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Earth’s Life Support System 2024 > OCR A Level ELSS - 6 OCR A Level ELSS 4.1c Water & Carbon Cycle Pathways > Flashcards

OCR A Level ELSS - 6 OCR A Level ELSS 4.1c Water & Carbon Cycle Pathways Flashcards

1
Q

What is an isolated system?

A

a system that has no interactions with its surroundings

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2
Q

What is a closed system?

A

Linked processes where there are no inputs or outputs of matter. Energy still moves into and out of the network.

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3
Q

What is an input?

A

the addition of energy or matter into a system

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4
Q

What is a store or sink in a system?

A

The part of a system where water or carbon is retained for a period of time.

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5
Q

What is a flow/process/pathway in a system?

A

The mechanism by which water or carbon moves from one store to another.

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6
Q

What is an open system?

A

A cycle or process where inputs and outputs can add or remove material or energy

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7
Q

What is dynamic equilibrium?

A

a state of balance between continuing processes in a system

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8
Q

What is the cryosphere?

A

All frozen water on earth

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9
Q

What is the lithosphere?

A

the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.

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10
Q

What is the atmosphere?

A

the layer of gases that surrounds Earth

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11
Q

What is the biosphere?

A

all life on earth

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12
Q

What is the hydrosphere?

A

All the water on earth

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13
Q

What is the Natural World?

A

Biomes and ecosystems, for example, not the human or built environment.

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14
Q

What does the term Flora mean?

A

The plants living in a defined are at a defined time

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15
Q

What does the term Fauna mean?

A

The animals living in a defined area at a defined time.

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16
Q

What is the global water cycle?

A

A representation of the global movement of water between: 3 major stores (oceans, land and atmosphere) and Through a series of flows (precipitation, evaporation, evapotranspiration and run-off/groundwater flow)

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17
Q

How much water is there on earth?

A

1.4 billion km3

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18
Q

How much water is stored in the oceans?

A

1.3 billion km3 (~ 97%)

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19
Q

How much water is stored in the atmosphere?

A

13,000 km3 (~ 0.001%)

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20
Q

How much water is stored on land?

A

39 million km3 (~ 2.8%)

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21
Q

How much water and carbon and for how long does water and carbon stay in the Ocean?

A

a very large expanse of sea It stores 1.3 billion km3 of WATER (about 97% of global water) Residence time of ~3600 years It stores 38 billion tonnes of CARBON (around 0.038% or global carbon),

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22
Q

How much water and carbon and for how long does water and carbon stay in the Atmosphere?

A

A thin layer of gases surrounding Earth. It stores 13,000 km3 (about 0.001% of Global Water) Residence time of 10 days for water (FAST) It stores 600 billion tonnes of CARBON FAST Carbon Cycle

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23
Q

How much water and carbon and for how long does water and carbon stay in the Pedosphere?

A

the soil layers of Earth. Stores 65 km3 of WATER (about 0.005% of Global Water) Residence time of 2-50 Weeks (FAST) It stores 2,300 billion tonnes of CARBON. FAST Carbon Cycle

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24
Q

How much water and carbon and for how long does water and carbon stay in the Biosphere?

A

Consists of all life on Earth. Any organic material. Stores 0.6km3 of WATER (around 0.00004% of global water) Residence time of 2-50weeks. It stores 560 billion tonnes of CARBON. FAST Carbon Cycle.

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25
Q

How much water and carbon and for how long does water and carbon stay in the Cryosphere?

A

The component of the hydrological cycle where water is locked up as ice and snow. Stores 29,000km3 of Water (around 2% of global water. Residence time of 15,000years Snow and Glacial Ice store insignificant quantities of CARBON. However the trapped CO2 can be used to help understand past climates.

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26
Q

How much water and carbon and for how long does water and carbon stay in the Lithosphere?

A

The rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle (Rock). Stores 9,500km3 of WATER (around 0.7% of global water) in aquifers. Residence time up to 10,000 years. Stores 60,000 - 100 million billion tonnes of CARBON. SLOW Carbon Cycle (~150 million years)

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27
Q

What is groundwater?

