Hydrological Cycle Key Terms

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The planting of trees on land that has never had forest, or has been without forest for a long time.
Afforestation
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A rainfall deficiency from meteorological drought that leads to deficiency of soil moisture and soil water availability, which has a knock on effect on plant growth and reduces biomass.
Agricultural drought
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A permeable or porous rock which stores water.
Aquifer
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The normal, day-to-day discharge of the river.
Base flow
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Water stored in rivers, streams, lakes and groundwater in liquid form (the visible part of the hydrological cycle).
Blue water
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The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.
Catchment
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A sequence of linked processes with a transfer of energy but not matter between the parts of the system (the inputs and outputs happen within the system). An example is the global hydrological cycle.
Closed system
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The change from a gas to a liquid, such as when water vapour changes into water droplets.
Condensation
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Often associated with intense thunderstorms, which occur widely in areas with ground heating such as the tropics and continental interiors.
Convectional rainfall
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Areas of the Earth where water is frozen into snow or ice.
Cryosphere
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A period or sustained, moderately intensive rainfall; it is associated with the passage of depressions.
Cyclonic rainfall
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The cutting down and removal of all or most trees in a forested area.
Deforestation
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The process of converting saltwater to freshwater suitable for human consumption and industry.
Desalination
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Land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities.
Desertification
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The temperature at which dew forms; it is a measure of atmospheric moisture.
Dew point
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The definition varies internationally. According to the UN, drought is an extended period (a season, a year or several years) of deficient rainfall relative to the statistical average for a region measured over a very long period of time.
Drought
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Occurs when water resources are available but there is insufficient human, institutional and financial capital to access the water in order to meet demand.
Economic water scarcity
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A naturally occurring phenomenon that involves the movement of a mass of very warm water in the equatorial Pacific due to changes in the surface trade winds, atmospheric circulation and ocean currents.
ENSO
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Excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to run-off from farming land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from a lack of oxygen.
Eutrophication
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The change in state of water from a liquid to a gas.
Evaporation
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The combined effect of evaporation and transpiration.
Evapotranspiration
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The part of a storm hydrograph in which the discharge starts to decrease and return to base flow.
Falling limb
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A humanitarian crisis in which the widespread failure of agricultural systems leads to food shortages and famines with severe social, economic and environmental impacts.
Famine drought
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A flood with an exceptionally short lag time- often minutes or hours.
Flash flooding
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Ancient, deep groundwater from former pluvial (wetter) periods.
Fossil water
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Occurs frequently in mid-latitudes when warm tropical air meets cooler air. The warm air is less dense & rises over the colder air, causing the warm air to cool, leading to condensation of water vapour, clouds of different types and precipiation
Frontal rainfall
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Water stored in the soil and vegetation (the invisible part of the hydrological cycle).
Green water
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Flooding that occurs after the ground has become saturated from prolonged heavy rainfall.
Groundwater flooding
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The slow transfer of percolated water underground through pervious or porous rocks.
Groundwater flow
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The use of man-made, artificial structures to manage flooding or water supply.
Hard engineering
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Associated with reduced stream flow and groundwater levels which decrease due to reduced inputs of precipitation and continued high rates of evaporation. Results in reduced storage in lakes and reservoirs often with marked salinisation and poorer wat
Hydrological drought
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The movement of water from the ground surface into the soil.
Infiltration
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The maximum rate at which rain can be absorbed by a soil.
Infiltration capacity
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A process which promotes the co-ordinated development and management of water, land and related resources in order to maximise economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.
Integrated water resource management
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A concentration of warm air that produces rainfall as part of a global circulation system (the Hadley cell). It moved north and south across the equator seasonally. Small shifts in location can cause drought.
Inter tropical convergence zone
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Defined by shortfalls in precipitation as a result of short-term variability, or longer-term trends, which decrease the duration of the dry period.
Meteorological drought
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A seasonal change in the direction of prevailing winds of a region, causing wet and dry seasons in many sub-tropical areas.
Monsoon
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Concentrated on the windward slopes and summits of mountains.
Orographic rainfall
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The time when the river reaches its highest flow.
Peak discharge
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The transfer of water from the surface or from the soil into the bedrock beneath.
Percolation
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The water loss that would occur if there was an unlimited supply of water in the soil for use by vegetation.
Potential evaporation
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The movement of water in any form from the atmosphere to the ground.
Precipitation
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The physical mechanisms that drive the flux of material between stores.
Processes
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The average time a water molecule will spend in a reservoir or store.
Residence time
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The part of a storm hydrograph in which the discharge starts to rise.
Rising limb
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The annual variation in discharge or flow of a river at a particular point or gauging station, usually measured in cumecs.
River regime
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The movement of saltwater into freshwater aquifers due to sea level rise, storm surges and/or human abstraction of groundwater which lowers the water table.
Saltwater encroachment
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Reservoirs where water is held, such as the oceans.
Stores
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Shows changes in a river’s discharge at a given point on a river over a short period of time (usually before, during and after a storm).
Storm hydrograph
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The movement of water that is unconfined by a channel across the surface of the ground. Also known as overland flow.
Surface run off
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Flooding that occurs when intense rainfall has insufficient time to infiltrate the soil, so flows overland.
Surface water flooding
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Systems approaches study hydrological phenomena by looking at the balance of inputs and outputs, and how water is moved between stores and flows.
Systems approach
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A human innovation using technology to solve a problem such as water supply issues.
Technological fix
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The global system of surface and deep water ocean currents is driven by temperature (thermos) and salinity (haline) differences between areas of oceans.
Thermohaline circulation
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This is when the rainfall persists or is relatively intense, and the water drops from the leaves, twigs, needles etc.
Throughfall
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Water moving sideways through the soil, downslope under the influence of gravity.
Throughflow
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A water resource, including rivers, lakes and aquifers, that occupies a territory shared by more than one state.
Transboundary water
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The diffusion of water from vegetation into the atmosphere involving a change from a gas to a liquid.
Transpiration
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An agreement signed between states, recognised under international law.
Treaty
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The annual balance between inputs (precipitation) and outputs (evapotranspiration and channel flow) at a place.
Water budget
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Strategies to reduce water usage and demand
Water conservation
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Occurs when the economic, social and environmental requirements for water supplies are not met
Water insecurity
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The treatment and purification of waste water using advanced membrane technologies and ultra-violet disinfection so that it is clean and safe to be re-used for industrial or domestic purposes
Water recycling
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Occurs when renewable water resources are only between 500 and 1,000m3 per capita per year
Water scarcity
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The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water...
Water security
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When renewable water resources are only between 1,000 and 1,700m3 per capita per year
Water stress
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Hard engineering projects, such as pipelines or aqueducts, that divert water from drainage basins with surplus water to those with shortages.
Water transfer
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An area of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing fresh, brackish or salt.
Wetland
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The highland which divides and separates waters flowing into different rivers.
Watershed
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

A rainfall deficiency from meteorological drought that leads to deficiency of soil moisture and soil water availability, which has a knock on effect on plant growth and reduces biomass.

Back

Agricultural drought

Card 3

Front

A permeable or porous rock which stores water.

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

The normal, day-to-day discharge of the river.

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Water stored in rivers, streams, lakes and groundwater in liquid form (the visible part of the hydrological cycle).

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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