Evaporation - ANSWER the sun heats up water in rivers or lakes or the ocean and turns
it into vapor or steam. The water vapor or steam leaves the river, lake or ocean and
goes into the air.
Condensation - ANSWER Water vapour in the air is changed into liquid water; opposite
of evaporation. Crucial to the water cycle, responsible for formation of clouds
Precipitation - ANSWER Any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapour
that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. Main forms include drizzle, rain, sleet,
snow, ice pellets, graupel, and hail.
System - ANSWER group of interrelated and interacting parts that form a complex
whole.
Geosphere - ANSWER solid earth, includes all the solid rock of Earth's interior and
surface, the semi-solid material within, the liquid material on surface (lava) and within
interior (magma)
Biosphere - ANSWER contains all the planet's living organisms
Atmosphere - ANSWER layer of gases surrounding the planet keeping it warm and
providing living organisms with oxygen and CO2
Hydrosphere - ANSWER contains all the Earth's water in solid, liquid, vapour form
Anthrosphere - ANSWER -Total human presence throughout the Earth system
including our culture, technology, built environment, and associated activities.
,Planet Earth - ANSWER can be viewed as a system with four interdependent
components
Earth as a system - ANSWER 1. The Sun
• Drives photosynthesis by plants, ocean circulation, weather and climate, erosion of
surface rock and soil...
2. Earth's interior (geosphere)
• Leads to volcanism, earthquake activity, creation of mountains
Adhesion - ANSWER water molecules cling to other substances or surfaces
Cohesion - ANSWER the property that `holds` water molecules together
Capillary Action - ANSWER because water molecules are attracted to each other,
water can actually move against gravity
Universal Solvent - ANSWER There is hardly a substance known to humans that is not
dissolvable in water.
- largely because water is a polar molecule
- acts somewhat like a magnet, positive ends attracts particles having a negative
charge, and its negative end attracts particles having a positive charge
-When water comes into contact with compounds whose elements are held together by
the attraction of opposite electrical charges, the polar water molecule will separate that
compound's component elements from each other
Latent (hidden) Heat - ANSWER the energy required for a substance to change from
one state to another
specific heat capacity - ANSWER the amount of heat required to raise the temperature
of 1 gram of water by 1*C.
, A high specific heat is vital in moderating Earth's climate. - ANSWER As such, as
atmospheric temperatures decrease (e.g., nighttime, winter), water remains relatively
warm and as atmospheric temperatures increase (e.g. daytime, summer), water
remains relatively cool
Translucent - ANSWER Water will allow light to penetrate up to a certain depth.
-The ability of light to travel through water molecules is critical for the process of
photosynthesis and supporting life under water
salts or ions - ANSWER Ocean water is, on average, 96.5% pure water and 3.5%
dissolved substances, commonly termed
Advection - ANSWER -the usually horizontal movement of a mass of fluid (such as air or
an ocean current)
-transport (as of pollutants or plankton) by such movement
Residence Time - ANSWER the amount of water in a reservoir divided by either the rate
of addition of water to the reservoir or the rate of loss from it
hydrologic cycle - ANSWER involves the continuous circulation of water in the
Earth-Atmosphere system. At its core, it is the motion of the water from the ground to
the atmosphere and back again. Of the many processes involved, the most important
are: evaporation and transpiration
Aquatic resources - ANSWER • Supports or provides an essential role in the
development and survival of living organisms on Earth
• Not only support aquatic environments, but terrestrial ones as well
• Encompasses the links between different types of water (FW rivers, estuaries, SW
oceans)
Reservoir - ANSWER a large natural or artificial lake used as a source of water supply