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A Level Physical Geography > WCC: Water Cycle - Global Distribution of Water Stores > Flashcards

WCC: Water Cycle - Global Distribution of Water Stores Flashcards

1
Q

Where is cryospheric water stored?

A

Ice caps, permafrost, alpine glaciers, sea ice, ice sheets

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2
Q

Where is terrestrial water stored?

A

Surface water (wetlands, rivers, lakes), groundwater, biological water, soil water

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3
Q

Example of sea ice

A

Ross Ice Shelf

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4
Q

Example of ice caps

A

Icelandic ice cap

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5
Q

Example of ice sheets

A

Greenland ice sheet

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6
Q

Example of alpine glaciers

A

Mer de Glace, France

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7
Q

Example of permafrost

A

Alaska North Slope

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8
Q

Does sea ice raise the sea level when it melts?

A

No as it forms from ocean water

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9
Q

Which 2 ice sheets contain more than 99% of the freshwater on Earth?

A

Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets

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10
Q

How big is the Antarctic ice sheet?

A

14 million km^2, covering an area roughly the size of Mexico and the USA combined

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11
Q

How much would sea levels rise if the Greenland ice sheet melted and if the Antarctic ice sheet melted?

A

Greenland ice sheet - 6m

Antarctic ice sheet - 60m

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12
Q

Where are ice caps usually found?

A

Mountainous areas such as the Himalayas, the Rockies, the Andes and the Southern Alps of New Zealand

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13
Q

How much does the thickness of permafrost vary?

A

From 1m to over 1500m

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14
Q

How much of the Earth’s surface does permafrost cover?

A

Around 1/4, including vast areas of Northern Canada, Alaska and Siberia

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15
Q

What allows the ocean to stay as liquid water below 0C

A

Dissolved salts

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16
Q

What is the pH of the oceans?

A

8.4 - alkaline

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17
Q

Why is the pH of oceans steadily falling?

A

An increase in atmospheric carbon

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18
Q

What is the largest lake? What is its area?

A

The Caspian Sea at 78,000km^2

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19
Q

What is the deepest lake? Give data to support this

A

Lake Baikal in Siberia, mean depth 749m, deepest point 1637m

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20
Q

Global distribution of wetlands

A

Wetlands are found in every continent except Antarctica

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21
Q

What is the world’s largest freshwater wetland system?

A

the Pantanal of South America

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22
Q

How does the Pantanal provide economic benefits to South America?

A

It’s a huge area for water purification, climate stabilisation, water supply, flood abatement, and provides an extensive transport system

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23
Q

What ecosystem covers nearly 60% of the Arctic?

A

Wetlands

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24
Q

Where do aquifers most commonly form?

A

In rocks such as chalk and sandstone, which are porous and permeable

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25
Q

What is the water table?

A

The depth at which rock becomes completely saturated with water

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26
Q

What changes the level of the water table?

A

Groundwater flow, abstraction by people or recharge

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27
Q

What can soil water impact?

A

Weather and climate, run-off potential, flood control, oil erosion, reservoir management and water quality

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28
Q

Why is it dry over the poles and humid over the tropics?

A

Because cold air cannot hold as much water vapour

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29
Q

What are aquifers?

A

Vast underground reservoirs formed by water stored in rocks deep below the ground surface

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30
Q

Through which soil types is water easily transferred and through which soil types is it had for water to be transferred?

A

Easy - porous, sandy soils

Hard - clay

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31
Q

What is the water budget?

A

Soils capacity to store and transfer water

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32
Q

What are aquifers in the deserts called?

A

Fossil aquifers

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33
Q

Where do saline aquifers exist?

A

Where seawater had infiltrated into the rocks, often due to over-abstraction

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34
Q

What can shortages of water lead to?

A

Migration and famine

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35
Q

Name the 4 main physical systems that store water.

