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Water cycle Flashcards

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1
Q

What % of earth’s water is in oceans?

A

97%

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2
Q

What is the PH of ocean water?

A

8.14 fallen from 8.25 over last 250 years

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3
Q

What are the 5 locations of cryospheric water

A
  • sea ice
  • ice caps
  • ice sheets
  • permafrost
  • alpine glaciers
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4
Q

Why does sea ice not increase sea levels?

A

Its formed from sea water

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5
Q

What is an ice sheet?

A

Mass of glacial land ice extending over 50,000km2

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6
Q

Where are the 2 major ice sheets?

A

Greenland and Antarctica, 99% of freshwater ice

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7
Q

How are ice sheets formed?

A

Snow falls and does not completely melt, over thousands of years layers of snow pile up into thick masses of ice

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8
Q

What are ice caps?

A

Thick layers of ice under 50,000km, usually found in mountainous areas

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9
Q

What are alpine glaciers?

A

Thick masses of ice found in deep valleys or in upland hollows

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10
Q

What is permafrost?

A

Ground that remains below 0 degrees for at least 2 consecutive years (occurs in glacial periods)

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11
Q

What are the 4 classes of terrestrial water?

A
  • surface water
  • groundwater
  • soil water
  • biological water
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12
Q

What is surface water?

A

Free-flowing water of rivers as well as water from ponds and lakes

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13
Q

What are rivers?

A
  • act as store and transfer of water
  • streams of water within a defined channel
  • cover 0.0002% of all water
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14
Q

What are lakes?

A

Collections of fresh water found in hollows on the land surface. Larger than 2 hectares.

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15
Q

What are wetlands?

A
  • areas of marsh, fen and peatland

- dominance by vegetation

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16
Q

What is groundwater?

A

Water collects underground in the pores spaces in rock, depth of 4,000m

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17
Q

What is soil water

A
  • Held together with air in unsaturated upper weathered layers of the Earth
  • Fundamental for many hydrological and biological processes
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18
Q

What does soil water effect?

A
  • weather/climate
  • run-off potential
  • flood control
  • soil erosion
  • reservoir management
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19
Q

Why is soil moisture important?

A

Controls exchange of water and heat energy between the land surface
Important role in weather patterns

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20
Q

What is biological water?

A

Constitutes the water stored in all the biomass

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21
Q

How many states can atmospheric water exist in?

A

3

solid, liquid and gas

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22
Q

What is evaporation?

A

Liquid->gas

Solar energy hits surface of water causing evaportation

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23
Q

What factors affect the rate of evaporation?

A
  • solar energy
  • availability of water
  • humidity of air
  • temperature of air
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24
Q

What is transpiration?

A

Water is transported from roots of plants to leaves and then lost through pores (stomata) on leaf surface

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25
Q

What is condensation

A

Gas->liquid

-occurs at dew point

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26
Q

What are the 2 main cryospheric processes?

A

accumulation and ablation

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27
Q

What period are we in now?

A

Quaternary period

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28
Q

What has happened during the quaternary period?

A
  • Glacial periods where the sea level was 120m lower than now
  • Interglacial periods where ablation exceeds accumulation
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29
Q

What is ablation?

A

Loss of mass of ice, melting

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30
Q

What is accumulation?

A

Build-up of ice mass,freezing

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31
Q

What is a drainage basin?

A

Area of land drained by river and its tributaries

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32
Q

What is groundwater flow

A

Slow movement of water through underlying rocks

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33
Q

What is infiltration?

A

Downward movement of water from the surface to soil

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34
Q

What is interception?

A

Precipitation that falls on vegetation surfaces cover that is temporarily stored on these surfaces

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35
Q

What is overland flow?

A

When water flows over the surface when the soil is full

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36
Q

What is percolation?

A

Downward movement of water within the rock under the soil surface, rates depend on nature of the rock

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37
Q

What does saturated mean?

A

Any water store that has reached its maximum capacity

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38
Q

What is stemflow?

A

Movement of water up or down a tree or plant

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39
Q

What is throughflow?

A

Movement of water through soil layer

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40
Q

What is throughfall?

A

Water from leaves to ground falls by throughfall

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41
Q

What factors affect infiltration?

A
  • gravity
  • relief
  • capillary action
  • soil porosity (texture, structure)
  • topography
  • vegetation
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42
Q

What is soil storage?

A

Amount of water that can be stored in the soil

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43
Q

How does soil store water?

A

It consists of solid particles with pore spaces between them which can be filled with water

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44
Q

Define saturated

A

When the infiltration capacity has been reached

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45
Q

What is an input to the drainage basin?

