1.2: The Water Cycle

Question 1

How much water is locked up in oceans?

Answer 1

97%

Question 2

How much water on the Earth is freshwater?

Answer 2

3%

Question 3

How much water is locked up as ice an glaciers?

Answer 3

79% of freshwater

Question 4

How much water is groundwater?

Answer 4

20% of freshwater

Question 5

How much water is lakes?

Answer 5

52% of easily accessible surface fresh water

Question 6

How much water is soil moisture?

Answer 6

38% of easily accessible surface fresh water

Question 7

How much water is atmospheric water vapour?

Answer 7

8% of easily accessible surface fresh water

Question 8

What is the hydrosphere?

Answer 8

A discontinuous layer of water at or near the Earth’s surface.

Includes liquid and frozen surface water, groundwater and atmospheric water vapour.

Question 9

What is cryospheric water?

Answer 9

Water locked up on the surface as ice.

Question 10

What is terrestrial water?

Answer 10

This consists of groundwater, soil moisture, lakes, wetlands and rivers.

Question 11

What is atmospheric water?

Answer 11

Water found in the atmosphere; mainly water vapour with some liquid water and ice crystals.

Question 12

Oceans cover around ____% of the Earth’s surface.

Answer 12

72%

Question 13

What are the five locations of crysopheric water?

Answer 13

• alpine glaciers
• ice caps
• ice sheets
• permafrost
• sea ice

Question 14

Sea ice is a location of cryospheric water. What is it?

Answer 14

Forms when water in the ocean is cooled to temperatures below freezing.

Doesn’t raise sea levels when it melts because it forms directly from ocean water.

Question 15

What are alpine glaciers?

Answer 15

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

Most fed by ice from ice caps or smaller glaciers.

Question 16

Ice caps are a location of cryospheric water. What is it?

Answer 16

Thick layers of ice ON LAND which are smaller than 50,000km2.

Usually found in mountainous areas.

Tend to be dome shaped. And are centred over the highest point of an upland area.

Question 17

Ice sheets are a location of cryospheric water. What are they?

Answer 17

A mass of glacial land ice, bigger than 50,000km2.

They form in areas where snow that forms in winter doesn’t melt entirely over summer, so over 1000s of years the laters of snow pile up into thick masses of ice, growing thicker and denser.

Largest in Greenland and Antarctica - these contain more than 99% of freshwater ice on Earth.

Question 18

Permafrost is a location of cryospheric water. What is it?

Answer 18

Ground (soil or rock) that remains below 0*C for at least 2 consecutive years.

Most permafrost today formed during cold glacial periods and has persisted through warner interglacial periods, including the Holocene.

But this has begun to melt as climate warms. This has released large amounts of CO2 and methane, potentially affecting global climates.