A

Atmosphere
Cryosphere
Hydrosphere
Lithosphere

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36
Q 
Rank these 9 water stores by size:
Rivers
Soil water
Atmosphere
Oceans
Living things
Glaciers, ice caps, ice-sheets
Swamps, marshes
Lakes
Groundwater
A
  1. Oceans
  2. Glaciers, ice caps, ice-sheets
  3. Groundwater
  4. Lakes
  5. Soil water
  6. Atmosphere
  7. Swamps, marshes
  8. Rivers
  9. Living things
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37
Q

What percentage of global water is saline water?

A

97.4%

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38
Q

Where is the majority of saline water stored?

A

Oceans

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39
Q

What percentage of global water is freshwater?

A

2.5%

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40
Q

What kind of water is needed to sustain life?

A

Freshwater

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41
Q

What percentage of freshwater is stored in the glaciers, ice caps and ice-sheets?

A

68.7%

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42
Q

What percentage of freshwater is stored as groundwater in aquifers?

A

30.1%

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43
Q

What percentage of freshwater is stored as surface water?

A

1.2%

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44
Q

What percentage of accessible surface water is stored in lakes?

A

52%

45
Q

What percentage of accessible surface water is stored in rivers?

A

1%

46
Q

Where do humans get a large proportion of water from?

A

Rivers

47
Q

What percentage of the Earth’s surface do oceans cover?

A

72%

48
Q

When does sea ice form?

A

When the oceans are cooled below freezing

49
Q

What is an ice shelf?

A

A platform of sea ice formed where ice sheets and glaciers move out into the ocean

50
Q

How is sea ice distributed globally?

A

Mainly in the Arctic ocean and waters surrounding Antarctica

51
Q

How are ice shelves distributed globally?

A

They exist mostly in Antarctica and Greenland, and in the Arctic near Canada and Alaska

52
Q

What are icebergs?

A

Chunks of ice that break off glaciers and ice shelves and drift into the ocean

53
Q

When do icebergs raise sea level?

A

When they initially enter the water, but not when they melt

54
Q

How big is the Greenland ice sheet?

A

1.7 million km^2, covering most of the island of Greenland

55
Q

What is an ice sheet?

A

A mass of glacial land ice extending more than 50,000km^2

56
Q

In what areas do ice sheets form?

A

Areas where snow that falls in winter does not melt entirely over the summer

57
Q

How do ice sheets form?

A

Snow falls in winter and doesn’t entirely melt in summer. Over thousands of years, the layers of snow pile up into thick masses of ice. They grow thicker and denser as the weight of new snow and ice layers compresses the older layers.

58
Q

In what way are ice sheets moving?

A

They are slowly flowing downhill under their own weight

59
Q

What are ice streams?

A

Relatively fast-moving outlets of ice that occur where ice-sheets meet the coast, discharging ice and sediment from the ice sheet.

60
Q

How do ice sheets remain stable?

A

By accumulating the same mass of snow as they lose to create a state of dynamic equilibrium, aided by ice streams.

61
Q

What percentage of ice and sediment does the Antarctic Ice Sheet discharge through ice streams?

A

90%

62
Q

How large are Antarctic ice streams?

A

U p to 50km wide, 2km thick and 100s of km long

63
Q

What is sea ice?

A

Free-floating frozen ocean water that melts and refreezes throughout the year

64
Q

What percentage of Antarctica is ice shelf?

A

11%

65
Q

What percentage of evaporated water entering the water cycle is supplied by oceans?

A

90%

66
Q

What are ice caps?

A

Thick layers of ice on land that are smaller than 50,000km^2

67
Q

Describe the shape of an ice cap.

A

Usually dome-shaped and centred over the highest point in an upland area.

68
Q

What are the major sources for many glaciers?

A

Ice caps

69
Q

What is the name of Africa’s only remaining ice cap and where is it located?

A

The Furtwangler Glacier on Kilimanjaro

70
Q

In what direction do ice caps flow?

A

Outwards

71
Q

What are alpine glaciers?

A

Thick masses of ice found in deep valleys or upland hollows

72
Q

When do glaciers form?

A

When snow remains in one location long enough to transform into ice

73
Q

What percentage of Earth’s total land area is covered by glaciers?

A

10%

74
Q

Why are glaciers particularly important in the Himalayas?

