ENST 320A Hydrologic Cycle

What is a watershed?

a geographical area where all precipitation like rain or snow drains to a single point such as a river, lake, ocean

What does the hydrologic cycle describe?

How water is distributed on Earth

How are all the spheres connected to each other (geosphere, biosphere, atmosphere)?

Water moves through all of them

Where is most surface water found on Earth?

69.0% of it is ground ice and permafrost, 20.9% is found in lakes

Where is most freshwater found on Earth?

68.7% Glacier and ice caps, 30% ground water

How does water move?

Gravity, goes from high elevations to low elevations, and through phase changes (gas, liquid, solid)

What are the 5 main processes of the water cycle?

Evaporation/evapotranspiration, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff

How do plants contribute to the hydrologic cycle?  

Which of the processes of the water cycle are impacted by phase changes?

evaporation/evapotranspiration, condensation

What are three examples of events that occur in the water cycle that are influenced by gravity?

1. Precipitation, because Gravity is greater than the forces that keep the droplets in the clouds

2. Infiltration of groundwater

3. Water flowing from a river to ocean

How do plants transpire?

by the stomata (tiny pores), they open during photosynthesis and respiration, water is lost

Where does condensation occur?

fog, clouds, and dew

What does condensation need to begin?

Water droplets mixed with particulate matter

What is a flux?

the transfer of molecules from one reservoir to another over a specific period of time (examples of fluxes is rainfall, and snowfall)

What is average residence time?

the average time that a water molecule spends in the reservoir (like a bathtub), allows for you to understand how long the reservoir will last

What is formula for average residence time?

Size of reservoir divided by flux

What are we measuring when we measure temperature? 

Average kinetic energy of the particles within a system or object

What is evapotranspiration?

What is transpiration?

the movement of water through plant and out the leaves

What is evaporation?

What is condensation?

What is precipitation?