Question 34

What’s the process of water from ocean to the atmosphere ?

Answer 34

evaporation

Question 35

What percentage of all global water is in oceans?

Answer 35

97% of all water is in oceans

Question 36

What percentage of all global water is in aquifers or groundwater storage?

Answer 36

0.7% of all global water is in groundwater storage/aquifers

Question 37

How does water moderate global temperatures?

Answer 37

• water vapour traps LW radiation
• ice reflects insolation
• clouds absorb and reflect insolation to reduce surface temperatures
• oceans absorb heat and get rid of it via evaporation