Geography - Earth's Life Support Systems

• Principle outputs of the water cycle (3) Evaporation, run-off, leakage
• What are the principle flows in the water cycle (7) Precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, run-off, infiltration, percolation and throughflow
• What is released during the evaporation process as a result of the heat needed to break down molecular bands Latent heat
• When does condensation occur When air cools to dew point and 100% relative humidity is reached
• What are the three types of cloud you need to know for a level Cumuliform, Stratiform and cirrus
• Describe a cumuliform cloud Flat base, considerable vertical development and are heated vertically
• Describe a stratiform cloud Layer clouds which develop when air mass moves horizontally across a cooler surface (advection)
• Describe a cirrus cloud Wispy high altitude clouds which do not form precipitation and have little impact on the water cycle
• What cloud has the most impact on the water cycle Cumulonimbus clouds are the most associated with storm events
• What causes fog When the dew point is on ground level
• What are the principle stores in the water cycle (5) Vegetation, Surface, soil, groundwater and channel storage
• How do you calculate water balance Precipitation = (Run-off + evapotranspiration)+ or - change in storage
• What is a lapse rate A measure of how quickly temperature drops as you move up through the atmosphere
• What is adiabatic expansion The process in which there is no heat transfer in or out of the system
• What are the three different lapse rates Environmental lapse rate, Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate, Saturated Adiabatic lapse rate
• What is the environmental lapse rate and temperature change - The vertical temperature profile of the lower atmosphere at any given time - 6.5 degrees celcius for every kilometer in height gained
• What is the dry adiabatic lapse rate and its temperature change - The rate at which a parcel of dry air cools through the atmosphere - 10 degrees per kilometer
• What is the saturated adiabatic lapse rate and what is its temperature change, and why is it less than the Dry adiabatic lapse rate - Rate at which a saturated parcel of air cools through the atmosphere - 7 degrees per kilometer - Lower than DALR as condensation produces latent heat
• What are the residences of carbon (4) - Atmosphere - Terrestrial biomass - Oceans - Sedimentary rock
• What is the store and residence time of carbon in the atmosphere - 600 gt, 6 years
• What is the store and residence time of carbon in the terrestrial biomass 560gt, 18 years
• What is the store and residence time of carbon in the Surface oceans 500gt, 25 years
• What is the store and residence time of carbon in the deep ocean 38,000gt, 1250 years
• What is the store and residence time of carbon in the Sedimentary Rock 100 million gt, 150 million years
• Stores in the slow carbon cycle (3) Deep oceans, sedimentary rock, fossil fuels
• How many tonnes of carbon does the slow carbon cycle circulate each year between 10 and 100 million tonnes
• What has the greatest impact on the flux of carbon in the slow carbon cycle Chemical weathering (carbonation) of sedimentary rock
• Stores in the fast carbon cycle (5) Atmosphere, surface ocean, vegetation, soil and peat
• What is considered a key component to the the fast carbon cycle and why - Phytoplankton! - Absorp CO2 through photosynthesis and combine it with water to make carbohyrdrates
• What are the fluxes in the carbon cycle (4) Respiration Photosynthesis Decomposition Combustion
• Describe decomposition in terms of the carbon cycle Bacteria and fungi breakdown organic matter requiring energy, this releases CO2 - the hotter the climate the more decomposition
• How does precipitation impact the carbon cycle (2) - atmospheric co2 dissolves in rainwater forming a weak carbonic acid - This weathers sedimentary rock and releases co2
• Amazon: What are the human factors that impact the Madiera Basin - Deforestation - Over a 1/5 of all primary rainforest has been destroyed
• Amazon: How does deforetsation result in catastrophic flooding (3) - Reduces water storage in trees, soils and rocks - Rainforest to grassland conversion increases run-off by 27X - Breaks water cycle, stabilises forest albedo and sustains humidity leading to heavy convectional rainfall
• Amazon: What caused the madiera floods in April 2014 30,000km2 deforestation of Bolivian forest for subsitance farming between 2000-2012
• Amazon: What were the impacts of the Madiera floods in 2014 (2) - Port Velho experienced flood heights of 19.68 metres - 60 died and 68,000 were evacuated
• Amazon: What are some water cycle features specific to the Amazon rainforest (4) - High average annual rainfall of more than 2000mm a year - High average annual temperatures of between 25-30 degrees - Intense insolation throughout the year stimulating evapotranspiration - 60% rainfall is recycled by evapotranspiration
• Amazon: What are some carbon cycle features specific to the amazon rainforest (4) - High NPP of 2.5kg/m2/yr - Forests store 180 tonnes c/ha above ground carbon and 40 tonnes c/ha in roots - Amazon rainforest absorbs 2.4 billion tonnes of carbon a year - Rapid exchange between the atmosphere, biosphere and soil
• Amazon: Physical factors affecting flows and stores in the water cycle (3) - Geology - Relief - Temperature
• Amazon: How does geology impact flows and stores in the water cycle - Impermeable catchments have minimal water capacity resulting in rapid run-off - Permeable rocks like limestone store rainfall and have a slow runoff