Natural Systems & The Water Cycle

Question 1

What are systems made of?

Answer 1

Stores, flows, boundaries, inputs and outputs

Question 2

What are inputs?

Answer 2

When matter or energy is added to the system

Question 3

What are outputs?

Answer 3

When matter or energy leaves the system

Question 4

What are stores/components?

Answer 4

Where matter. or energy builds up

Question 5

What are flows/transfers?

Answer 5

When matter or energy moves from one side to another

Question 6

What are boundaries?

Answer 6

The limits of a system

Question 7

Systems are either …

Answer 7

Open or closed

Question 8

What is an Open System?

Answer 8

Both energy and matter can enter and leave - there are inputs and outputs

Question 9

What is an example of an open system

Answer 9

Drainage basins are open as energy from the sun enters and leaves. Water is an input as precipitation but an output as river discharge to the sea

Question 10

What is a closed system?

Answer 10

Matter can’t enter or leave - it can only cycle between stores. Energy can enter and leave - it can be an input or output

Question 11

What is an example of a closed system?

Answer 11

Carbon cycle has energy as an input from photosynthesis and output by respiration, but the amount of carbon on earth remains because there are no inputs or outputs matter

Question 12

What happens if the inputs and outputs are balanced?

Answer 12

The system is in equalibrium

Question 13

What does equilibrium mean ?

Answer 13

Flows and processes happen but there are no overall changes to the system

Question 14

What happens if there is large long term changes?

Answer 14

The balance of inputs and outputs cause a system to change and establish a new dynamic equilibrium

Question 15

What does the long term change trigger?

Answer 15

Positive or negative feedback

Question 16

What is positive feedback?

Answer 16

Amplifies the changes in inputs and outputs. Meaning the system responds by increasing the effects of change, moving the system away from dynamic equilibrium

Question 17

What is Negative Feedback”?

Answer 17

Counteract the changes in inputs and outputs. Meaning the system responds by decreasing the effects of the change keeping the system closer to it’s previous state

Question 18

What kind of system is the earth?

Answer 18

Closed

Question 19

Why is the Earth a closed system?

Answer 19

Energy is input from the sun and output to space - Matter. isn’t inputed or outputted

Question 20

What the Earth’s system broken down into?

Answer 20

Subsections

Question 21

What are the 5 subsystems

Answer 21

1) Cyrosphere
2) Lithosphere
3) Biosphere
4) Hydrosphere
5) Atmosphere

Question 22

What is the cryoshere?

Answer 22

includes all the earths systems were its cold enough for water to freeze eg - Glacial Landscapes

Question 23

What is the Lithoshpere?

Answer 23

The outermost part of the earth. Includes the crust and upper parts of the mantle

Question 24

What is the Biosphere?

Answer 24

Part of the Earths systems where living things are found. Includes all living parts of the earth -Plants, animals, bacteria

Question 25

What is the Hydrosphere?

Answer 25

Includes all water on the earth.May be in liquid form (Lakes and rivers), Solid. form (Ice stored in cryosphere) or gas (Water Vapour in atmosphere). Can be saline or fresh

Question 26

What is the Atmosphere?

Answer 26

The layer of gas between the earths surface and space, held in place by gravity

Question 27

How do these subsections keep the earths systems running as normal?

Answer 27

They are all interlinked by cycles and processes

Question 28

What does matter and energy do?

Answer 28

Move between subsystems - output of 1 cycle is the input of another, that output is the input of the next

Question 29

What does it mean for the earth because of this movement?

Answer 29

It is cascading

Question 30

How many litres of water does the hydrosphere contain?

Answer 30

1.4 sextillion litres

Question 31

What % is freshwater?

Answer 31

Less than 3%

Question 32

What is the rest of the water?

Answer 32

Saline in the oceans

Question 33

Of the freshwater how much is frozen in the cryosphere?

Answer 33

69%

Question 34

Of the freshwater how much is groundwater?

Answer 34

30%

Question 35

What is groundwater?

Answer 35

Water stored underground ink the lithosphere

Question 36

Of the freshwater how much is liquid freshwater on the earths surface in lakes and rivers?

Answer 36

0.3%

Question 37

Of the freshwater how much is stored as water vapour in the atmosphere?

Answer 37

0.04%

Question 38

What should water be?

