Water Cycle Flashcards
(43 cards)
1
Q
Define a system
A
- A system has stores with transfers between them
2
Q
What are the two types of systems?
A
- Open systems (linked to other systems)
- Closed systems (self contained)
3
Q
What is an example of a closed system?
A
- Our planet
4
Q
What is an example of a open system?
A
- All of the ‘spheres’ as energy and mass are transfered between them
5
Q
State the inputs for a ‘garden pond’?
A
- Precipitation
- Leaf fall during autumn
- Seeds carried by wind
6
Q
State the stores for a ‘garden pond’?
A
- Water
- Soil
- Plants
7
Q
State the transfers for a ‘garden pond’?
A
- Photosynthesis
- Infiltration
- Transpiration
8
Q
State the outputs for a ‘garden pond’?
A
- Evaporation
- Seed dispersal
- Water soaking through soil and rocks
9
Q
What are the two types of feedback?
A
- Positive feedback
- Negative feedback
10
Q
Define positive feedback
A
- A cyclical sequence of events that amplifies or increases change
11
Q
Define negative feedback
A
- A cyclical sequence of events which damps down or neutralises the effects of a system
12
Q
What does a negative feedback loop promote?
A
- It promotes a state of dynamic equilibrium
13
Q
What are the two types of permeability?
A
- Primary (Goes between rocks)
- Secondary (porus rocks) (Goes through the rocks)
14
Q
State the water cycle
A
15
Q
What is trunk trickle?
A
- Water flowing down tree trunks
16
Q
What is topography?
A
- The layout of the land
17
Q
What are the five ‘spheres’?
A
- Lithosphere
- Hydrosphere
- Cryosphere
- Atmosphere
- Biosphere
18
Q
What is the lithosphere?
A
- The crust and mantle
19
Q
What is the hydrosphere?
A
- All of the water on earth
20
Q
What is the cryosphere?
A
- A subset of the hydrosphere, all parts where its cold enough to freeze water
21
Q
What is the atmosphere?
A
- Gas between earths surface and space
22
Q
What is the biosphere?
A
- Where all living things are found
23
Q
Finish the line…
All of the above are subsystems…
A
… which are interlinked by cycles and processes that keep earth running as normal
24
Q
What moves between subsystems?
A
- Matter
- Energy
25
What happens if there are changes in one subsystem?
* Affects what happens in others
26
What is the global distribution of water?
* 96.6% of global water is oceans
* 2.5% of global water is 'fresh water'
* Most fresh water is stored in glaciers
27
Define soil moisture budget?
* The balance between water inputs and water outputs
28
Learn this graph on soil moisture budgets?
29
What factors influence how water flows within a drainage basin?
* Vegetation and land use
* Soil type and depth
* Type of rock
* Rainfall
* Shape of the land
* Climate
* Conditions in drainage basin
* Size and shape of river basin
30
What is interception?
* Rain being caught by e.g trees
31
What is infiltration?
* Water on surface entering the soil
32
What is percolation?
* The gravity flow of water within the soil
33
What is surface runoff?
* Water which flows over the land surface
34
What is throughflow?
* The sporadic horizontal flow of water within the soil. It normally takes place when soil is completly saturated.
35
What is groundwater flow?
* The deeper movement of water through permeable rock below the water table.
36
What is transpiration?
* Where moisture is brought through plants from their roots to the tiny pores called stomata. Water is transformed into gas and released into atmosphere.
37
What is evapotranspiration?
* The sum of evaporation and transpiration
38
What factors affect hydrographs?
* Precipitation / Heavy rainfall
* Tree lined river banks
* Size and shape of drainage basin
* Rock type (permeable or impermeable)
* Saturated soil
* Steep or shallow sloping river course
* Urban or rural
39
What are some physical causes of flooding?
* Rock type
* Topography
* Precipitation
* Permeable or impermeable
* Vegetation
* Shape of basin
40
What are some human causes of flooding?
* Infrastructure
* Quality of drainage systems
* Built up impermeable surfaces
41
State some facts for 'Gatwick Flood Defence' case study
* Gatwick stream flood alleviation is where water floods instead of south terminal
* Biodiversity is importat so oaktrees kept to allow bats to live there
* Meanders were created to increase capacity of river and take river on more natural course
* 186000 m3 of flood storage avalible
42
What does antecedant conditions mean?
* Ground is saturated
43
What are the three types of flooding?
* Fluvial: Water level overflows banks
* Pluvial: Independant of overflowing water body
* Groundwater flooding: Hydro static pressure