A

About 15,000 Himalayan glaciers form a unique reservoir which supports perennial rivers such as the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra which are the lifeline of millions of people living in SE Asia.

75
Q

What is permafrost?

A

Ground that remains at or below 0C for at least 2 consecutive years

76
Q

What are the 4 classes of terrestrial water?

A

Surface water
Groundwater
Soil water
Biological water

77
Q

Give 3 types of surface water

A

Rivers
Lakes
Wetlands

78
Q

What is the largest river by discharge?

A

The Amazon

79
Q

How much of the world’s total river flow does the Amazon account for?

A

1/5

80
Q

What are lakes?

A

Collections of freshwater found in hollows on the land surface of at least 2 hectares in area

81
Q

Where do most of the world’s lakes lie?

A

In the Northern hemisphere at high latitudes

82
Q

How many lakes does Canada have in total?

A

At least 2 million

83
Q

Where in Asia is 20% of accessible surface freshwater stored?

A

Lake Baikal in Siberia

84
Q

What percentage of accessible surface freshwater is stored in North America’s Great Lakes?

A

20%

85
Q

What are wetlands?

A

‘Areas of marsh, fen peatland or water … where there is a dominance in vegetation’ - the Ramsar Convention

86
Q

Why do wetlands vary so widely?

A

Because of regional and local differences in soils, topography, climate, hydrology, water chemistry, vegetation and human disturbance

87
Q

Why are wetlands critical for global biodiversity?

A

They provide a unique environment that can support both aquatic and terrestrial species. The prolonged presence of water creates conditions that favour the growth of specially adapted plants. Water saturation determines the types of communities living in and on the soil.

88
Q

Describe the Panatal

A

A complex system of marshlands, flood plains, lagoons and interconnected drainage lines, extending through millions of hectares of central-western Brazil, eastern Bolivia and eastern Paraguay.

89
Q

What is groundwater?

A

Water that collects underground in the pore spaces of rock

90
Q

Where does groundwater eventually flow to?

A

The surface

91
Q

Where does natural discharge of groundwater often occur?

A

At springs or seeps

92
Q

What can natural discharge of groundwater form?

A

Oases or wetlands

93
Q

Why is the amount of available groundwater rapidly reducing?

A

Extensive extraction for use in irrigating agricultural land in dry areas

94
Q

Describe the global distribution of fossil aquifers.

A

In the deserts of Africa, the Middle East, and Australasia

95
Q

When were fossil aquifers formed?

A

Formed thousand of years ago when the climate in those regions was much wetter

96
Q

What stops groundwater from continuing to percolate downwards?

A

Impermeable rock below e.g clay or granite, which has very limited water transfer

97
Q

What forms where the water table is reaches the surface?

A

A lake or river

98
Q

Within an aquifer system, where is water lost?

A

Within a discharge area such as a river or lake where the water table reaches the ground surface

99
Q

Describe the global distribution of aquifers.

A

Globally, there are major aquifers in every continent. There are many in South America, Europe and Africa.

100
Q

What is soil water?

A

Water held together with air in unsaturated upper weathered layers of the earth

101
Q

What is biological water?

A

Water stored in all biomass

102
Q

What happens to biological water stores if vegetation is destroyed?

A

The water is lost to the upper atmosphere

103
Q

How many different states does atmospheric water exist in?

A

3 - gas, liquid, solid

104
Q

What is the most common atmospheric water?

A

Water vapour

105
Q

How does water vapour keep the atmosphere at a temperature that can maintain life?

A

It absorbs, reflects and scatters incoming solar radiation

106
Q

How will a small increase in water vapour affect atmospheric temperatures?

A

Atmospheric temperatures will increase

107
Q

What is cloud?

A

A visible mass of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere

108
Q

What results in cloud formation?

A

Air in the lower atmosphere becoming saturated

109
Q

Briefly describe the global distribution of water

A

Nearly all oceanic water. The majority of the small percentage of freshwater on Earth is stored in ice caps and glaciers. Most of the rest is groundwater. The small amount of surface freshwater is mainly stored in lakes and soil.

A Level Physical Geography (43 decks)

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