carbon cycle June 2024 Exam
Questions with Answers
Precipitation - Answer>> water that falls from clouds and
reaches Earth's surface as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
Evapotranspiration - Answer>> The evaporation of water from
soil plus the transpiration of water from plants.
Runoff - Answer>> Water that moves across the land surface
and into streams and rivers
Interception storage - Answer>> precipitation falls on the
vegetation surfaces (canopy) or human cover. temporarily stored.
Intercepted water either evaporated directly to the atmosphere,
absorbed by the canopy surfaces or ultimately transmitted to the
ground surface.
Tropical rainforests intercept 58% rainfall
Surface storage - Answer>> The total volume of water held on
the Earth's surface in lakes, ponds and puddles.
Soil water storage - Answer>> Water stored in the soil - clay 40-
60%, sand 20-45%
Groundwater storage - Answer>> The storage of water
underground in permeable rock strata
Channel storage - Answer>> Water held in a river or stream
channel
,Vegetation storage - Answer>> Any moisture taken up by
vegetation and held within plants
Stemflow - Answer>> the flow of intercepted water down the
trunk or stem of a plant
Infiltration - Answer>> the process by which water on the
ground surface enters the soil
Overland flow - Answer>> water flowing across the soil surface
on a hillslope, usually resulting from precipitation falling faster
than the ground can absorb it
Channel flow - Answer>> The flow of water in a river
Throughfall - Answer>> Water that reaches the ground either
directly or after being intercepted by vegetation.
Throughflow - Answer>> Water flowing through the soil layer
parallel to the surface
Percolation - Answer>> The downward movement of water
through soil and rock due to gravity.
Ground water flow - Answer>> water running underground
positive water balance - Answer>> precipitation exceeds
evapotranspiration
negative water balance - Answer>> Evapotranspiration exceeds
precipitation
, Q + E + (S) = P - Answer>> runoff + evapotranspiration +
change in storage = precipitation
Relief rainfall - Answer>> caused by uplifting and cooling of
moist air over mountains
Frontal rainfall - Answer>> When a warm air mass meets a cold
air mass the warm air rises
Convectional rainfall - Answer>> Precipitation formed by rising
currents of warm, moist air
accumulation - Answer>> glacial system inputs due to snowfall
ablation - Answer>> output of glacial system due to melting
Sublimation - Answer>> solid to gas
Condensation - Answer>> Gas to liquid
latent heat - Answer>> the heat required to convert a solid into
a liquid or vapor, or a liquid into a vapor, without change of
temperature.
Evaporation - Answer>> Liquid to gas
closed system - Answer>> no energy or matter is transferred
into + beyond system boundary - global
open system - Answer>> matter and energy transferred from
system across boundary into environment - ecosystems