AQA Geography - Water Cycle

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Atmospheric Water
Water found in the atmosphere; mainly water vapour with some liquid water (cloud and rain droplets) and ice crystals.
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Cryospheric Water
The water locked up on the Earth’s surface as ice.
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Oceanic Water
The water contained in the Earth’s oceans and seas but not including such inland seas as the Caspian Sea.
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Terrestrial Water
This consists of groundwater, soil, moisture, lakes, wetlands and rivers.
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What is a drainage basin?
The area of land surrounding a river, from which the river receives water and subsequently drains this water.
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Precipitation
Rain, snow, hail and sleet
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Infiltration
When water enters into soil
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Interception
When water is caught by trees and plants
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Stem flow
Water lands on plants and runs down their stems
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Overland flow
Anywhere water flows over the land surface
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Through flow
Movement of water down through the soil
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Transpiration
Where water vapour comes out of leaves
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Evapotranspiration
Water rises as vapour from the ground and released from leaves.
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Ground water
Water stored deep in the ground
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Soil water
Water held between soil particles
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Ground water flow
When water flows through the ground/rock
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Percolation
When water enters permeable rock
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Surface storage
Lakes, ponds and puddles
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Ground water storage
Water stored underground in bed rock
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What is permafrost?
any ground that remains completely frozen—0°C or colder—for at least two years straight.
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Why can it prove difficult to build in areas of permafrost?
Designing and building buildings is difficult on permafrost because buildings could create heat that would thaw the permafrost, which then can become unstable and create land slides, sink holes etc.
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Drainage Basin
The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.
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Mouth
the part of a river where the river debouches into another river, a lake, a reservoir, a sea, or an ocean.
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Source
s the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river.
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Confluence
a meeting point of two or more rivers. In other words it usually refers to the point where a tributary joins a major river, called the mainstream.
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Tributary
a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean.
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Watershed
The boundary between neighbouring drainage basins.
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Floodplain
an area of land adjacent to a stream or river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.
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What forms the input to the drainage basin system?
Precipitation.
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What are the outputs from the system?
Runoff. Evapotranspiration.
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water balance
The difference between the inputs and the outputs (and the subsequent change in storage) in the drainage basin
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Soil moisture budget
Closely linked to water balance. Soil moisture budget is the change in the amount of water stored in the soil throughout the year.
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2 Main factors of the Soil moisture budget
Precipitation. Potential evaporation.
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Potential evaporation
the amount of evapotranspiration that could occur is there was sufficient water available in the system
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The soil moisture graph
The relationship between precipitation and potential evapotranspiration, for a given drainage basin, can be shown as a soil moisture budget graph.
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Runoff variation
The amount of water in the river (and flowing into the sea therefore), is known as runoff. This varies widely... Between different rivers. In one river throughout the course of a year.
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How to work out water balance?
P = E + Q (P = precipitation, E = evapotranspiration)
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Cryospheric Water

Back

The water locked up on the Earth’s surface as ice.

Card 3

Front

Oceanic Water

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Terrestrial Water

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What is a drainage basin?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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