Geography A-Level - Physical - The Stores and Flux of the Water Cycle
- Created by: Noah_S
- Created on: 19-09-21 17:02
View mindmap
- The Stores and Flux of the Water Cycle
- Stores
- Oceanic
- 1.3 Billion km^3 of water in the oceans, covering 72% of the planet's surface
- Ocean pH fallen from 8.25 in the last 250 years, linked to an increase in atmospheric carbon
- May have a profound influence on marine ecosystems
- Surface
- Rives are stores & flows of water, containing 2100 km^3. The Amazon discharge is 210,000 cumecs and drains an area of 7 Million km^2
- Lakes are bodies of freshwater bigger than 2 hectares found on the surface. The largest lake is the Caspian Sea at 78,000 km^3
- Wetlands are areas of static or flowing water dominated by vegetation. Main ecosystem in the Artic, covering 60% of the surface area. Stores huge amount of GHG and biodiversity.
- Atmospheric
- Water vapour absorbs, reflects & scatters incoming solar radiation
- A small increase of water vapour will lead to an increase in atmospheric temperatures
- Becomes a positive feedback loop
- 0.04% of freshwater stored as water vapour
- Cyrospheric
- Sea ice doesn't raise sea levels when it melts (as it forms from oceans)
- However scientists are concerned about its recent decline as it is linked with the planet's climate (Albedo Effect)
- Antarctic & Greenland Ice Sheets contain 99% of freshwater ice on Earth, which form when snow doesn't entirely melt in the summer.
- If the Greenland Ice Sheet melted, sea levels would rise by 6m. If the Antarctic Ice Sheet melted, sea levels would rise by 60m.
- Permafrost is ground that remains below 0*C for 2+ years. Subsea permafrost occurs at close to 0*C over large areas of the Artic continental shelf, and ice-free sections of Antarctica
- Sea ice doesn't raise sea levels when it melts (as it forms from oceans)
- Oceanic
- Flows
- Evaporation
- Occurs when liquid water changes into a gas, normally from solar radiation
- The rate of evaporation depends on the amount of solar energy, the availability of water, the humidity and the temperature
- More humid = less evaporation, and warmer air can hold more water vapour
- Condensation
- Occurs when water vapour changes to a liquid, which can occur at night when temperatures fall, cooling the air to its dew point (temperature when it changes state)
- The magnitude of the condensation flow depends on the amount of water vapour and the temperature
- Cryospheric Processes
- Accumulation is the build-up of ice mass
- Varies with temperature
- Ablation is the melting of ice mass
- Varies with temperature
- During periods of global cold, inputs into the cryosphere are greater due to newly created snow not being melted away, and vice-versa
- Earth is emerging from a glacial period that peaked 21,000 years ago, that created stores in Greenland, Antarctica, as well as numerous alpine glaciers
- Accumulation is the build-up of ice mass
- Precipitation
- Main flow of water from atmospheric to ground
- Condensation nuclei causes droplets to form, forming clouds. When droplets get big enough, they fall as precipitation
- Precipitation can be caused when warm air (less dense) rises above cold air (more dense), causing frontal precipitation
- Precipitation can be caused when warm air rises above a mountain, causing relief rainfall
- Precipitation can be caused when moisture on the ground evaporates and rises up in a column of warm air, cooling as it rises, causing convective precipitation
- Evaporation
- Stores
Comments
No comments have yet been made