All flashcards
Flashcard 1: Which option is a major water reservoir: groundwater or sunlight?
Answer: Groundwater. Sunlight is energy, not a place water is stored.
Flashcard 2: Which reservoir is best described as “moving channels of freshwater on land”?
Answer: Rivers and streams. Flow continuously from higher to lower elevations.
Flashcard 3: What major water reservoir contains most of Earth's freshwater?
Answer: Ice caps and glaciers. Stores about 69% of Earth's freshwater as ice.
Flashcard 4: What major water reservoir stores freshwater underground in pores and cracks?
Answer: Groundwater (aquifers). Freshwater fills spaces between rocks and sediment underground.
Flashcard 5: What is the major water reservoir made of liquid freshwater on Earth’s surface?
Answer: Lakes (surface freshwater). Includes ponds and reservoirs holding standing freshwater.
Flashcard 6: What major water reservoir is flowing surface water that moves toward oceans and lakes?
Answer: Rivers and streams. Continuously flows downhill due to gravity.
Flashcard 7: What major water reservoir includes water vapor, clouds, and precipitation in the air?
Answer: Atmosphere. Water exists in all three states in this reservoir.
Flashcard 8: What major water reservoir includes water held in living organisms such as plants and animals?
Answer: Biosphere (living things). All living things contain water in their cells.
Flashcard 9: What major water reservoir includes water stored in the soil above bedrock?
Answer: Soil moisture (water in soil). Held by surface tension and capillary action.
Flashcard 10: Which reservoir is best described as “water stored as ice on land”?
Answer: Glaciers and ice caps. Compressed snow forms these massive ice structures.
Flashcard 11: Which reservoir is best described as “saltwater covering most of Earth’s surface”?
Answer: Oceans. Cover about 71% of Earth's surface area.
Flashcard 12: Which reservoir is best described as “water stored in underground rock layers”?
Answer: Groundwater (aquifers). Aquifers are permeable rock layers that hold water.
Flashcard 13: Which reservoir is best described as “liquid water collected in low areas on land”?
Answer: Lakes. Form when water fills natural depressions.
Flashcard 14: Which reservoir is best described as “water in the air as vapor and tiny droplets”?
Answer: Atmosphere. Includes humidity, fog, and clouds.
Flashcard 15: Identify the reservoir for this description: “water in plants, animals, and microbes.”
Answer: Biosphere. Living organisms are about 60-90% water.
Flashcard 16: Which reservoir would you name for “water trapped between soil particles near the surface”?
Answer: Soil moisture. Essential for plant roots to absorb nutrients.
Flashcard 17: What major reservoir contains most liquid freshwater available on land?
Answer: Groundwater (aquifers). Makes up about 30% of all freshwater in liquid form.
Flashcard 18: Which major water reservoir holds most of Earth’s freshwater overall?
Answer: Glaciers and ice caps. About 69% of freshwater is frozen in ice.
Flashcard 19: What is the largest major reservoir of water on Earth by total volume?
Answer: The oceans. Contains about 97% of all Earth's water.
Flashcard 20: What major reservoir stores water as ice on land in places such as Greenland and Antarctica?
Answer: Ice sheets (part of glaciers and ice caps). Massive frozen sheets covering polar regions.
Flashcard 21: What major water reservoir is water vapor and tiny droplets found in the air?
Answer: The atmosphere. Holds water as invisible gas and tiny floating droplets.
Flashcard 22: What major reservoir is water stored in living things such as plants and animals?
Answer: The biosphere (living organisms). All living things contain water in their cells and tissues.
Flashcard 23: What term names the underground rock or sediment layer that stores and carries groundwater?
Answer: Aquifer. Permeable rock layer that holds and transmits water.
Flashcard 24: Which major reservoir includes frozen water stored long-term in mountain glaciers?
Answer: Glaciers (part of the cryosphere). Slow-moving ice rivers formed from compressed snow.
Flashcard 25: Which major reservoir includes large, standing bodies of freshwater such as the Great Lakes?
Answer: Lakes (surface water). Inland depressions filled with standing freshwater.
Flashcard 26: Which major reservoir includes flowing freshwater channels that empty into lakes or oceans?
Answer: Rivers and streams (surface water). Moving water that drains land toward the sea.
Flashcard 27: Which major reservoir is water held in the soil above bedrock, available to plant roots?
Answer: Soil moisture. Water clinging to soil particles that plants can absorb.
Flashcard 28: Which option is a major water reservoir: atmosphere or mantle?
Answer: Atmosphere. The mantle is rock, not a water storage location.
Flashcard 29: Which option is a major water reservoir: glaciers and ice caps or earthquakes?
Answer: Glaciers and ice caps. Earthquakes are events, not water storage locations.
Flashcard 30: Identify the major reservoir for water vapor: oceans, atmosphere, or groundwater.
Answer: Atmosphere. Only the atmosphere holds water in vapor form.