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earth's life support system (order of the stores of global water…
earth's life support system
goldilocks zone - meaning the planet is habitable. everything is 'just right'
water vapour - absorbs long-wave radiation from Earth maintains temperature at 15 degrees higher than they they would be
oceans: water makes up to 65-95% of all living organisms = crucial to growth, reproduction and plants require water or photosynthesis
clouds: made up of tiny droplets reflect a 1/5 of incoming solar radiation and lower temperatures as they trap heat
lithosphere - the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle. it's divided into tectonic plates
biosphere - the space at the earth's surface and within the atmosphere occupied by living organisms
hydrosphere = all the waters on the earth's surface, such as lakes and seas
cryosphere - all the frozen parts on the surface including ice caps + glaciers
atmosphere - the envelope of gases surrounding the planet
order of the stores of global water
oceans = 97%
polar ice and glaciers = 2%
groundwater (aquifers) 0.7%
lakes = 0.01
soils = 0.005
atmosphere = 0.001
rivers = 0.0001
biosphere = 0.00004
fast to slow flows of water
runoff
throughflow
ground water-flow
cloud formation
1. parcel of warm air = warmer than surrounding air = warm air is less dense (unstable) = rises
2. air is rising and cooling = dry adiabatic lapse rate (DALR)
3. dew point temperature is reached = condensation occurs
4. air continues to rise & cool at the saturated adiabatic lapse rate (SALR)
5. air in parcel of air reaches same temperature as surrounding air = stable and condensation stops
DALR
- the change in temperature of a parcel of dry air rising up through the atmosphere are 10 degrees per kilometer
SALR
- change in temp of parcel rising up atmosphere when condensation occurs. 7 degrees per kilometer = condensation releases latent heat
stores in the global water cycle:
stores or stocks are the total amount of the material of interest held within a part of the system. stocks are usually expressed in units of mass. stores of water are measured in thousands of cubic kilometres [x10km^3]
as its most basic the global water cycle consists of three main stores: the atmosphere, oceans and land. it is estimated that there are 1,406,013 x10^3km^3. to put it simply, the ocean contains 97% of water, the land contains <3% and the atmosphere contains <1%
the drainage basin water cycle:
mouth: where river ends
watershed: edge of drainage basin separates different basins
tributary: small stream that enters the main system
channel: water in main stream
confluence: where tributary meets river - 2 streams meet
the processes [flows] of the drainage basin water cycle:
processes [flows] are the physical mechanisms that drive the flux of material between stores. flows are measured in thousands of cubic kilometres/year. a flux is a measrement of the rates of flow of material between the stores
when it rains most of this precipitation falls directly into the ground with about 10% of it falling directly into the river channel and flowing straight out to the ocean. this is called channel precipitation
however, some precipitation never reaches the ground because it is stopped from doing so by vegetation. this is known as interception
precipitation is stored temporarily on branches, leaves and stems from there, there are two possibilities; either it makes its way down to the ground via throughfall and stemflow or it evaporates.
soil infiltration capacity:
soils such as clay soils have low infiltration rates. sandy soils have high infiltration rates and a lower runoff. in terms of saturation of soils, more rainfall results in more saturation. during rainfall, there is less saturation as porous spaces are filled up
key terms -
permeable rock: a type of rock that water can flow through, either through mineral pores [air spaces] or along joint, faults and fissures
impermeable rock: a type of rock that neither absorbs water nor allows water to pass through, ex. granite
porosity: how much pore space is present
porous rock: rocks which contain pore or air spaces between material particles, water is absorbed
the water balance:
the balance between inputs into a drainage basin and outputs. the water balance equation summarises the flows of water in a drainage basin over time. it states that precipitation is equal to evapo-transpiration and streamflow, plus or minus water entering or leaving storage:
precipitation = evapotranspiration + streamflow +/- storage