A

Water located below the Earth’s surface, stored in the pores of permeable rocks.

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28
Q

What is precipitation?

A

Collective term for all forms of water which fall from the sky including rain, hail, sleet and snow

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29
Q

What is evapotranspiration?

A

The combination of two ways in which water enters the atmosphere, directly from the ground or water bodies, and from plants

30
Q

What is ablation?

A

Melting of a glacier, which occurs especially during the warmer summer months.

31
Q

What is sublimation?

A

the process in which a solid changes directly into a gas

32
Q

What is soil water?

A

Liquid located just below the Earth’s surface in loose, unconsolidated material, above the bedrock.

33
Q

What is chemical weathering?

A

Processes that break down rock in situ, by changing the minerals in the rock, such as by acidic water, e.g. carbonation, oxidation and hydrolysis.

34
Q

What is interception?

A

Water is temporarily stored and delayed from entering channels because it falls on objects such as vegetation. This process temporarily stores water on branches, leaves and stems

35
Q

What is infiltration?

A

The process where water enters the soil from the surface of the ground

36
Q

What is saturated overland flow / runoff?

A

Water which travels over the land’s surface because all pore spaces (voids) within the soil are already filled with water

37
Q

What is throughflow?

A

The movement of water through the soil

38
Q

What is percolation?

A

The movement of water from soil into the rock below

39
Q

What is groundwater flow?

A

The movement of water through the bedrock, towards a stream

40
Q

What is evaporation?

A

The process where liquid water is converted into a gas

41
Q

What is transpiration?

A

the diffusion of water vapour to the atmosphere from leaf pores (stomata) of plants.​ It is responsible for around 10% of moisture in the atmosphere

42
Q

What is condensation?

A

the phase change of water vapour to liquid water​. It occurs when air is cooled to its dew point​ and leads to the formation of clouds

43
Q

What is an aquifer?

A

Underground rock which can store and transmit water in sufficient quantities to extract for our benefits

44
Q

What is the water balance equation?

A

Precipitation (P) = ​Evapotranspiration (E) + Streamflow (Q) ± Storage

45
Q

What is the Dew Point?

A

the critical temperature when air becomes saturated and can hold no more water vapour.

46
Q

What is adiabatic expansion?

A

the process by which the temperature of an air mass decreases as the air mass rises and expands

47
Q

What is the lapse rate?

A

The rate at which temperature decreases with an increase in altitude.

48
Q

What is latent heat?

A

the energy absorbed or released during a change in state

49
Q

What is the Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR)?

A

the rate at which a parcel of dry air (i.e less than 100% humidity so that condensation is not taking place) cools. Cooling caused by adiabatic expansion is approximately 10 degrees C/KM

50
Q

What is the Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate (SALR)?

A

the rate at which a saturated parcel of air (i.e. one in which condensation is occurring) cools as it rises through the atmosphere. The rate of cooling is slower, about 70C/km because condensation releases latent heat.

51
Q

What is conditional instability?

A

the condition of moist air with an environmental lapse rate between the dry and wet adiabatic rates

52
Q

What is absolute stability?

A

when the environmental lapse rate is less than the wet adiabatic rate

53
Q

What is absolute instability?

A

when the environmental lapse rate is greater than the dry adiabatic rate

54
Q

What is Carbon?

A

A black (when solid), non-metallic element with the atomic number 6, the basis of life on Earth, many rocks and fossil fuels.

55
Q

What is the global carbon cycle?

A

A representation of the movement of carbon between different stores including: Soil (pedosphere), Terrestrial biomass (biosphere), Atmosphere Oceans Sea floor sediments and Sedimentary rocks (lithosphere). Through a series of flows including: Photosynthesis Respiration Decomposition Combustion Oxidation Weathering and Volcanic Activity

56
Q

What is carbon sequestration?

A

The storage of carbon element

57
Q

What is photosynthesis?

A

Chemical process- plants derive their energy source from the Sun

58
Q

What is decomposition?

