Water Systems (DP IB Environmental Systems & Societies (ESS): HL): Exam Questions

List three stores in the hydrological cycle.

Identify and describe two flows within the hydrological cycle.

The figure below shows the hydrological cycle.

State the name of process G and process H.

State what causes the water vapour to condense and form clouds?

Outline what is meant by the term thermohaline circulation.

The data in the table below shows the relative volumes of water transferred through each part of the water cycle annually.

Calculate the percentage of the total water transferred that falls through precipitation.

Briefly describe how urbanisation causes the reduction of two storage components in the hydrological cycle.

Explain how upwelling zones support high biodiversity.

Outline the role of the thermocline in water stratification.

Identify the property or properties (A, B, C) explain the ability of water to dissolve solutes.

Property A: Polarity of water molecules

Property B: High specific heat capacity of water

Property C: Hydrogen bonding

The high specific heat capacity of water is of great biological significance to organisms.

State one example of how this property is biologically important.

Compare and contrast the terms adhesion and cohesion in the context of water molecules.

The diagram shows a pond skater (or water strider).

Certain small animals such as pond skaters and fisher spiders can walk across bodies of water without breaking the surface.

Use your knowledge of water's properties to suggest how detergent pollution contaminating ponds and lakes can have a detrimental effect on these small animals.

Describe how carbon dioxide enters the ocean and leads to ocean acidification.

Explain the processes of energy transfer occurring within the oceans.

Explain the concept of dynamic equilibrium in relation to the hydrological cycle.

Discuss how human activities impact stores and flows in the hydrological cycle.

Explain how changes in ocean temperature and salinity influence the global thermohaline circulation.

Discuss the global significance of thermohaline circulation in regulating climate and supporting marine productivity.