Water and carbon cycle 2 - The water cycle

Question 1

How much water does the hydrosphere contain

Answer 1

1.4 sextillion litres

Question 2

What kind of water is this

Answer 2

Most is saline in the oceans

Question 3

How much is freshwater

Answer 3

less than 3%

Question 4

How much of the earths freshwater is frozen in the cryosphere?

Answer 4

69%

Question 5

How much of the earths freshwater is in the groundwater?

Answer 5

30%

Question 6

What does groundwater mean

Answer 6

Water stored underground in the lithosphere

Question 7

How much of the earths freshwater is liquid freshwater?

Answer 7

0.3%

Question 8

What is liquid freshwater

Answer 8

freshwater on the earths surface in lakes and rivers

Question 9

How much of the earths freshwater is stored as water vapour in the atmosphere?

Answer 9

0.04%

Question 10

What must water be

Answer 10

Pgtsically and economically accessible for humans to use

Question 11

What is the problem with groundwater?

Answer 11

Its hard to accsess so not as cost effective as a result only a small percentage can be used by humans

Question 12

What forms does water change in

Answer 12

Solid, liquid and gas

Question 13

What happens when waters boils or melts

Answer 13

It has to gain energy from the sun

Question 14

What happens when water condenses or freezes

Answer 14

It loses energy

Question 15

What happens to water on a global scale

Answer 15

It is continuously cycled between different stores

Question 16

What is this known as

Answer 16

Global hydrological cycle

Question 17

What kind of cycle is this

Answer 17

closed

Question 18

Why is it closed

Answer 18

There are no inputs or outputs of water. Energy in imputed from the sun and lost to space

Question 19

What does the amount of water depend on

Answer 19

Dependent on whether it is a local or global scale

Question 20

What does the magnitude of each store depend on

Answer 20

The amount of water flowing between them

Question 21

Where do different flows occur

Answer 21

At a range of spatial and temporal scales

Question 22

When does evaporation occur

Answer 22

When liquid changes to a gas

Question 23

What is this gas called

Answer 23

water vapour

Question 24

How does the liquid change to a gas

Answer 24

It gains energy from solar radiation

Question 25

What does evaporation do

Answer 25

Increases the amount of water stored in the atmosphere

Question 26

What does the magnitude of the evaporation flow vary with

Answer 26

Location and season

Question 27

What happens if there is a lot of solar radiation

Answer 27

A large supply of water and warm dry air the amount of evaporation is high

Question 28

What happens if there isn't much solar radiation

Answer 28

Little available liquid water and cool air that is nearly saturated evaporation will be low

Question 29

What does saturated mean

Answer 29

How ut is able to absorb water vapour

Question 30

When does condensation occur

Answer 30

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

Question 31

When does it happen

Answer 31

When air containing water vapour cools to its drew point

Question 32

What is drew point

Answer 32

The temperature when it changes from gas to liquid

Question 33

What happens to the water droplets

Answer 33

They stay in the atmosphere or flow to other sub systems

Question 34

What does the magnitude of condensation flow depend on

Answer 34

The amount of water vapour in the atmosphere and the temperature

Question 35

What are 2 essential parts of the water cycle

Answer 35

Cloud formation and precipitation

Question 36

What is the importance of precipitation

Answer 36

It's the main flow of water from the atmosphere to the ground

Question 37

When do clouds form

Answer 37

When warm air cools down, causing the water vapour in it to condense into water droplets, which gather as clouds. When the droplets are big enough they fall as precipitation

Question 38

What 3 things cause warm air to cool

Answer 38

- Other air masses - Topography - Convection

Question 39

How do other air masses influence precipitation

Answer 39

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

Question 40

What does this result in

Answer 40

Frontal precipitation

Question 41

How does topography influence precipitation

Answer 41

When warm air meets mountains it is forced to rise causing it to cool

Question 42

What does this result in

Answer 42

Orographic precipitation

Question 43

How does convection influence precipitation

Answer 43

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

Question 44

What does this result in

Answer 44

Convective precipitation

Question 45

Why can't water droplets caused by condensation form clouds

Answer 45

They are too small

Question 46

What has to be present for clouds to form

Answer 46

Tiny particles of other substances (like dust) to act as a cloud condensation nuclei

Question 47

What does a cloud condensation nuclei do

Answer 47

They give water a surface to condense on

Question 48

Why is this important

Answer 48

It encourages clouds to form, rather than allowing moist air to disperse

Question 49

What are 2 examples of cryospheric processes

Answer 49

Accumulation and ablation

Question 50

How does cloud formation and precipitation vary

Answer 50

Seasonally and by location

Question 51

What do cryospheric processes do

Answer 51

Change the amount of water stored as ice in the cry-sphere

Question 52

What does the balance of accumulation and ablation vary with

Answer 52

Temnperature

Question 53

What happens in periods of global cold

Answer 53

Inputs into the cryosphere are greater than the outputs - water is transferred as snow snd less ware is transferred away due to melting

Question 54

What happens in periods of global warmth.

Answer 54

The magnitude of the cry-sphere store reduces as losses due to melting are larger than inputs of snow

Question 55

What is happening to the earth

Answer 55

It;'s emerging from a glacial period that reached its maximum 21,000 years ago

Question 56

Where are the extensive stores of ice

Answer 56

Antartica, Greenland and a number of alpine glaciers

Question 57

How do variations in cryospheric processes happen

Answer 57

Over different time scales

Question 58

What is an example of a short time scale variation

Answer 58

Annual temperature fluctuations mean that snow falls more in winter than summer