A

After plants and animals die, their remains are broken down. Carbon is released back into the atmosphere.

59
Q

What is respiration?

A

The process whereby living things produce CO2 as sugars are broken down to produce energy

60
Q

What is combustion?

A

The burning of material - products such as coal, oil and gas add carbon, that was previously locked up underground, to the atmosphere.

61
Q

What is fossil fuel combustion?

A

The burning of carbon reserves, such as coal, oil and gas, releasing carbon dioxide, previously removed millions of years ago, back into the atmosphere

62
Q

What is the slow carbon cycle?

A

The parts of the carbon cycle that take between 100-200million years to complete. It starts in the Atmosphere - where CO2 + Water vapour combine to form carbonic acid making rainfall slightly acidic. This means that chemical weathering (carbonation) takes place on carbonate rocks (like limestone and chalk) which releases some CO2 back to the atmosphere, but the rest is dissolved in water and enters the Hydrosphere, flowing from rivers into the oceans. Oceans are also able to absorb CO2 directly from the atmosphere through direct ocean uptake (diffusion). Marine organisms fix this ocean carbon with calcium to form calcium carbonate as part of their shells and skeletons. When these organisms die they sink to the ocean floor (sedimentation). Over millions of years, heat and pressure convert these shells and skeletons back into carbon-rich sedimentary rocks (Lithosphere). Again, over 100s of millions of years, tectonic plate movement takes these ocean sediments to destructive plate boundaries where, through subduction, the carbon is then released back into the atmosphere in volcanic eruptions. The SLOW CARBON CYCLE moves between 10 and 100 million metric tons of carbon each year.

63
Q

What is the fast carbon cycle?

A

The parts of the carbon cycle that are between 10 and 1,000 times faster than the slow carbon cycle. It is unique to Earth as it moves carbon through the biosphere. Atmosphere to Biosphere - Land plants (primary producer organisms) and phytoplankton in the oceans absorb CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and combine it with water to form carbohydrates (sugar/glucose). Biosphere to Atmosphere - Respiration converts sugar and glucose back into CO2. Decomposition and waste gases also releases CO2 and CH4 (methane) back into the atmosphere. Combustion (burning) also releases carbon back to the atmosphere. Biosphere to Pedosphere - Decomposition can release organic carbon into the soils in the form of humus Atmosphere to Oceans through the Biological (organic) pump and Oceans to Atmosphere through diffusion. The FAST CARBON CYCLE moves between 1 billion and 100 billion metric tons of carbon each year.

64
Q

What are phytoplankton?

A

these are similar to terrestrial plants in that they contain chlorophyll and require sunlight in order to live and grow. Most phytoplankton are buoyant and float in the upper part of the ocean, where sunlight penetrates the water.

65
Q

What is carbon fixation (fixing)?

A

the process by which inorganic carbon (particularly in the form of carbon dioxide) is converted to organic compounds by living organisms

66
Q

How much carbon is added to the atmosphere, oceans and biosphere each year through the combustion of fossil fuels?

A

10 Gigatons per year

67
Q

What is carbon sequestration?

A

The process by which carbon is removed from the atmosphere and stored in liquid or solid form

68
Q

What is downwelling and what is its role in the carbon cycle?

A

The vertical downward movement of surface water in the oceans. It carries dissolved carbon to the ocean depths where individual carbon molecules may remain for centuries.

69
Q

What is upwelling and what is its role in the carbon cycle?

A

The vertical upward movement of deep ocean water towards the surface. This cold, carbon rich water rises to the surface and CO2 diffuses back into the atmosphere

70
Q

What is the biological (organic) pump in the oceans? How significant is this pump in the carbon cycle?

A

When carbon is exchanged between the oceans and atmosphere through the actions of marine organisms. Phytoplankton, floating near the ocean surface combines sunlight, water and dissolved CO2 to produce organic material. Globally, nearly half of all carbon fixation by photosynthesis takes place in the oceans. Around 50 giga tons of carbon is drawn from the atmosphere by the biological pump every year.​

Earth’s Life Support System 2024 (12 decks)

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