Water Cycle Flashcards
condensation
process by which water vapour changes to liquid water
cryospheric processes
processes that affect the total mass of ice at any scale from local patches of frozen ground to global ice amounts e.g. accumulation & ablation
drainage basin
area of land drained by a river and its tributaries
evaporation
process by which liquid water changes to a gas
evapotranspiration
total output of water from the drainage basin directly back into the atmosphere
groundwater flow
slow movement of water through underlying rocks
infiltration
downward movement of water from the surface into soil
bankfull
the maximum discharge that a river channel is capable of carrying without flooding
discharge
the amount of water in a river flowing past a particular point (cumecs)
base flow
represents the normal day-to-day discharge of a river and consequence of slow moving soil throughflow and groundwater seeping into the river channel
lag time
the time between peak rainfall and peak discharge
peak discharge
the point on a flood hydrograph when river discharge is at its greatest
storm flow
discharged resulting from storm precipitation involving overland, through-, and groundwater flows
storm hydrograph
a graph of discharge of a river over the time period when the normal flow of the river is affected by a storm event
rising limb
how quickly a river responds to a storm
flow/transfer
a form of linkage between one store/component and another that involves movement of energy/mass
input
the addition of matter and/or energy into a system
store/component
a part of a system where energy/mass is stored or transformed
system
a set of interrelated components working together towards some kind of process
atmospheric water
mainly water vapour with some liquid water (cloud/rain droplets) and ice crystals in the atmosphere
crysopheric water
water locked up on the earths surface as ice
hydrosphere
a discontinuous layer of water at/near the surface (all liquid and frozen surface waters, groundwater in soil/rock and atmosp. vapour)
oceanic water
water contained in the oceans and seas (not inland)
terrestrial water
consists of groundwater, soil moisture, lakes, wetlands, rivers
interception storage
precipitation that falls on the vegetation surfaces (canopy)/human-made cover and is temporarily stored here
overland flow
the tendency of water to flow horizontally across land surfaces when rainfall has exceeded infiltration capacity of the soil and all surface stores are overflowing
percolation
downward movement of water within the rock under the soil surface
run-off
all water that enters a river channel and eventually flows out of the drainage basin
saturated
applies to any water stored that has reached it maximum capacity
stemflow
portion of precipitation intercepted by the canopy that reaches the ground by flowing down stems/stalks/tree bole
rainfall event
rainfall period separated by dry intervals of at least 4 hours
storm event
rainfall period separated by dry intervals of at least 24hrs
throughfall
portion of the precipitation that reaches the ground directly though gaps in the canopy and drips from leaves, twigs, stems- when canopy-surface rainwater storage exceeds its storage capacity
latent heat
the heat required to convert a solid into a liquid or vapour, or a liquid into a vapour, without change of temperature
dew point temperature
the temperature to which the air would have to cool in order to reach sturation
condensation nuclei
tiny particles needed for water molecules to be able to condense onto to convert to liquid water
lithospheric water
water in the crust and upper mantle
cloud
a visible mass of water droplets/ice crystals suspended in the atmsophere
how clouds form
when air in lower layers of atmosphere becoming saturated due to either cooling of air and increase in water vapour falling as rain
types of cryospheric water
sea ice (ice shelves, icebergs), ice sheets, ice caps, alpine glaciers, permafrost
terrestrial- surface water
rivers, lakes, wetlands
Ramsar Convention
an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands
water table
depth at which soil pore spaces/fractures and voids in rock become completely with water
latent heat
the heat required to convert a solid into a liquid/vapour or liquid into a vapour without change of temperature
quaternary glaciation
most recent major glacial period 2.58 million years ago
water balance
balance between inputs and outputs
precipitation (P) = discharge (Q) + evapotranspiration (E) +/- changes in storage (S)
river regime
rise and fall of river discharge showing an annual pattern, vary in short term following heavy rainfall
potential evapotranspiration
amount of water that could be evaporated/transpired from an area if there was sufficient water
