What system is the water cycle
Closed cycle
The water system is consisted of?
Open reservoirs connected by linkages
The reservoirs in the water function on different time scales and how can they hold water?
They can hold different volumes of water
What are the major reservoirs in the hydrological cycle?
-Atmosphere -Terrestrial water -Oceans
Name the 6 major linkages in the hydrological cycle:
(CEPSMT)
- Condensation 2. Evaporation 3. Precipitation 4. Sublimation 5. Movement of runoff 6. Transpiration
Define evaporation
Conversion of liquid water to water vapor
Define condensation
Conversion of water vapor to liquid water
Define precipitation
Condensation under gravitational pull
The processes which determine which physical state atmospheric water will be found in are complex they are based on?
The density of water vapor molecules in the air and temperature (energy is consumed or released depending on the state change)
True or false: water molecules won’t transition back and forth between a liquid state and a vapor state
False, the will transition because of condensation and evaporation
What is this: how much water is moving from a vapor to a liquid state over time, depending on the vapor pressure in the air that is in direct contact with the liquid water
It is the condensation rate (remeber that condensation happens when a water molecule in the air comes into contact with a water molecule in the liquid state)
What is this: how much water is moving from liquid state to a vapor state over time, it depends on the temperature of the liquid (the warmer the faster), it’s when the liquid molecule has enough energy to break free of the chemical bonds within the liquid, and enter the atmosphere
It is the evaporation rate
Define vapor pressure
How many water molecules are in a parcel of air at any one moment (the greater = more water molecules in the parcel of air)
What happens when over time, the rates of condensation and evaporation are equal?
Air is considered to be full of all the water vapor it can hold, it is saturated at 100%, that’s RH (Relative Humidity)
What happens to a 100% RH
Water will condense in the atmosphere
What’s anything higher than 15m of the Earth’s surface (higher than a fog that is formed because of condensation)
It is a cloud
What happens when condensation begins at a seeding point?
More and more water molecules will convert to liquid and attach themselves to the same water drop, when this droplet is large enough, there’s a gravitational pull that’s going to make it fall as precipitation
What is temperature doing to the ability of condensation to form in the atmosphere?
It changes the size of a parcel of air above a body of water, (the rate of condensation is dependent on vapor pressure); it changes the rate of evaporation –> the relative humidity is dependent on the rate of condensation and evaporation
Conversion of liquid water to water vapor by plants (it is evaporation though biological linkage) —> recall flying rivers
Transpiration (linkage in the hydrological cycle)
Movement of water molecules directly from a solid state to a vapor state (no liquid in between)
Sublimation
Movement of water molecules directly from a vapor state to a solid state (no liquid in between)
Desublimation (deposition)
Water that falls on land as rainfall must drain into the ocean reservoir, some will move quickly some will stay longer on land
Movement of runoff
First step of the hydrological cycle
Evaporation = liquid water converted to water vapor in the atmosphere
Second step of the hydrological cycle
The water vapor condenses to liquid water in the atmosphere