A

Precipitation

46
Q

What is an output of the drainage basin?

A
  • run-off
  • evapotranspiration
  • soil/groundwater storage
47
Q

What are the 2 main parts of the water budget?

A

Precipitation and potential evapotranspiration

48
Q

What is potential evapotranspiration?

A

Amount of water than could be evapotranspiration from an area if there was enough water

49
Q

What is bankfull?

A

Maximum discharge that a river channel can hold without flooding

50
Q

What does salt in water do?

A

Allows oceanic water to stay as a liquid below 0 degrees

51
Q

What is SUDR?

A
  • surplus
  • utilisation
  • déficit
  • recharge
52
Q

What is soil moisture surplus?

A

Precipitation is greater than potential evapotranspiration, all space in soil has been filled and can cause flooding

53
Q

What is soil moisture utilisation?

A

Potential evaporation exceeds precipitation, water store is being used by plants

54
Q

What is soil moisture deficit?

A

Deficit of soil water, plants wilt or have adaptations to survive dry conditions
Potential evapotranspiration is higher than precipitation but getting lower

55
Q

What is soil moisture recharge?

A

Precipitation is greater than potential evapotranspiration, soil water will start to recharge

56
Q

What is baseflow?

A

Represents the average day-to-day discharge

57
Q

What is storm flow?

A

Discharge resulting from storm precipitation

58
Q

Why is knowledge of discharge important?

A
  • design of water related structures
  • developing hydroelectric power
  • flooding
  • drought episodes
59
Q

What is a gauging station?

A

Places where scientist test terrestrial bodies of water

60
Q

What is river regimes?

A

Variability in river discharge throughout the course of the year

61
Q

What causes the the river regime the change?

A
  • precipitation
  • temperature
  • evapotranspiration
  • drainage basin characteristics
62
Q

What physical factors affect storm hydrographs?

A
  • relief
  • high drainage density
  • previous storms
  • geology
  • vegetation
  • amount/intensity of precipitation
  • large drainage basins
63
Q

What human factors affect storm hydrographs?

A
  • deforestation
  • afforestation
  • agriculture
  • urbanisation
64
Q

How does the shape of drainage basins affect hydrographs?

A
  • circular, more flashy

- larger drainage basins catch more precipitation

65
Q

How does relief affect hydrographs?

A

Steep sides are flashier, water flows faster down slopes so gets to river faster

66
Q

What does it mean if a flood hydrograph is flashier?

A
  • short lag time
  • high peak discharge
  • steep rising/falling limb
67
Q

How does high drainage density affect hydrographs?

A

Flashier flood, all water arrives at measuring station at the same time

68
Q

What happens when the drainage basin is already saturated?

A
  • overland flow increases as infiltration capacity has been reached
  • lag time increases
  • peak discharge higher
  • flashy hydrograph
69
Q

How does soil or rock type is impermeable?

A
  • overland flow higher
  • throughflow and infiltration reduced
  • surfaces baked hard by the n
  • ground frozen
70
Q

How does vegetation affect flood hydrographs?

A
  • intercepts precipitation
  • water lost by evapotranspiration
  • increases lag time and reduces peak discharge
71
Q

How does amount and intensity and type of precipitation affect hydrographs?

A
  • increase discharge

- snow increases lag time because it takes time to melt

72
Q

How does deforestation affect flood hydrographs?

A
  • reduces interception
  • lack of roots reduces the infiltration rate into the soil
  • leaves soil to greater rates of erosion which leads to sedimentation of the channel, which reduces bankfull capacity
73
Q

How does afforestation affect hydrographs?

A
  • flood prevention measure

- increases infiltration and interception

74
Q

How does agriculture affect flood hydrographs?

A
  • terracing and hillsides subdues hydrographs as stops movement of water
  • grass crops increase infiltration, subdue hydrographs
  • ploughing topsoils, increases infiltration
  • furrows in fields that take water into river increasing discharge
75
Q

How does growth or urban areas affect flood hydrographs?

A
  • impermeable surfaces
  • settlements built on floodplains
  • settlements designed to transfer water as quickly as possible away from human activity to nearest river
76
Q

How does localised deforestation work?

A

-before deforestation - high precipitation - high evapotranspiration - high infiltration - decreases water in river - after deforestation - high precipitation - low evapotranspiration (no trees) - more overland flow -flooding

77
Q

How does extensive deforestation work?

A

Positive feedback occurs - as evapotranspiration is low -less precipitation - less overland flow-decreasing river level

78
Q

What is soil drainage?

