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Ch 12 - Water (Oceans)11th Fundamentals of Physical Geography
The Hydrological Cycle
What constitutes the 'Hydrological Cycle' beyond just terrestrial precipitation?
What constitutes the 'Hydrological Cycle' beyond just terrestrial precipitation?
CONCEPT
The Hydrological Cycle
- Definition: The continuous circulation of water within the Earth’s hydrosphere across different states (liquid, solid, gaseous).
- Scope: It involves the continuous exchange of water between the oceans, atmosphere, land surface, subsurface, and biological organisms.
- Balance: While water constantly changes physical forms and geographical locations, the total renewable water volume on Earth remains strictly constant.
Prism Memory Hook
OALSO: Oceans, Atmosphere, Land, Subsurface, Organisms
Land Water Cycle Statistics
What percentage of the total precipitation falling on land is returned to the atmosphere via evaporation and transpiration?
What percentage of the total precipitation falling on land is returned to the atmosphere via evaporation and transpiration?
DATA
Terrestrial Evaporation Data
- Evaporation & Transpiration: Nearly 59% of the precipitation that falls on land surfaces returns to the atmosphere.
- Remainder: The remaining 41% flows as surface runoff into rivers and oceans, infiltrates the ground to replenish groundwater, or becomes temporarily locked in glacial ice.
Prism Memory Hook
Fifty-Nine Flies Fine
Planetary Water Distribution
What percentage of the Earth's total planetary water is contained within the oceans?
What percentage of the Earth's total planetary water is contained within the oceans?
DATA
Global Water Breakdown
- Oceans: Contain approximately 71% of the total planetary water, visually dominating the globe and earning Earth the title of the 'Blue Planet'.
- Freshwater: The remaining 29% is distributed among glaciers, icecaps, groundwater reserves, freshwater lakes, and soil moisture.
Prism Memory Hook
71 Percent Blue
Also in this chapter
37 more cards to study in Prism
- 4Importance of Oceanic Relief Study
- 5Sequence of Ocean Floor Divisions
- 6The Continental Shelf
- 7Continental Shelf Width Variations
- 8The Continental Slope
- 9The Continental Rise
- 10Deep Sea (Abyssal) Plains
- 11Abyssal Plain Extent
- 12Deep Sea Plain Sediments
- 13Oceanic Deeps (Trenches)
- 14The Deepest Trench on Earth
- 15Mid-Oceanic Ridges
- 16Scale of the Global Ridge System
- 17Iceland & The Mid-Atlantic Ridge
- 18Differentiating Minor Reliefs: Seamounts vs. Guyots
- 19The Emperor Seamount Chain
- 20Atolls
- 21Submarine Canyons
- 22Oceanic Thermal Inertia
- 23Oceanic Thermal Stability
- 24Latitudinal Effect on Ocean Temperature
- 25Surface Temperature Benchmarks by Latitude
- 26Hemispheric Thermal Asymmetry
- 27Impact of Prevailing Winds on Temperature
- 28Temperature Modification via Currents
- 29The Thermocline Layer
- 30Vertical Thermal Stratification
- 31Thermal Anomaly of Polar Regions
- 32Oceanic Salinity: Definition and Measurement
- 33Mapping Salinity: Isohalines
- 34Chemical Composition of Seawater
- 35Meteorological Drivers of Salinity
- 36Hydrological Drivers of Salinity: Riverine Influx
- 37Cryospheric Drivers of Salinity
- 38Arctic Melt and the Northern Salinity Anomaly
- 39Vertical Salinity: The Halocline
- 40The Salinity-Density Feedback
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11th Fundamentals of Physical Geography
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