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Water & Carbon Cycle - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Convectional precipitation - warmer seasons/ areas closer to the equator. Heat from sun makes warm air rise. Condense @ high magnitude & falls as rain.
        
        Spatial & temporal
      - Relief - warm air forced upward by a barrier such as mountains, causing it to condense @ higher altitude & fall as rain
      - Frontal - Warm air rises over cool air when 2 bodies of air at different temperatures meet. Warm air = less dense & lighter. It condenses @ higher altitudes & falls as rain.
    - - Synoptic link: Population & Environment, monsoons
  - - - Physical factors effect it. Seasonal variations of temperature & the amount of precipitation in comparison to amount of runoff & evapotranspiration affects change in storage.
    - - Seasonal changes - spring = more vegetation growth -> more interception by vegetation.
        
        Summer - less rain. Harder ground -> more impermeable -> encourages surface runoff.
        
        Autumn - less vegetation -> less interception.
        
        More rainfall. Winter - frozen ground -> more impermeable & encourage runoff.
        
        Snow discourages runoff & takes time to melt, slows down processes within water cycle.
        
        Temporal
      - Urbanisation - Impermeable surfaces -> drains creates impermeable surfaces that reduce infiltration but increase surface runoff, reducing lag time & increasing risk of flood.
        
        Green roofs & sustainable Urban Drainage Systems use grass & soil to reduce the amount of impermeable surfaces -> help tackle problem of urban flooding in some cities.
        
        Spatial
      - Deforestation - less interception by trees -> surface runoff increases.
        
        Soil no longer held together by roots -> soil water storage decreases.
        
        Fewer plants -> transpiration decreases.
      - Storm events - large amounts of rainfall saturate ground quickly to its field capacity.
        
        No more water can infiltrate soil -> increased surface runoff.
        
        Storm events = less effective at recharging water stores than prolonged rainfall.
        
        Temporal
      - Agriculture - Pastoral farming - Compact ground -> reduce infiltration.
        
        Arable farming - Ploughing increases infiltration -> creates looser soil -> decreases surface runoff.
        
        Drainage ditches increases surface runoff & streamflow.
        
        Hillside terracing - increases surface water storage & decreases runoff. Irrigation -> groundwater depletion.
  - - - Flood hydrograph represents rainfall for the drainage basin of a river & the discharge of the same river on a graph.
        
        Discharge: Volume of water passing through cross-sectional point of river.
        
        Rising Limb: Line on graph represents discharge increasing.
        
        Falling Limb: Line on graph representing discharge decreasing.
        
        Lag time: Time between peak rainfall & peak discharge.
        
        Baseflow: Level of groundwater flow. Stormflow: Comprised of overland flow & throughflow.
        
        Bankfull Discharge: The maximum capacity of the river.
        
        Flashy hydrograph
        
        Short lag time
        
        Steep rising & falling limb
        
        Higher flood risk
        
        High peak discharge
        
        Subdued hydrograph
        
        Long lag time
        
        Gradually rising & falling limb
        
        Lower flood risk
        
        Low peak discharge
        
        Natural factors affecting:
        
        High rainfall intensity - higher discharge potential from river, more likely for soil to reach field capacity -> increasing surface runoff & decreasing lag time.
        
        Impermeable underlying geology - decreased percolation & greater through-flow levels.
        
        High drainage density - many tributaries to main river, increasing speed of drainage & decreasing lag time.
        
        Small basin - rainfall reaches central river more rapidly, decreasing lag time.
        
        Circular basin - Rain reaches central river more rapidly, decreasing lag time.
        
        Low temperatures - less evapotranspiration so greater peak discharge.
        
        Precipitation type - snow or hail takes time to melt.
        
        Vegetation cover - forested areas intercept rainfall, decreasing flood risk. Exposed areas transfer water to river rapidly, decreasing lag time,
        
        Human factors affecting:
        
        Urbanisation - More impermeable surfaces, runoff increases, surface storage & infiltration are reduced.
        
        Pastoral farming - ground trampled so less interception & more surface runoff.
        
        Deforestation - less interception by trees, so water reaches the ground & river quicker.
        -More surface runoff & greater flood risk.
  - - - Autumn:
        
        Greater input from precipitation that there is an output from evapotranspiration.
        
        Deciduous trees lose leaves & cooler temperatures -> plants photosynthesise less.
        
        Soil moisture levels increase & water surplus occurs.
      - Winter:
        
        Potential evapotranspiration from plants reaches a minimum -> colder temperatures & precipitation refills soil water stores.
        
        Infiltration & percolation refill water table.
      - Spring:
        
        Plants begin to grow again & potential evapotranspiration increases as temperatures get higher & plants start photosynthesising more. Still water surplus.
      - Summer:
        
        Hot weather -> utilisation of soil water as evapotranspiration peaks & rainfall = minimum.
        
        Output from evapotranspiration is greater than the input from precipitation so the soil water stores are depleting.
        
