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Water Cycle Flashcards

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1
Q

what system is the earths hydrological system

A

the earth is a closed hydrological system, this is because negligible amounts of water enter or leave the atmosphere but solar energy can

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2
Q

what are the top 3 stores of water

A

oceans
ice caps
groundwater

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3
Q

what is percolation

A

the movement of water through the soil itself

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4
Q

what is river discharge

A

the volume of water flowing through a river chanel

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5
Q

what two things power the hydrological cycle

A

sunlight and gravity

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6
Q

what is an aquifier

A

any rocks that are underground and can hold water

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7
Q

what is the cryosphere

A

anything frozen in the water cycle

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8
Q

what is residency times

A

the average amount of time a water molecule will stay in a store

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9
Q

why are residency times important

A

stores with longer turn over are more vulnerable to pollution

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10
Q

argument for water stores being rewnewable

A

water resources can be renewable if used in a sustainable way, where replenishment of sores is equal or greater than water that is being extracted

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11
Q

argument for water stores being non-renewable

A

some stores can be deemed as non-renewable, such as water sourced from snow/ice. as this store melts

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12
Q

what is a drainage basin

A

area of land being drained by one river system

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13
Q

what factors affect the inputs, stores, flows and outputs

A

climate, soils, relief, vegetation, geology and human

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14
Q

what is a watershed

A

the boundary of a drainage basin

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15
Q

what are the 3 main causes of preciptitation

A

orographic, convectional and frontal

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16
Q

what is orographic rainfall

A

caused by the relief of the land forcing water vapor to rise and cool

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17
Q

what is convectional rainfall

A

caused by the heating of the earths surface leading to more buoyant parcels of humid air rising

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18
Q

what is frontal rainfall

A

caused by warmer air masses rising above denser, colder air masses

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19
Q

human activities that influence the hydrological system

A

over abstraction, deforestation, reservoir, urbanisation

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20
Q

example of human activities influencing the hydrological system

A

Aswan Dam: the flooding is largely controlled further downstream but has had negative impacts on farming

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21
Q

what is an impact of deforestation on the hydrological system

A

decreases interception, so less evapotranspiration will take place, so less water vapor locally

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22
Q

what can happen to the amazon before it collapses into a drier system

A

would be able to handle losing 20-25 percent of its forest area

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23
Q

what is soil moisture surplus

A

When the soil becomes saturated, excess water will have difficulty infiltrating into the ground

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24
Q

what is soil moisture utilisation

A

When evapotranspiration is greater than precipitation there is a reduction in the amount of water stored with the soil

