The Hydrosphere
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Why do we describe water as an abundant resource?
Because there is lots of it!
Water is concentrated in specific areas, what do we call these?
Reservoirs
The hydrological cycle is described as being in dynamic equilibrium. Why?
Because the processes that add water to a reservoir are equal to the processes that remove water from a reservoir. So the reservoir has a constant volume.
What is residence time?
How long water stays in a reservoir.
How is residence time calculated?
Volume of water in the reservoir / Annual flow rate in OR out of the reservoir
Which reservoir has the contains the highest volume of water and highest residence time?
Oceans
Name the two processes that remove water from the Earth’s surface.
Evaporation and transpiration.
Name the one process that adds water to the Earth’s surface.
Precipitation.
When water is running down a surface, what two processes could stop it?
Infiltration- the water entering the soil Interception and absorption- the water is intercepted by plant roots and absorbed.
How does water move from the soil to groundwater?
Percolation
What is groundwater?
Water stored beneath the soil in between and inside rocks that are porous and permeable.
What is the water table?
The depth at which the ground is saturated with water.
Describe the 2 processes that remove water from the groundwater reservoir.
Baseflow- into rivers Groundwater flow- into oceans
Name 1 water transfer that increases due to deforestation.
Surface run off
Name 2 water transfers that decrease due to deforestation.
Interception Transpiration Precipitation
Explain how 1 water transfer is affected by ploughing and heavy cattle walking on the land.
Infiltration decreases- due to soil compaction. Surface run off increases- due to soil compaction.
Explain how 1 water transfer is affected by irrigation of agriculture.
Increased evaporation- due to more water landing on the soil surface.
Explain how 1 water transfer is affected by the agriculture industry using pesticides.
Decreased infiltration- due to a reduction in soil biodiversity (e.g. earthworms) Increased surface run off- due to decreased infiltration.
Explain how 1 water transfer is affected by adding more impermeable surfaces when undertaking urban development.
Less infiltration- due to impermeable surfaces. More surface run off- due to less infiltration.
Explain how 1 water transfer is affected by global climate change.
Increased evaporation- due to an increase in temperature. Altered precipitation- due to changes to evaporation and wind patterns.
Why does human activity impact the dynamic equilibrium of the hydrosphere?
Because human activities alter the transfer rates between reservoirs. Which alters the volume of the reservoirs.
Name 3 uses of water by humans
Agriculture (farming), industry (making things) and domestic (home use).
What is the main use of water in the agriculture industry?
Irrigation (watering crops).
What is a use of water in the industrial sector?
Heating, cooling, as a solvent, washing