water

Cards (80)

  • Global water budget
    balance of water fluxes and size of water stores involved in hydrological cycle each year
  • Closed system
    Transfer of energy but no matter between the system and its surroundings
  • Open system
    Receives inputs from and transfers outputs of energy and matter to other systems
  • Oceans water store
    96.9%
  • Continents water store
    3.02% (Groundwater 1.1%, River/Lake 0.1%, Soil moisture 0.01%, Atmosphere moisture 0.001%, Biological 0.0001%)
  • Fluxes
    Martime to Continental Atmosphere 40 (10(3)km3)
    Continental Atmos. to Continents 113 (reverse 73)
    Continents to Oceans 40
    Oceans to Maritime Atmos. 413 (reverse 373)
  • Fossil water
    Water contained in an undisturbed space for longer than 1,000 years
  • Blue water
    Water in its liquid form (Rivers)
  • Green water
    Water evaporated from soil and plants
  • Grey water
    Relatively clean water waste from baths, sinks and kitchen appliances
  • Segura Aquifer Spain
    Used for agriculture: grapes/wine. One of the world's most depleted aquifers. 440 hm³ short of fresh water. 61% of groundwater sources are not replenishable.
  • Water budget equation
    Precipitation (Input) = Channel discharge + evapotranspiration (Output) +/- changes in storage
  • Drainage Basin
    Area drained by a river and its tributaries, separated by high land called watershed (open system)
  • Interception
    Water impeded by vegetation, varies due to temperature, leaf type, age and density
  • Infiltration
    Rate water enters pores in the soil (mm/hour) - changes due to saturation levels
  • Overland flow
    Water moving across the surface
  • Saturated overland flow
    Rainwater forced to run off the surface when maximum soil saturation is reached
  • Infiltration-excess overland flow
    When rainfall intensity is higher than infiltration capacity, causing the additional water to run over the surface
  • Groundwater flow
    Slow movement of percolated water through rocks to a river
  • Percolation
    Water moving vertically downwards through rocks
  • Evapotranspiration
    Total amount of water removed from a drainage basin from liquid water to gas and water in the soil taken through plants that is e from the stomata
  • Channel runoff
    Total water output from the catchment at river mouth
  • Human disruption to interception
    Varied crops, deforestation, urbanisation
  • Human disruption to infiltration
    Trampling, urbanisation, deforestation, ploughing
  • Human disruption to channel runoff
    River extraction reducing flow (Colorado River)
  • Human disruption to evapotranspiration

    Dams, global warming, vegetation changes
  • Segura Aquifer
    Decline constant decline. Major drought during 1992-1995 and 2006-2009. Resulting in an 8m drop in the water table and 8cm of subsidence.
  • Convectional rainfall
  • Relief rainfall
  • Frontal rainfall
  • Soil moisture budget
    Used to compare inputs and outputs from soil
  • Soil moisture graph
  • River regime

    Annual variation in discharge per year (displayed in hydrograph)
  • Perennial Channel
    River with continual flow all year
  • Intermittent Channel
    River with lack of flow for a few weeks/months a year
  • Ephemeral Channel

    River that only flows for a few hours/days (Wadi)
  • River regime factors
    Climate (desert mostly ephemeral), drainage area, altitude, geology, land use
  • River Wye Regime
    River Maas (Belgium flood) Lowest flow in late summer (more evapotranspiration), highest flow in winter (more precipitation)
  • Storm Hydrograph
  • Amazon drought
    Rainfall decline causing reduced nutrient input into streams and rivers
    2005 = 70 million ha forest experienced drought
    Canopy dieback occured