water cycle - drainage basins

Question 1

what kind of system is a drainage basin

Answer 1

open system

local hydrological cycle

Question 2

what is a drainage basin?

Answer 2

the area that supplies a river with its supply of water

Question 3

what is another word used for drainage basins?

Answer 3

catchment area

Question 4

how are drainage basins separated from one another?

Answer 4

by highland

Question 5

what is the highland that separates drainage basins called?

Answer 5

the watershed

Question 6

what is the main inout to the system?

Answer 6

precipitation

Question 7

what is an interception store?

Answer 7

precipitation that falls on vegetation cover or man made cover is temporarily stored on the surfaces, it then either evaporated or absorbed by the surface or transmitted to groundwater

Question 8

what is through fall?

Answer 8

precipitation that reaches the ground directly thorugh gaps in the vegetation cover in vegetation canopy and drips form leaves

Question 9

when does trhoughfall occur?

Answer 9

when the canopy surface rainwater storage exceeds its storage capacity, so flaws form one store to then next

Question 10

what is stem flow?

Answer 10

precipitation that reaches the ground by running down the stems

Question 11

what is infiltration?

Answer 11

the downward movement of water from the surface into the soil

Question 12

what is the rate of infiltration called?

Answer 12

the infiltration rate

Question 13

what is infiltration controlled by?

Answer 13

gravity, capillary action and soil porosity

Question 14

which factor of control is most important to infiltration?

Answer 14

soil porosity

Question 15

what is soil porosity controlled by?

Answer 15

its texture, structure and organic content

Question 16

why do storm events reduce infiltration?

Answer 16

filling of pores on surface reduces ability of capillary forces to move water into soil

clay absorbs water, reducing the size of pore spaces

large soil clumps break into smaller pieces which clog up pore spaces

Question 17

what is soil storage?

Answer 17

the amount of water than is stored in the soil

Question 18

what does soil consist of?

Answer 18

solid particles with pore spaces between them

Question 19

what can pore spaces in soil be filled with?

Answer 19

air but also water

Question 20

what is vegetation storage?

Answer 20

when plants take water form the soil and store it in its structure

Question 21

how do plants lose water and where from?

Answer 21

transpiration into the atmosphere through stomata on their leaves

Question 22

what is infiltration capacity?

what is does it result in?

Answer 22

when rainfall intensity is greater than the rate of infiltration rate
saturation of soil

Question 23

when infiltration capacity has been reached what happens to the water?

Answer 23

water builds up on the surface, this is known as surface storage

Question 24

what is a form of surface storage?

Answer 24

puddles

Question 25

where is surface storage more common?

Answer 25

man made areas

rare in natural environments

Question 26

when does water build up on the surface?

Answer 26

after intense long rainfall, impermeable surface

Question 27

how is water lost from drainage basin by surface storage?

Answer 27

this water evaporates into the atmosphere

Question 28

what is evapotranspiration/why is it used?

Answer 28

it is difficult to separate evaporation and transpiration, so the total amount lost in both ways is referred to as evapotranspiration

Question 29

what is through flow?

Answer 29

movement of water down slope through sub soil, carries on until reaches nearest channel

Question 30

what is overland flow?

Answer 30

when surface storages have reached max capacity so water begins to travel downward over the surface

Question 31

which is faster overland or through flow?

Answer 31

overland flow

Question 32

how can though flow be made quicker?

Answer 32

the more vegetation available, the faster it is as movement is aimed by root channels in the soil

Question 33

what is percolation?

Answer 33

downward movement of rock under the soil surface

Question 34

after infiltration has occurred what happens?

Answer 34

water moves vertically downwards to unsaturated rocks, known as percolation

Question 35

what is groundwater?

Answer 35

when water is held in pore spaces in rocks

Question 36

what is groundwater flow?

Answer 36

when water can move vertically and laterally

Question 37

what are aquifers?

Answer 37

very porous rocks that can store a large amount of water

Question 38

what can groundwater flow help to do?

Answer 38

feed river through periods of drought

Question 39

what do all these movements and stores make up?

Answer 39

the drainage basin hydrological cycle

Question 40

where do all the flows in a drainage basin lead to?

Answer 40

rivers

Question 41

where does water move the fastest?

Answer 41

on the surface

Question 42

what type of soil does water move slowest in?

Answer 42

clay, retains water, can evaporate before it moves horizontally

Question 43

once water reaches below soil what happens?

Answer 43

the rate of movement slows down

Question 44

how long can groundwater be stored for?

Answer 44

a millennia

Question 45

what is channel storage?

Answer 45

water stored in rivers, although not for very long as it moves to sea

Question 46

what are the types of stores in drainage basin?

Answer 46

• interception
• vegegtation
• groundwater
• channel
• soil
• surface storage

Question 47

what are the types of flows in drainage basin?

Answer 47

infiltration
percolation 
baseflow 
interflow 
channel flow 
evaporation 
transpiration 
throughfall 
stem flow 
overland flow 
ground water flow