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Glossary of Definitions - The Water Cycle and Water Insecurity - Edexcel Geography A-Level

This document provides definitions for key terms related to the water cycle and water insecurity. It defines over 50 terms describing various hydrological and climatic processes, water scarcity issues, water management strategies, and components of drainage basins. Terms cover topics like forms of precipitation, water movement through different phases and pathways, drought, water scarcity, integrated management, and more.

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68 views

Glossary of Definitions - The Water Cycle and Water Insecurity - Edexcel Geography A-Level

This document provides definitions for key terms related to the water cycle and water insecurity. It defines over 50 terms describing various hydrological and climatic processes, water scarcity issues, water management strategies, and components of drainage basins. Terms cover topics like forms of precipitation, water movement through different phases and pathways, drought, water scarcity, integrated management, and more.

Uploaded by

Sashi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Edexcel Geography A-level

The Water Cycle and Water Insecurity


Glossary of Definitions

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Anticyclone​ - ​A system of high pressure, causing high temperatures and
unseasonably high evaporation rates.

Aquifer​ - ​A permeable or porous rock which stores water

Channel Flow​ ​- Water flowing in a rivulet, stream or river

Convectional Precipitation​ ​- Solar radiation heats the air above the ground,
causing it to rise, cool & condense forming precipitation (often as thunderstorms)

Cryosphere​ ​- The global water volume locked up within a frozen state (i.e. snow and
ice)

Depression​ - ​A system of low pressure, with fronts of precipitation where low and
high pressure air masses meet.

Desalination Plant​ ​- The conversion of seawater to freshwater, suitable for human


consumption.

Desublimation​ - ​The change of state of water from gas to solid, without being a
liquid (the opposite process to sublimation)

Drainage Basin​ ​- The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries

Drainage Density​ ​- The total length of all rivers & streams divided by the area of the
drainage basin

Drought​ ​- An extended period of deficient rainfall relative to the statistical average


for the region (UN)

Economic Water Scarcity​ ​- When water resources are available but insufficient
economic wealth limits access to it

ENSO Cycles​ ​- El Nino Southern Oscillations - naturally occurring phenomena that


involves the movement of warm water in the Equatorial Pacific.

Evapotranspiration​ ​- The combined total moisture transferred from the Earth to the
atmosphere, through evaporation and transpiration

Frontal Precipitation​ ​- Where air masses of different temperatures meet at a front,


one mass will be forced over another, causing precipitation beneath the front.

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Global Hydrological Cycle​ ​- The continuous transfer of water between land,
atmosphere and oceans. The Earth is a closed system.

Groundwater Flow​ ​- Water moving horizontally through permeable or porous rock


due to Gravity.

Hydrological Drought​ ​- Insufficient soil moisture to meet the needs of vegetation at


a particular time

Infiltration​ ​- The movement of water vertically through the pores in soil.

Integrated Drainage Basin Management​ ​- Establishing a frame of coordinated


efforts between administrations (e.g. local government) and stakeholders (e.g
businesses) to achieve balanced management of a basin (World Bank)

Interception​ ​- Raindrops are prevented from falling directly onto the ground, instead
hitting the leaves of a tree.

Meteorological Drought​ ​- When long-term precipitation trends are below average

Monsoon​ ​- The drastic variation between wet and dry seasons for sub-tropical
areas, caused by a changed prevailing wind. Can lead to annual flooding.

Open System​ ​- A system affected by external flows and inputs (such as a drainage
basin, or a sediment cell)

Percolation​ ​- Water moving vertically from soil into permeable rock

Physical Water Scarcity​ ​- A physical lack of available freshwater which cannot


meet demand

Relief Precipitation​ ​- Precipitation caused when air masses are forced to rise over
high land, determined by the relief/ morphology of the land

River Regime​ - The pattern of river discharge over a year

Runoff​ ​- Water flowing over the surface of the ground eg. after precipitation or
snowmelt.

Salinisation​ - ​Where salt water contaminates freshwater stores or soils, creating


saline conditions and reducing human use/ consumption.

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Saltwater Encroachment​ ​- The movement of saltwater into freshwater aquifers or
soils. This may be caused by sea level rise, storm surges or over-extraction

Smart Irrigation​ ​- Providing crops with a water supply less than optimal, to make
crops resistant to water shortages.

Storm Hydrograph​ ​- ​Variation of river discharge over a short period of time (days)

Sublimation -​ ​The change of state of water from solid to a gas, without being a
liquid.

Throughflow​ -​ ​Water moving horizontally through the soil, due to gravity

Transpiration​ ​- The process through which water evaporates through the stomata in
plants' leaves

Water Budget​ ​- The annual balance between inputs and outputs within a system

Water Conservation​ - ​Strategies to reduce water usage and demand

Water Recycling​ -​ The treatment and purification of waste water, to increase supply

Water Scarcity​ - ​There are limited renewable water sources (between 500 and 1000
cubic metres per capita per year)

Water Security​ ​- The ability to protect and access a sustainable source to


adequately meet demand

Water Sharing Treaty​ ​- International agreements for transboundary sources

Water Transfer​ -​ Hard engineering projects, such as pipelines or aqueducts, that


divert water between basins to meet demand

Watershed​ - ​The boundary between neighbouring drainage basins

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