Topic 4.1: Water Systems Questions

What is a thermocline?

What does it mean to say the water molecule is polar?

Antarctica's ice sheet is up to 4.8 km thick. State the store that holds most of the Earth's fresh water.

Monsoon winds carry moist air from the Gulf of Guinea over the Sahel, where it falls as rain on dry savanna. State two sources of energy that drive the hydrological cycle.

The ancient town of Hasankeyf in south-east Turkey was flooded in 2020 by the reservoir of the new Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River.

Figure 1 shows the global hydrological cycle as a systems diagram. Outline how gravity contributes to the movement of water through the hydrological cycle shown in Figure 1.

Water evaporates from the Atlantic, falls as rain on the Amazon rainforest and flows back to the ocean in the Amazon River. State two sources of energy that drive the hydrological cycle.

Rain falling on one side of the Andes flows to the Pacific; on the other side it flows to the Atlantic. State what is meant by a watershed.

The water in a glass of tap water in Cairo may once have been part of the Nile, the Mediterranean and a cloud over Ethiopia. Discuss the statement: 'The hydrological cycle is a closed system for matter but an open system for energy.'

The stores of the water cycle include the oceans, groundwater, the atmosphere and living organisms. Identify which of these four stores holds the smallest share of the Earth's water.

Some of Earth's water may first have arrived on icy comets billions of years ago. Outline why the global hydrological cycle is considered a closed system today.

A runner in Singapore sweats heavily, and at night dew forms on the grass of the track.

Figure 1 shows the inputs and outputs of Tarn Reservoir in one year. The compensation flow must be released to keep the river below the dam alive.

Rain falling on Paris today may have evaporated from the Atlantic last week. Define the term hydrological cycle.

Lake Victoria gains water from rain and from the Kagera River, and loses it by evaporation and down the White Nile. Identify one input and one output of water for Lake Victoria.

Each summer the West African monsoon brings heavy rain to Ghana and Nigeria, while the nearby Sahara stays dry. Explain how the movement and storage of water through the hydrological cycle affect regional and global climate.

A pond skater walks across the surface of a pond, and a 100 m tall redwood lifts water from its roots to its highest leaves. Water has unique physical and chemical properties that support and sustain life. Explain how cohesion between water molecules is important to life.

Figure 1 shows the hydrological cycle on farmland in the Netherlands, close to the North Sea. Outline how gravity contributes to the movement of water through the hydrological cycle shown in Figure 1.

Lake Naivasha in Kenya supplies water to flower farms, a town and a geothermal power station, and is home to hippos and hundreds of bird species. Outline how a flow diagram of inputs and outputs can be used to manage the water of a lake such as Lake Naivasha sustainably.

Water vapour carried over the Sahara may fall as rain in Nigeria and return to the Atlantic in the Niger River. Outline why the global hydrological cycle is considered a closed system.