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25
what is soil moisture deficiency
Eventually all the available water stored in the soil will have been used up
26
what is soil moisture recharge
When precipitation is greater than evapotranspiration the pores of the soil are refilled with water
27
what is a river regime
the difference in the discharge of the river throughout the year
28
what is a simple river regime
has a distinctive wet and dry season
29
what is a complex river regime
doesn't have distinctive season, as they are mostly large, they will run through different climate zones
30
what influences river regimes
area altitude geology precipitation land use
31
what is a flood hydrograph
A graph to show how river discharge responds to a rainfall event
32
what influences the shape of a hydrograph
geology soil relief shape of drainage basin
33
describe a flashy hydrograph
short lag time high peak discharge
34
describe a flat hydrograph
long lag time less peak discharge
35
what are SUDS
sustainable drainage systems: introduced to reduce runoff produced from rainfall
36
examples of SUDS
green roofs infiltration basins permeable pavements detention basins wetlands
37
define drought
a deficit in the hydrological cycle
38
what is the order of severity of droughts
meteological hydrological agricultural famine
39
what measurements could be used for a drought
precipitation rainfall water levels in reservoirs timescales
40
example of physical causes of a drought
long periods without rainfall heatwaves late monsoon season
41
example of human causes of a drought
high demand-over extraction deforestation changes in land use big infrastructure
42
what is an ENSO cycle
a good example of a longer term physical cause of drought in some regions
43
what happens in el nino
warm water moves closer to the Americas, reducing rainfall in the western pacific
44
what happens in la nina
warm water moves to the extreme west of the tropical pacific, reducing rainfall in the western parts of the Americas
45
what are the implications of the ITCZ
the position of the ITCZ is important in the tropics as many of there places rely on the movement for seasonal rainfall
46
what is a monsoon
a particularly wet season lasting several months and happens in a number of regions around the planet
47
what is a blocking high pressure system
a system that can block more unstable weather from moving in. some high pressure systems can stay stationary over an area for several days, weeks and even months
48
physical causes of the Brazil drought
high pressure systems blocked and diverted rain- bearing low pressure systems, dry air remained over Brazil
49
human factors in the Brazil drought
as water levels dropped, home owners and industries increasingly illegally abstracted groundwater there was also climate change and deforestation exacerbating the risk
50
physical causes of Australian drought
extreme positive Indian dipole forests being more flammable
51
human causes of Australian drought
human-caused climate change over abstraction of groundwater
52
impacts of Australian drought
cost 100 billion burnt 18 million hectars
53
role of climate change
it shortens the gap between extreme positive Indian dipole, as climate change causes the western side of the Indian ocean to warm faster than the last
54
what is an ecosystem
a community of organisms that interacts with each other and their environment
55
why are ecosystems important
carbon storage, hydrological systems, human uses cultural/spiritual value
56
what is the impact of drought on forests
forest fire increase foliage loss increased susceptibility to pests/diseases
57
value of a wetland
they store more carbon than forests. hold flood water to help reduce river levels
58
impacts of droughts on wetlands
dry out and release carbon
59
physical causes why some areas experience surpluses in water
frontal rainfall at mid-latitudes intense rainfall above infiltration capacity snow melt tropical thunderstorms monsoon rains
60
why do places experience flooding (human)
mismanagement deforestation urbanisation
61
what caused northern England flooding
A series of low pressure systems swept across the UK in December Largely controlled by a strong jet stream remained over the North of the UK for longer than normal
62
how will climate change influence the hydrological system
rain will be more intense as the atmosphere will hold more water change in storm patterns
63
why is water demand growing faster than the population of the world
we use lots of water for agriculture and manufacturing, which is growing rapidly in emerging economies
64
what words help to describe water scarcity
consistent, clean , sustainable
65
physical causes of water stress
changes in rainfall ENSO cycles extreme weather
66
human causes of water stress
political conflicts mismanagement increasing population agriculture
67
what role does agriculture play in water demand?
by far the largest user of water, current demands are unsustainable
68
what is economic water scarcity
not being able to afford to collect, store, distribute and purify water
69
what is privatisation
the selling of water infrastructure to the private sector
70
why cant you have development without water?
eco development requires lots of water for energy production. industrialisation scale farming, manufacturing
71
why are there internal conflicts in Spain
communities are having to sell off their water networks due to the economic decline. water companies can increase prices->economic water scarcity
72
explain conflicts in the Euphrates and Tigres
turkeys dam and hydropower construction has reduced flows to Iraq and Syria gulf war made water supply worse Iraq have "poor water management"
73
conflicts that exist within the nile basin
4.2 billion has been invested by the Chinese on the largest dam in Africa could reduce flow to Egypt little progress with international agreements
74
what is desalinisation
removal of salt and minerals from seawater and using it for drinking water
75
pros of desalinisation for Israel
not reliant of one source of water reduced dependency on rainfall
76
cons of desalinisation for Israel
large quantities of salt being dumped back into the sea high-energy consumption
77
water management used by Israel
drip irrigation low flow toilets national campaign
78
water management in China
water transfer scheme- water from south to north 3 gorges dam- control flooding and improve water supply
79
cons of water management in China
345000 will have to relocate for water transfer risks of draining too much from the south
80
pros of water management in China
reduced water shortages risk reduce abstraction of groundwater
81
examples of soft engineering
permeable surfaces rainwater harvesting drip irrigation recycling sewage
82
examples of water management in singapore
leakages have been cut to 5% desalinisation subsides for poor
83
explain conflicts in the Colorado river
river has decreased by 20%, due to climate change and an increasing population states wont compromise
84
what stores will climate change effect
snow pack glacier mass reservoirs permafrost soil moisture
85
what flows will climate change effect
evaporation precipitation streamflow
86
causes of economic water scarcity
poor management lack of finances available to develop affordability

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