        Water deficit may occur.
- - - - Pros:
        
        Can be fitted to existing coal power stations.
        
        Capture 90% of CO2 produced.
        
        There is a demand for Co2 so transport systems via pipeline in liquid form already exist.
        
        Potential ti capture half of world's CO2 emissions.
      - Cons:
        
        Hight cost.
        
        Increases energy demand of power stations.
        
        May not be space to fit it to existing power stations.
        
        Economically viable in some cases as it is used to push oil out the ground, further increasing fossil fuel usage.
  - - - Marine sediments & sedimentary rocks - Lithosphere - long-term.
        
        Easily biggest store. 66,000 - 100,000 million billion metric tons of carbon. Rock cycle & continental drift recycle rock over time.
      - Oceans - hydrosphere - dynamic.
        
        The second biggest store contains a tiny fraction of carbon of the largest store.
        
        38,000 billion metric tons of carbon.
        
        Constantly being utilised by marine organisms
      - Fossil fuel deposits - lithosphere - long-term but currently dynamic.
        
        Fossil fuel deposits used to rarely change over short periods of time.
        
        Humans developed technology to exploit them rapidly, 4000 billion metric tons of carbon remain as fossil fuels.
      - Soil organic matter - lithosphere - mid-term.
        
        Soil can store carbon for over a hundred years.
        
        Deforestation, agriculture & land use change are affecting the store.
        
        1500 billion metric tons of carbon stored.
      - Atmosphere - dynamic.
        
        Human activity has caused CO2 levels in the atmosphere to increase by around 40% since the industrial revolution, causing unprecedented change to the global climate.
        
        750 billion metric tons of carbon stored.
      - Terrestrial plants - biosphere - mid-term but very dynamic.
        
        Vulnerable to climate change & deforestation.
        
        Result -> carbon storage in forests declining annually.
        
        560 billion metric tons of carbon.
      - Lithosphere - main store of carbon. Global stores unevenly distributed. E.g. oceans = larger in southern hemisphere, storage in biosphere occurs on land. Terrestrial plant storage is focussed in tropics & northern hemisphere.
  - - - Wildfires:
        
        Transfer carbon from biosphere to atmosphere as CO2 released through burning.
        
        This can encourage growth of plants in long term.
      - Volcanic activity:
        
        Carbon stored within earth is released during volcanic eruptions, mainly as CO2.
        
        Contribute relatively low proportion of CO2 to overall carbon cycle.
    - - Fossil fuel use - combustion transfers CO2 to atmosphere from a long-term carbon sink.
      - Deforestation - rapidly releases carbon stored in plants using slash & burn techniques & interrupting the forest carbon cycle.
      - Farming practices - arable farming releases CO2 as animals respire, affecting carbon cycle. Ploughing releases CO2 stored in soil. Farm machinery such as tractors release CO2.
      - Changed to magnitude of carbon stores over time = fluxes.
        
        Happens rapidly over thousands of years.
        
        Human activity causes an unprecedented flux in CO2 levels in atmosphere as direct result of fossil fuel combustion.
      - Enhanced greenhouse effect - abnormally high levels of greenhouse gases are being produced by humans, trapping radiation from sun causing global warming & leading to climate change.
        
        Radiative forcing - increased in recent years, leading to more heat being trapped.
        
        CO2 is most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas in atmosphere, contributes -> 65% to radiative forcing by greenhouse gases.
        
        Synoptic link: increases in global temperature due to alteration of carbon cycle -> significant impacts on water cycle -> greater levels of evapotranspiration.
        
        Causes
        
        Land use change
        
        Fertilisers
        
        Deforestation
        
        Urbanisation
        
        rewilding
  - - - Increased photosynthesis by plants & rising global temps allows vegetation to grow in new areas.
      - Higher temps & more CO2 cause greater carbon fertilisation in plants, absorb more CO2.
        
        Reduces levels of CO2 in atmosphere & rates of warming & carbon fertilisation decreases.
      - Higher CO2 levels causes phytoplankton to grow & photosynthesise quicker.
        
        Phytoplankton release substances -> formation of clouds, cloud cover increases.
        
        Radiation from sun less able to reach oceans reducing temps.
    - - Wildfires more likely in hotter & drier climates caused by global warming. Releases large amounts of CO2 -> + warming effect
      - Ice reflects radiation from sun, reducing surface warming. Sea temps rise & melts, warming effect amplifies as less ice to reflect radiation.
      - Higher temps are thawing the permafrost releasing co2 & methane, causing warming on a local & global scale.
  - - - Increased flood risk in local areas as surface storage is reduced by draining the moorland & streamflow is increased by digging the drainage ditches.
        
        moorland is drained.
        
        Dry peat degrades easily
        
        water table lowered affecting flows of water cycle
        
        Water table lowers, air is able to aid decomposition of peat, releasing CO2.
- - - - Could cause desertification -> reducing overall evapotranspiration & precipitation.
        
        High temps could lead to forest migration -> some habitats become unsuitable for trees as climate changes, causing desertification.