A

Where excess water is removed from soil profile

79
Q

How is soil drainage carried out?

A

By network of perforated tubes (tiles)

80
Q

How far deep are the perforated tubes installed?

A

60-120mm

81
Q

Explain how soil drainage happens

A

When water table in soil is higher than tile, water flows into tubing through holes in plastic tubes or cracks in tiles.
The water is then drained over several days out of the field

82
Q

What are the positives of soil drainage?

A
  • build up of improved soil structure
  • improved aeration
  • animals can graze land
  • machinery can work on land
83
Q

How does improved soil structure affect farming?

A
  • soil becomes more frable and easier to work

- greater root penetration (travel faster and further)

84
Q

How does improved aeration affect farming?

A
  • microorganisms can thrive, more humus
  • provides supply of air for respiration
  • plant nutrients are broken down into available form
  • increased ease with soil can be warmed, improving germination
85
Q

What is humus?

A

Dark, organic material that forms in soil when plant and animal matter decays

86
Q

Why can animals and machinery go on farmland that has been drained of water?

A

No compaction - less overland flow

87
Q

What are disadvantages of soil drainage?

A
  • wind erosion to dry topsoil
  • increases flooding in other areas
  • nitrate loss
88
Q

What does nitrate loss lead to?

A

Eutrophication

89
Q

How can you minimise effects of soil drainage?

A

Controlled drainage - keep water table high during off season

90
Q

Why would farmers want to keep the water table high during off seasons?

A
  • increases rate of denitrification

- reduces nitrate loss to environment

91
Q

What is denitrification

A

Process that converts nitrate to harmless nitrogen gas as soon as saturated soil warms up in spring

92
Q

What is eutrophication?

A

Water drained from fields goes into local ponds, this causes algae and plants to grow to fast, which disturbs balance of organisms

93
Q

What human practises impact the water cycle?

A
  • deforestation
  • water abstraction
  • soil drainage
94
Q

How does magnitude of water change over space?

A
  • hadley cell

- frontal rainfall

95
Q

How does the Hadley cell affect the magnitude water over space?

A

1) Equator is hot so evaporation occurs.
2) Condenses at dew point, precipitation therefore occurs above the Equator.
3) At Tropopause, air is pushed towards the tropics
4) Air becomes denser, sinking over the Tropics
5) As the cool air sinks it is met by the warm air
6) Condensation cannot occur so less precipitation over the tropics
7) Trade winds push warm air back to equator (ITCZ)
8) The air can go towards the poles,
9) Warm air meets cold and rises and condenses
10) The water vapour condenses and falls as rain, this is why Britain receives lots of rain at 60 degrees north

96
Q

How does magnitude of water change over time?

A
  • seasonal shifts of ITCZ

- geological time periods

97
Q

How does frontal rainfall affect water over space?

A

1) Rain bearing wind approaches coastal areas of high relief
2) Air travels up the windward side
3) As the air is forced higher by the shape of the land it cools and the water vapour condenses.
4) Leading to orographic rainfall
5) When the air goes down the other side of the orographic landscape it sinks and warms, leaving a rain shadow

98
Q

What is orographic rainfall?

A

Rainfall over high relief, mountains

99
Q

How does seasonal shifts of the ITCZ affect water over time?

A

During the summer the ITCZ moves north over the northern hemisphere where the earth tilts 23 degrees and south during winter

100
Q

How does different geological time periods affect water over time?

A

In the Quaternary Period sea levels were 120 m lower than they are currently. Ice covered large areas on the continents.

101
Q

When are there problems with water abstraction?

A

Demand for water exceeds the amount available during a certain period

102
Q

Where does water abstraction mainly occur?

A
  • low rainfall
  • high population density
  • intensive agriculture
  • industrial activity
103
Q

What effects are there of water abstraction?

A
  • sinking water tables
  • empty wells
  • higher pumping costs
104
Q

What is the saline intrusion?

A

Demands for tourist along Mediterranean coastline have major over-abstraction

105
Q

What is the main reason for water abstraction?

A

Irrigation (crops)

106
Q

What river case study did we do?

A

River Exe

107
Q

How long is river Exe?

A

82.7 km

108
Q

What is the relief of river Exe?

A
  • -land higher in north (514m above seas level)

- flatter in south (26m above sea level)

109
Q

What % of the surface is impermeable in river Exe?

A

84.4%

110
Q

What is the land use of Exmoor?

A
  • 67% grassland
  • 15% woodland
  • 3% moorland and peat bogs
  • arable farmland
111
Q

What is the run-off of river Exe?

A

844mm

65%

physical geography (13 decks)

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