Basics of carbon and water systems

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108 Terms

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What is mass balance in the global water system?

It’s the fixed amount of water globally – water can neither be gained nor lost

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What is a store in the water cycle?

A place where water is held

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What is a flow in the water cycle?

The movement of water between stores

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Is the global water cycle open or closed?

Closed – no water is lost to or gained from outside the system

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Name the Earth’s subsystems related to the water cycle

Hydrosphere

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What is the cryosphere?

Parts of the Earth where water is solid

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What are Milankovitch cycles?

Orbital changes influencing Earth’s climate over long timescales

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Eccentricity

The change in the shape of Earth’s orbit from circular to elliptical over 100

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Tilt

The variation of Earth’s axial tilt between 22° and 24.5° over 41

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Precession

A wobble in Earth’s rotational axis over a 22

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Is a drainage basin an open or closed system?

Open – water can enter and leave

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What is throughfall?

Rain dripping from vegetation onto the ground

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What is stemflow?

Rain running down stems and trunks to the ground

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What is infiltration?

The process of water entering the soil

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What is percolation?

Water moving from soil to bedrock

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What is groundwater flow?

Water movement through rocks beneath the soil

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What is overland flow?

Water moving across the ground surface

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What is infiltration-excess overland flow?

Rainfall exceeds infiltration capacity of soil

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What is saturation-excess overland flow?

Soil becomes saturated

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What is channel flow?

Water moving in rivers and streams

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What is interception?

Rainwater held on leaves and plant surfaces

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What is soil moisture storage?

Water held in the pores of soil

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What is channel discharge?

The amount of water leaving via a river over time

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What is evaporation?

The change of water from liquid to gas

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What is transpiration?

Water vapor released from plant stomata

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What is a river regime?

The annual pattern of discharge in a river

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What is a simple regime?

A river with one seasonal discharge peak

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What is a complex regime?

A river with many tributaries and multiple peaks

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What is discharge?

The volume of water (m³/s) passing a given point in a river

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What is a storm hydrograph?

A graph showing a river's response to a rainfall event

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What is peak discharge?

The maximum rate of river flow during a storm

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What is peak rainfall?

The maximum rainfall recorded during a storm

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What is the rising limb?

The section of a hydrograph where discharge increases

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What is lag time?

The time between peak rainfall and peak discharge

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What is the falling limb?

The section of a hydrograph where discharge decreases

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What is preceding discharge?

The rate of river flow prior to the storm event

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What is bankfull discharge?

The maximum discharge before flooding occurs

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What is base flow?

The normal day-to-day flow of a river

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How do antecedent conditions affect hydrographs?

Saturated soils cause faster runoff and flashier hydrographs

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How does vegetation affect hydrographs?

More vegetation increases interception and evapotranspiration

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How does rock type affect hydrographs?

Permeable rocks allow more infiltration and reduce runoff

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How does soil depth and type affect hydrographs?

Deeper clay soils increase runoff

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How does land use affect hydrographs?

Urban and agricultural land use can increase or decrease runoff and infiltration

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How does basin shape affect hydrographs?

Circular basins cause faster drainage and flashier hydrographs

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How does drainage density affect hydrographs?

Higher drainage density = faster flow and shorter lag times

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How does slope angle affect hydrographs?

Steeper slopes = less infiltration and more surface runoff

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What is convectional rainfall?

Rain caused by surface heating leading to rising and cooling air

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What is frontal rainfall?

Rain caused when warm and cold air masses meet

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What is orographic rainfall?

Rain caused when moist air is forced over mountains

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What is the feeder-seeder mechanism?

Raindrops fall from high clouds and grow by collecting droplets from lower clouds

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What is the Bergeron-Findeisen process?

Ice crystals in high clouds grow

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What is the collision process?

Larger raindrops collide and merge with smaller droplets to grow in size

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What is runoff?

Rainwater movement via overland flow

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What is the effect of snowmelt and ice ablation?

Increases runoff into rivers

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What is the effect of storm activity on runoff?

Intense or prolonged rainfall leads to excess runoff and possible flooding

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How does urbanisation affect runoff?

Increases impermeable surfaces

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What is the water balance equation?

P = Q + ET + ΔS

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What causes a water deficit?

When precipitation is less than the sum of evapotranspiration and runoff

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What causes soil moisture surplus?

High winter precipitation and low evaporation rates

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What causes soil moisture deficit?

High summer temperatures and plant use of soil water

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What is a meteorological drought?

A prolonged period of below-average rainfall

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What is an agricultural drought?

Insufficient soil moisture for crop production

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What is a hydrological drought?

Low water reserves in lakes

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What is an aquifer?

A permeable rock layer that stores extractable groundwater

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What is an artesian aquifer?

An aquifer confined between impermeable layers under pressure

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What is the Aral Sea disaster?

A shrinking inland sea due to overuse for irrigation

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What is the carbon cycle?

The movement of carbon through the Earth’s atmosphere

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What percentage of Earth’s carbon is atmospheric?

Only 0.001%

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What percentage of carbon is in living organisms?

0.004%

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Where is most carbon stored?

In sedimentary rock and fossil fuels (99.9%)

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What is a carbon sink?

A store that absorbs more carbon than it releases

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What is a carbon source?

A store that releases more carbon than it absorbs

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What is carbon sequestration?

The natural capture and storage of CO₂ from the atmosphere

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What is photosynthesis?

Plants and phytoplankton fix atmospheric CO₂ into carbohydrates

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What is respiration?

Organisms release CO₂ through breaking down glucose

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What is decomposition?

The breakdown of organic matter releasing carbon through physical

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What is combustion?

Burning organic material or fossil fuels

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What is the physical (inorganic) carbon pump?

CO₂ dissolves in ocean surface and is transported to deeper layers

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What is the biological carbon pump?

Phytoplankton absorb CO₂ and pass it through marine food chains

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What is the carbonate pump?

Plankton use CO₂ to create shells

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What is carbonation?

Chemical weathering where CO₂ dissolves in rainwater and reacts with rock

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How is carbon released from rock?

Through volcanic activity

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Where is carbon stored in biomes?

In biomass

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What is a biome?

A major ecosystem type like a rainforest or tundra

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How much carbon is in tropical rainforests?

550 GtC in biomass and soil

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How much carbon is in temperate grasslands?

185 GtC in biomass and soil

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How does deforestation affect carbon?

Reduces storage and increases atmospheric CO₂

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What is afforestation?

Planting trees to increase carbon sequestration

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How does agriculture affect carbon?

Soil erosion and vegetation loss reduce carbon storage

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What is peat?

Partially decomposed vegetation in waterlogged anaerobic soil

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Why is peat a carbon sink?

It accumulates plant material faster than it decomposes

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Where are peatlands found?

In high rainfall upland areas like Scotland

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How much land is peatland?

3% of Earth’s land surface stores 60 billion tonnes of carbon

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What degrades peatlands?

Drainage

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What is the effect of degraded peatlands?

They become carbon sources rather than sinks

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What is peat restoration?

Rewetting and revegetation to restore carbon storage

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What is desertification?

The degradation of land due to climate change or poor land use

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How does desertification affect water and carbon cycles?

Reduces infiltration

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What is NPP?

Net Primary Productivity – the rate of plant growth storing carbon

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How does humus help?

It stores carbon and retains up to 90% of its weight in water