Water Cycle On A Global Scale

Question 1

Name and define the 4 major stores of the water cycle globally

Answer 1

Cryosphere - water stored as ice
hydrosphere - water stored as liquid
lithosphere - water stored in rocks
atmosphere - water vapour

Question 2

What are aquifers and how are they distributed?

Answer 2

Large underground stores of water, and are unevenly distributed

Question 3

Give 2 human impacts to the global water cycle

Answer 3

• changes in land use (deforestation and urbanisation)
• water abstraction - decreases water in stores (happens more in drier summer months

Question 4

Give a cryospheric process that impacts the water cycle

Answer 4

In the past glaciers and ice sheets stored huge amounts of water due to accumulation

Question 5

Percentages of water stores

Answer 5

• 97% oceans
• 3% left
• 69% of that is in glaciers/ice sheets
• 2.5% is freshwater
• 30% is groundwater
• 1% is surface storage