Topic 5 - Water Cycle And Insecurity: EQ1

Question 1

What type of system is the global hydrological cycle?

Answer 1

A closed system

Question 2

What type of system is a drainage basin?

Answer 2

An open system

Question 3

What is residence time?

Answer 3

The time during which water remains within a body of water before continuing around the hydrological cycle

Question 4

What are flows (fluxes)?

Answer 4

Measurements of the rate of flow between stores

Question 5

What are stores (stocks)?

Answer 5

Places where water is held

Question 6

What is an example of a store?

Answer 6

Lake

Question 7

What is blue water?

Answer 7

Water that is stored in rivers and lakes

Question 8

How much of Earth’s water is considered freshwater?

Answer 8

2.5%

Question 9

How much of Earth’s water is stored in the oceans?

Answer 9

96.5%

Question 10

How much of Earth’s water is accessible for humans?

Answer 10

0.007%

Question 11

What conditions are needed for precipitation to form?

Answer 11

Air cooled to saturation point with relative humidity of 100%

Condensation nuclei to facilitate the growth of droplets

A temperature below dew point

Question 12

What are the 5 key influencing factors on the a hydrological system?

Answer 12

Amount of precipitation
Type of precipitation
Intensity of precipitation
Seasonality
Variability

Question 13

What are the 3 types of variability affecting a hydrological system?

Answer 13

Secular Variability
Periodic Variability
Stochastic Variability

Question 14

What is Secular Variability?

Answer 14

Long Term, e.g. as a result of climate change trends

Question 15

What is Periodic Variability?

Answer 15

Happens in annual, seasonal, monthly or diurnal context

Question 16

What is Stochastic Variability?

Answer 16

Results from random factors e.g. a thunderstorm or lightning strike

Question 17

What are the 3 types of rainfall?

Answer 17

Relief/Orographic
Frontal/Cyclonic
Convectional

Question 18

What is Precipitation?

Answer 18

The input into a drainage basin system. It includes all forms of moisture entering:
Hail, snow, dew, frost, sleet, rain

Question 19

What is Interception?

Answer 19

The storage of water when it lands on vegetation (or structures like buildings) before it reaches the soil. It’s a temporary store before evaporation or stemflow

Question 20

What is Surface Storage?

Answer 20

The storage of water on the surface including puddles, ponds and lakes

Question 21

What is Soil Storage?

Answer 21

The storage of water in soil. Water is held in the small gaps between soil particles

Question 22

What is Groundwater Storage?

Answer 22

The storage of water in the ground rocks of permeable rock. The water is held in cracks (limestone), bedding planes (sedimentary rock) or pores (chalk)

Question 23

What are Aquifers?

Answer 23

Rocks with lots of groundwater storage

Question 24

What is Channel Store?

Answer 24

The storage of water in the river channel

Question 25

What is Vegetation Store?

Answer 25

The storage of water in the vegetation. Plants and trees take up water through their roots and water is stored here

Question 26

What is Surface Run-off?

Answer 26

The horizontal flow of water over the surface of the land either in little channels or over the whole surface

Question 27

What is Stemflow?

Answer 27

The downwards flow of water moving downwards from interception storage to the surface

Question 28

What is Soil Throughflow?

Answer 28

The horizontal flow of water moving through soil (between the particles) towards the river

Question 29

What is Infiltration?

Answer 29

The downwards movement of water from the surface into the soil

Question 30

What is Percolation?

Answer 30

The downwards movement of water from the soil to the permeable ground rock

Question 31

What is Groundwater Flow.

Answer 31

The horizontal movement of moving through the rocks (cracks/bedding planes/pores) slowly towards the river. This is the movement of water below the water table sideways to the river

Question 32

What is River Channel Flow?

Answer 32

The movement of water in the river channel moving towards the sea

Question 33

What is Evaportaion?

Answer 33

The output of water when water is heated and turned from a liquid into a gas

Question 34

What is Transpiration?

Answer 34

The output of water where moisture is taken into plants through their roots, moved to the leaves by capillary action and then evaporates from the leaves into a gas

Question 35

What is Evapotranspiration?

Answer 35

The combined output of water from evaporation and transpiration

Question 36

What is River Discharge?

Answer 36

The output of water from a river channel out to sea

Question 37

What physical factors cause variation within the drainage basin?

Answer 37

Interception Infiltration Surface run-off Percolation Evapotranspiration River Discharge

Question 38

What human factors cause variation within the drainage basin?

Answer 38

Cloud Seeding Urbanisation Dam Construction Groundwater Abstraction

Question 39

What are the inputs in a water budget?

Answer 39

Precipitation Water Diversion Groundwater flow Surface water flow

Question 40

What are the outputs in a water budget?

Answer 40

Evapotranspiration Water Diversion Groundwater flow Surface water Surface run-off

Question 41

What is Field Capacity?

Answer 41

The normal amount of water that can be held in the soil

Question 42

What is Potential Evapotranspiration?

Answer 42

The amount of water that could be lost by evapotranspiration if there was sufficient moisture available

Question 43

What is Actual Evapotranspiration?

Answer 43

The amount of water that is lost through transpiration (release from leaves) and evaporation (heating of water on surfaces) to the atmosphere

Question 44

What is Soil Moisture Surplus?

Answer 44

When the soil moisture from the soil stores is being used by vegetation/humans as the precipitation rate is less than evapotranspiration

Question 45

What is Soil Moisture Rechrge?

Answer 45

When moisture from precipitation infiltrates and percolates in the stores to repay the soil moisture utilisation/defecit

Question 46

What is Soil Moisture Defecit?

Answer 46

There is not enough water left in the soil to match potential evapotranspiration. Rivers run dry and drought ensues.

Question 47

What is the equation to calculate a Water Budget?

Answer 47

P = Q+E +/- Storage Change

Question 48

What is a River Regime?

Answer 48

Indicate the annual variation of discharge of a river at a particular point

Question 49

What unit is used to measure a River Regime?

Answer 49

Cumecs

Question 50

What Factors affect a River Regime?

Answer 50

Size of the river Precipitation Temperature Geology and Soil Vegetation Humans