The Hydrological Cycle

Question 1

What are drainage basins?

Answer 1

The area surrounding the river from which the river system obtains its water- the catchment area. They are open systems with inputs and outputs.

Question 2

What is the watershed?

Answer 2

The boundary of a drainage basin. An imaginary line which delimits on drainage basin from the next.

Question 3

What are the inputs?

Answer 3

Precipitation; all the moisture that comes out of the atmosphere which is mainly rain but also, snow, hail, dew and frost.

Question 4

What the stores?

Answer 4

Interception, vegetation storage, surface storage, groundwater storage, channel storage.

Question 5

Interception?

Answer 5

When precipitation lands on vegetation or other structures, like buildings and concrete/tarmac surfaces before it reaches the soil. This is a significant in wooded areas, but it is only temporary because the collected water evaporates quickly.

Question 6

Vegetation storage?

Answer 6

The water thats been taken up by plants- all the water contain in plants at any one time.

Question 7

Surface storage?

Answer 7

Water in puddles (depresion storage), ponds and lakes.

Question 8

Groundwater storage?

Answer 8

Water stored in the ground, either in the soil or in rocks.

Question 9

What is water table?

Answer 9

The top surface of the zone of saturation (the sone of soil or rock where all the pores in the soil or rock are full of water)

Question 10

What are aquifers?

Answer 10

Porous rocks that hold water.

Question 11

Channel storage?

Answer 11

The water in a river or stream channel.

Question 12

What are the flows and processes?

Answer 12

Surface runoff, throughfall, stemflow, infiltration, percolation, groundwater flow, base flow, interflow and channel flow.

Question 13

Surface runoff?

Answer 13

The water flowing over the land. it can flow over the whole surface or in little channels. Common in arid areas where torrential rain falls on hard baked land.

Question 14

Throughfall?

Answer 14

The water dripping from one leaf to another.

Question 15

Stemflow?

Answer 15

The water running down a plant stem or a tree trunk.

Question 16

Throughflow?

Answer 16

The water moving slowly downhill through the soil. This us faster through things like cracks in the soil or animal burrows.

Question 17

Infiltration?

Answer 17

The water soaking into the soil. Infiltration rates are influenced by soil type, soil structure and how much water’s already in the soil. In a heavy storm, water can’t infiltrate fast enough so it flows over the surface.

Question 18

Percolation?

Answer 18

The water seeping down through soil into the water table.

Question 19

Groundwater flow?

Answer 19

The water flowing slowly below the water table through permeable rock. Water flows more slowly through most rocks but rocks that are permeable with lots of joints have faster groundwater flow. e.g. limestone.

Question 20

Baseflow?

Answer 20

Groundwater flow that feeds into rivers through banks and river beds.

Question 21

Interflow?

Answer 21

The water flowing downhill through permeable rock above the water table.

Question 22

Channel flow?

Answer 22

The water flowing in the river or stream itself. (Rivers discharge)

Question 23

What are the outputs?

Answer 23

Evaporation, Transpiration, Evapotranspiration, revier discharge and river flow.

Question 24

Evaporation?

Answer 24

Water turning into water vapour (liquid to gas)

Question 25

Transpiration?

Answer 25

Evaporation from plant leaves, as plants and trees take up water through their roots and transport it to their leaves where it evaporates into the atmosphere.

Question 26

Evapotranspiration?

Answer 26

The process of evaporation and transpiration together.

Question 27

Whats the water balance?

Answer 27

The balance between inputs and outputs, which affects how much water is stored in the basin.