Support systems KQ1 The hydrosphere

Question 1

Why is water important to life on Earth? (Give 3 reasons)

Answer 1

Any from:

• oceans help to moderate global temperatures
• clouds reflect 1/5 solar radiation which lowers surface temperature
• makes up living organisms
• water vapour is a greenhouse gas
• used in chemical reactions in living organisms

Question 2

Why is water important to humans?

Answer 2

• used commercially for manufacturing
• used in agriculture for irrigation of crops
• needed for chemical reactions

Question 3

What is the hydrosphere?

Answer 3

The parts of the Earth made up of water

Question 4

Why is the hydrological cycle?

Answer 4

The continuous movement of water driven by the sun and gravity

Question 5

What type of system is the hydrological cycle?

Answer 5

A closed system

Question 6

What are the two types of water on Earth?

Answer 6

Saline water and Meteoric water

Question 7

What is largest store of water on Earth?

Answer 7

The oceans

Question 8

What percentage of water on Earth is stored in the oceans?

Answer 8

97

Question 9

What is the 2nd largest store of water on Earth?

Answer 9

Polar ice and glaciers

Question 10

What is the smallest store of water on Earth?

Answer 10

Biosphere

Question 11

What is the 3rd largest store of water on Earth?

Answer 11

Groundwater

Question 12

What percentage of water is stored in polar ice and glaciers?

Answer 12

2

Question 13

What percentage of water is stored in groundwater?

Answer 13

0.7

Question 14

What percentage of water is stored in soils?

Answer 14

0.005

Question 15

0.001% of the Earth’s water is stored where?

Answer 15

Lakes

Question 16

What is the 6th largest store of water on Earth?

Answer 16

The Atomsphere

Question 17

What is the 7th largest store of water on Earth?

Answer 17

Rivers

Question 18

What is residence time in terms of the water cycle?

Answer 18

The average length of time water stays in a reservoir

Question 19

Which reservoir of water has the shortest residence time?

Answer 19

Atmospheric moisture

Question 20

Which reservoir of water has the greatest residence time?

Answer 20

Ice caps

Question 21

What is the residence time of ice caps?

Answer 21

15,000 years

Question 22

What is the residence time of groundwater?

Answer 22

Up to 10,000 years

Question 23

What is the residence time of atmospheric moisture?

Answer 23

10 days

Question 24

What is channel flow?

Answer 24

Flow of water in river channels

Question 25

What is groundwater recharge?

Answer 25

The process by which groundwater is replenished by movement of water downwards to the groundwater store

Question 26

By what process does groundwater recharge primarily occur?

Answer 26

Percolation

Question 27

Why do clouds form?

Answer 27

When invisible water vapour in the air condenses into visible water droplets or ice crystals

Question 28

What 5 things can cause clouds to form?

Answer 28

- Surface heating - Topography - Fronts - Convergence - Turbulence

Question 29

How does surface heating cause clouds to form?

Answer 29

- Ground heated by the sun - Heats the air in contact with the ground - causing air to rise

Question 30

How does topography cause clouds to form?

Answer 30

- air forced to rise over barriers such as mountains | - as the air rises it cools

Question 31

How do fronts cause clouds to form?

Answer 31

-a mass of warm air rises over a mass of cold air

Question 32

How does convergence cause clouds to form?

Answer 32

- streams of air flowing from different directions - forced to rise when they converge - as they rise, they cool

Question 33

How does turbulence cause clouds to form?

Answer 33

- sudden change in wind speed with height | - creates turbulent eddies in the air

Question 34

What are the 3 different types of rain?

Answer 34

- convectional rain - relief rain - frontal rain

Question 35

How does convectional rain occur?

Answer 35

- produced by convectional clouds, formed in vertical motions - when ground is heated water vapour rises - air above ground is heated - when air is heated from below gives smaller bubbles of rising air - forming areas of rain

Question 36

How does relief rain occur?

Answer 36

- result of clouds formed from topography of land | - with high ground moist air is forced up creating clouds and precipitation

Question 37

How does frontal rain occur?

Answer 37

- when two air masses of different temperature and density meet - the cold air is heavier than the warmer air - warmer air is forced over the cold air - as the warmer air rises it cools and forms rain

Question 38

What % of moisture in the atmosphere comes from evaporation of lakes and oceans?

Answer 38

90

Question 39

What % of evaporation from oceans reaches land in precipitation?

Answer 39

10

Question 40

What 3 things control the rate of evaporation?

Answer 40

- temperature - humidity - air pressure

Question 41

What is saturated overland flow?

Answer 41

- if more rain falls when soil is already saturated | - surface run off is produced

Question 42

What is overland flow?

Answer 42

Occurs when rainfall intensity exceeds infiltration rate

Question 43

What is the difference between saturated overland flow and overland flow?

Answer 43

- SOF occurs in well vegetated areas - SOF occurs much later in a storm than OF - OF occurs in deserts of other areas where soil infiltration capacity is reduced

Question 44

What 4 things affect the rate of infiltration and throughflow?

Answer 44

- precipitation - base flow - soil characteristics - soil saturation

Question 45

How does precipitation affect the rate of infiltration and throughflow?

Answer 45

-amount, intensity, duration of precipitation which infiltrates into the ground over a period of time

Question 46

How does base flow affect the rate of infiltration and throughflow?

Answer 46

- water in streams have a sustained flow even in periods lacking rain - base flow comes from groundwater seeping into the bed and banks of a stream

Question 47

How do soil characteristics affect the rate of infiltration and throughflow?

Answer 47

- some soils (clays) absorb less water at slower rate than sandy soils - less absorbent soils = more runoff overland

Question 48

How does soil saturation affect the rate of infiltration and throughflow?

Answer 48

- like a wet sponge, soil already saturated from previous rainfall can't absorb more water - so surface run off increases as saturation increases

Question 49

How does water move through rock?

Answer 49

-gravity pulls water down though permeable rock, creating a water table

Question 50

How do ice sheets form?

Answer 50

Through the accumulation of snowball

Question 51

How do ice sheets lose mass?

Answer 51

Melting due to ablation

Question 52

What are the effects on the water cycle as the % impervious surface increases?

Answer 52

- decrease in evapotranspiration - decrease in deep infiltration - decrease in shallow infiltration - increase in runoff - increases overland flow - decreases groundwater flow

Question 53

Explain the effect of urbanisation on evapotranspiration

Answer 53

- urban areas have lower levels of vegetation - Evapotranspiration occurs from vegetation - therefore less vegetation means less evapotranspiration

Question 54

Explain the effect of urbanisation on groundwater flow

Answer 54

- urban areas have a high % impervious surfaces - impervious surfaces reduce infiltration rates - lower infiltration rates means less water in the ground - so less groundwater flow

Question 55

Explain the effect of urbanisation on river levels

Answer 55

- urban areas have high % impervious surfaces - impervious surfaces reduce infiltration rates - increases surface run off and overland flow - after rainfall water gets into rivers more quickly - increases river levels