Water Cycle

Question 1

Anticyclone

Answer 1

A system of high pressure, causing high
temperatures and unseasonably high
evaporation rates

Question 2

Aquifer

Answer 2

A permeable or porous rock which stores

water

Question 3

Channel Flow

Answer 3

Water flowing in a rivulet, stream or river

Question 4

Convectional Precipitation

Answer 4

Solar radiation heats the air above the
ground, causing it to rise, cool &
condense forming precipitation (often as
thunderstorms)

Question 5

Cyrosphere

Answer 5

The global water volume locked up

within a frozen state (i.e. snow and ice)

Question 6

Depression

Answer 6

A system of low pressure, with fronts of
precipitation where low and high
pressure air masses meet

Question 7

Desalination Plant

Answer 7

The conversion of seawater to
freshwater, suitable for human
consumption

Question 8

Desublimation

Answer 8

The change of state of water from gas to
solid, without being a liquid (the opposite
process to sublimation)

Question 9

Drainage Basin

Answer 9

The area of land drained by a river and

its tributaries

Question 10

Drainage Density

Answer 10

The total length of all rivers & streams

divided by the area of the drainage basin

Question 11

Drought

Answer 11

An extended period of deficient rainfall
relative to the statistical average for the
region (UN)

Question 12

Economic Water Scarcity

Answer 12

When water resources are available but
insufficient economic wealth limits
access to it

Question 13

ENSO Cycle

Answer 13

El Nino Southern Oscillations - naturally
occurring phenomena that involves the
movement of warm water in the
Equatorial Pacific

Question 14

Evapotranspiration

Answer 14

The combined total moisture transferred
from the Earth to the atmosphere,
through evaporation and transpiration

Question 15

Frontal Precipitation

Answer 15

Where air masses of different
temperatures meet at a front, one mass
will be forced over another, causing
precipitation beneath the front.

Question 16

Global Hydrological Cycle

Answer 16

The continuous transfer of water
between land, atmosphere and oceans.
The Earth is a closed system

Question 17

Groundwater Flow

Answer 17

Water moving horizontally through

permeable or porous rock due to Gravity

Question 18

Hydrological Drought

Answer 18

Insufficient soil moisture to meet the

needs of vegetation (crops, trees, plants)

Question 19

Inflitration

Answer 19

The movement of water vertically

through the pores in soil

Question 20

Integrated Drainage Basin Management

Answer 20

Establishing a frame of coordinated
efforts between administrations (e.g.
local government) and stakeholders (e.g
businesses) to achieve balanced
management of a basin (World Bank)

Question 21

Interception

Answer 21

Raindrops are prevented from falling
directly onto the ground, instead hitting
the leaves of a tree

Question 22

Meteorological Drought

Answer 22

When long-term precipitation trends are

below average.

Question 23

Monsoon

Answer 23

The drastic variation between wet and
dry seasons for sub-tropical areas,
caused by a changed prevailing wind.
Can lead to annual flooding.

Question 24

Open System

Answer 24

A system affected by external flows and
inputs (such as a drainage basin, or a
sediment cell)

Question 25

Percolation

Answer 25

Water moving vertically from soil into

permeable rock

Question 26

Physical Water Scarcity

Answer 26

A physical lack of available freshwater

which cannot meet demand

Question 27

Relief Precipitation

Answer 27

Precipitation caused when air masses
are forced to rise over high land,
determined by the relief/ morphology of
the land

Question 28

River Regime

Answer 28

The pattern of river discharge over a

year

Question 29

Runoff

Answer 29

Water flowing over the surface of the
ground eg. after precipitation or
snowmelt

Question 30

Salinisation

Answer 30

Where salt water contaminates
freshwater stores or soils, creating saline
conditions and reducing human use/
consumption.

Question 31

Saltwater Encroachment

Answer 31

The movement of saltwater into
freshwater aquifers or soils. This may be
caused by sea level rise, storm surges or
over-extraction

Question 32

Smart Irrigation

Answer 32

Providing crops with a water supply less
than optimal, to make crops resistant to
water shortages.

Question 33

Storm Hydrograph

Answer 33

Variation of river discharge over a short

period of time (days)

Question 34

Sublimation

Answer 34

The change of state of water from solid

to a gas, without being a liquid

Question 35

Throughflow

Answer 35

Water moving horizontally through the

soil, due to gravity

Question 36

Transpiration

Answer 36

The process through which water
evaporates through the stomata in
plants’ leaves

Question 37

Water Budget

Answer 37

The annual balance between inputs and

outputs within a system

Question 38

Water Conservation

Answer 38

Strategies to reduce water usage and

demand

Question 39

Water Recycling

Answer 39

The treatment and purification of waste

water, to increase supply

Question 40

Water Scarcity

Answer 40

There are limited renewable water
sources (between 500 and 1000 cubic
metres per capita per year)

Question 41

Water Security

Answer 41

The ability to protect and access a
sustainable source to adequately meet
demand

Question 42

Water Sharing Treaty

Answer 42

International agreements for

transboundary sources

Question 43

Water Transfer

Answer 43

Hard engineering projects, such as
pipelines or aqueducts, that divert water
between basins to meet demand

Question 44

Watershed

Answer 44

The boundary between neighbouring

drainage basins