Water Lesson 1: Hydrological Cycle Flashcards
Define store
Reservoirs where water is stored
Define fluxes
These are how water is transferred between stores
Define processes
Physical mechanisms which drive the fluxes of water between the stores
Define cryosphere
Areas of Earth where water is frozen into snow/ice. During the last ice age sea levels were 140m lower than they are today
Define systems approach
These study hydrological phenomena by looking at the balance of inputs and outputs, and how water is moved between stores and flows
Define open system
Receives inputs from and transfers outputs of energy to other systems. For example a drainage basin
Define closed system
There is a fixed amount of water on the Earth and atmosphere system (1385 million km³). There are no external inputs or outputs - the amount of water is constant
Define blue water
Water is stored in rivers, streams, lakes and groundwater in liquid form
Define green water
Water stored in the soil and vegetation
% of water in oceans?
96.5%
% of freshwater?
2.5%
Ocean evaporation per year?
413 x10^3 km3
Ocean precipitation per year?
373 x10^3 km3
Volume of water in oceans?
1 335 040 x10^3 km3
Time of water in oceans?
3600 years
Volume of water in cryosphere?
26 350 x10^3 km3
Time of water in crypsphere?
15 000 years
Volume of water in cryosphere?
15 300 x10^3 km3
Time of water in groundwater?
Up to 10 000 years
Volume of water in atmospheric moisture?
13 x10^3 km3
Time of water in atmospheric moisture?
10 days
Volume of land precipitation per year?
113 x10^3 km3
2 processes of hydrological cycle?
Solar energy
Gravitational Potential Energy
Describe solar energy
-Energy from the sun heats water and causes evaporation/transpiration
-More evaporation occurs as the global climate warms, which increase moisture levels in the atmosphere
-Leads to increased condensation as air cools=greater precipitation
Describe gravitational potential energy
-Keeps water accelerating through the system under gravity
-On land, energy is converted into kinetic energy as the water moves through the system by plant interception, or over land surface run-off
Location solar energy is concentrated?
Tropics
% of global rainfall in the Tropics?
74%
% solar radiation reflected in polar regions?
85%
Effect of vegetation on solar energy?
Limited vegetation cover reduces heat absorption
Effect of freeze-thaw cycle on solar energy?
Seasonal release of biogenic gases from plant decomposition into the atmosphere, and carbon and nutrients into the sea
Type of precipitation in polar regions?
Orographic or frontal precipitation and low humidity
Annual precipitation in polar regions?
Less than 200mm
% of precipitation vegetation interceptsand consumes?
75%
% of precipitation returned to atmosphere by evapotranspiration?
50-75%
What effect does evapotranspiration have?
Cool the air as energy is used
% of precipitation which reaches rivers or other surface water in the Tropics?
Less than 25%
What are rainforests known as?
‘Cloud factories’
Type of rainfall in the tropics?
Convectional rainfall and high humidity
Annual precipitation in the Tropics?
More than 2000mm
Define global water budget
The annual balance of water fluxes (flows) and the size of the water stores
Is water renewable or non-renewable?
Renewable
Name 2 exceptions of water which are non-renewable?
Fossil water
Cryosphere water
Describe fossil water
Untapped ancient stores of freshwater that exists in the polar regions and beneath deserts in the form of aquifers
Kenya’s Lotikipi aquifer contains how much water?
200 billion m3
Describe cryosphere water
Major ice sheets store water for very long periods, which are largely inaccessible to humans