Answer 38

Physically and economically accessible for humans

Question 39

Why is only a small amount of water used by humans?

Answer 39

Because groundwater is hard to access and not cost effective to extract

Question 40

When does changing state require It to gain energy from the sun?

Answer 40

Melting, sublimation and evaporation.

Question 41

When does changing state require It to lose energy?

Answer 41

Freezing, Condensation and Deposition

Question 42

What is the global hydrological cycle?

Answer 42

water is continuously cycled between different stores

Question 43

What type of system is the hydrological cycle

Answer 43

Closed

Question 44

Why is the hydrological cycle closed?

Answer 44

There's no inputs or outputs of water. Energy is inputed from sun and lost to space

Question 45

What varies from local to global scales about the WC?

Answer 45

The amount of water present in each store

Question 46

What does the magnitude depend upon?

Answer 46

The amount of water flowing between them

Question 47

What do different flows occur at?

Answer 47

A ranges spatial and temporal scales

Question 48

When does evaporation occur?

Answer 48

Liquid water changes to a gas becoming water vapour

Question 49

How does evaporation gain energy?

Answer 49

Solar Radiation

Question 50

What does evaporation increase?

Answer 50

The amount of water stored in the atmosphere

Question 51

What does the magnitude of evaporation flow vary on?

Answer 51

Location and season

Question 52

What happens if there is lots of solar radiation?

Answer 52

There will be a large supply of water and warm, dry air, the amount of evaporation will be high.

Question 53

What happens if there is not much solar radiation?

Answer 53

radiation, little available liquid water and cool air that is already nearly saturate, evaporation will be low

Question 54

What does saturated mean?

Answer 54

Unable to absorb any more water vapour

Question 55

What is condensation?

Answer 55

Water vapour changes state to become a liquid - loses energy to its surrounding

Question 56

When does condensation happen?

Answer 56

When air containing water vapour cools to its Drew point

Question 57

What is Drew Point?

Answer 57

The temperature changes from gas to liquid

Question 58

What happens to water droplets?

Answer 58

Stay in the atmosphere or flow to other subsystems

Question 59

What does the magnitude of condensation flow depend on?

Answer 59

The amount of water vapour in the atmosphere and the temperature

Question 60

What is precipitation?

Answer 60

The main flow of water from the atmosphere to the ground

Question 61

When do clouds form?

Answer 61

Warm air cools down, causing the water vapour in it to condense into water droplets and gather as clouds

Question 62

What happens when the droplets aren't big enough?

Answer 62

They fall as precipitation

Question 63

What are other air masses?

Answer 63

Warm air is less dense than cool air. As a result when warm air meets cool air all the warm air is forced above. It cools down and rises

Question 64

What is the result of other air masses?

Answer 64

Frontal Precipitation

Question 65

What is topography?

Answer 65

When warm air meets mountains, it's forced to rise causing it too cool

Question 66

What is the result of Topography?

Answer 66

Orographic Precipitation

Question 67

What is convection?

Answer 67

Sun heats up the ground, moisture on the ground evaporates and rises in a column of warm air. As it gets higher it cools

Question 68

What is the result of Convection?

Answer 68

Convective Precipitation

Question 69

Why are water droplets caused?

Answer 69

By condensation that are too small to form clouds on their own

Question 70

What has to happen for clouds to form?

Answer 70

There has to be tiny particles of substances like dust to act as a cloud condensation nuclei

Question 71

What does cloud formation vary on?

Answer 71

Season and location

Question 72

Give 2 examples of Cryospheric processes

Answer 72

Accumulation and Ablation

Question 73

What do cryospheric processes do?

Answer 73

Change the amount of water stored as ice

Question 74

What does the balance of accumulation and ablation vary with?

Answer 74

Temperature

Question 75

In Periods of global colds what are bigger inputs or outputs and why?

Answer 75

Inputs - Water is transferred to snow and less water is transferred away because of melting

Question 76

In periods of warmer global temperatures what happens to the magnitude?

Answer 76

The magnitude of the cryoshere store reduces. as losses because of melting are larger than inputs of snow

Question 77

Where are there extensive stores of Iceland Alpine Glaciers?

Answer 77

Antartica and Greenland

Question 78

What is an example of a change that happens over a short time period?

Answer 78

Annual temperature fluctuations means more snow falls in winter