← General Science quizzes

From BCcampus

The Hydrological Cycle Quiz

12 questions general_science Grades 9-12

The question sheet

Reveal any answer as you study
  1. What powers the evaporation of water in the hydrological cycle?

    • Wind energy
    • Geothermal heat
    • Solar energy
    • Gravity
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Solar energy

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: Water is constantly on the move. It is evaporated from the oceans, lakes, streams, the surface of the land, and plants (transpiration) by solar energy (Figure 13.2). It is moved through the atmosphere by winds and condenses to form clouds of water droplets or ice crystals. It comes back down as rain or snow and then flows through streams, into lakes, and eventually back to the oceans. Water on the surface and in streams and lakes infiltrates the ground to become groundwater. Groundwater slowly moves through the rock and surficial materials. Some groundwater returns to other streams and lakes, and some goes directly back to the oceans.

  2. The release of water vapour from plants is called what?

    • Infiltration
    • Precipitation
    • Transpiration
    • Condensation
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Transpiration

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: Water is constantly on the move. It is evaporated from the oceans, lakes, streams, the surface of the land, and plants (transpiration) by solar energy (Figure 13.2). It is moved through the atmosphere by winds and condenses to form clouds of water droplets or ice crystals. It comes back down as rain or snow and then flows through streams, into lakes, and eventually back to the oceans. Water on the surface and in streams and lakes infiltrates the ground to become groundwater. Groundwater slowly moves through the rock and surficial materials. Some groundwater returns to other streams and lakes, and some goes directly back to the oceans.

  3. What moves water through the atmosphere?

    • Streams
    • Winds
    • Groundwater flow
    • Ocean currents
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Winds

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: Water is constantly on the move. It is evaporated from the oceans, lakes, streams, the surface of the land, and plants (transpiration) by solar energy (Figure 13.2). It is moved through the atmosphere by winds and condenses to form clouds of water droplets or ice crystals. It comes back down as rain or snow and then flows through streams, into lakes, and eventually back to the oceans. Water on the surface and in streams and lakes infiltrates the ground to become groundwater. Groundwater slowly moves through the rock and surficial materials. Some groundwater returns to other streams and lakes, and some goes directly back to the oceans.

  4. When water infiltrates the ground it becomes what?

    • Glacial ice
    • Runoff
    • Groundwater
    • Water vapour
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Groundwater

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: Water is constantly on the move. It is evaporated from the oceans, lakes, streams, the surface of the land, and plants (transpiration) by solar energy (Figure 13.2). It is moved through the atmosphere by winds and condenses to form clouds of water droplets or ice crystals. It comes back down as rain or snow and then flows through streams, into lakes, and eventually back to the oceans. Water on the surface and in streams and lakes infiltrates the ground to become groundwater. Groundwater slowly moves through the rock and surficial materials. Some groundwater returns to other streams and lakes, and some goes directly back to the oceans.

  5. What percentage of Earth's water volume is stored in the oceans?

    • 50%
    • 0.03%
    • 3%
    • 97%
    Reveal answer

    Answer: 97%

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: Even while it’s moving around, water is stored in various reservoirs. The largest, by far, is the oceans, accounting for 97% of the volume (Figure 13.3). Of course, that water is salty. The remaining 3% is fresh water. Two-thirds of our fresh water is stored in the ground and one-third is stored in ice. The remaining fresh water — about 0.03% of the total — is stored in lakes, streams, vegetation, and the atmosphere.

  6. The ocean water accounting for most of Earth's volume is described as what?

    • Vapour
    • Salty
    • Fresh
    • Frozen
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Salty

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: Even while it’s moving around, water is stored in various reservoirs. The largest, by far, is the oceans, accounting for 97% of the volume (Figure 13.3). Of course, that water is salty. The remaining 3% is fresh water. Two-thirds of our fresh water is stored in the ground and one-third is stored in ice. The remaining fresh water — about 0.03% of the total — is stored in lakes, streams, vegetation, and the atmosphere.

  7. What fraction of Earth's fresh water is stored in the ground?

    • One-half
    • Two-thirds
    • One-third
    • All
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Two-thirds

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: Even while it’s moving around, water is stored in various reservoirs. The largest, by far, is the oceans, accounting for 97% of the volume (Figure 13.3). Of course, that water is salty. The remaining 3% is fresh water. Two-thirds of our fresh water is stored in the ground and one-third is stored in ice. The remaining fresh water — about 0.03% of the total — is stored in lakes, streams, vegetation, and the atmosphere.

  8. About what percent of total water is stored in lakes, streams, vegetation, and atmosphere?

    • 97%
    • 33%
    • 0.03%
    • 3%
    Reveal answer

    Answer: 0.03%

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: Even while it’s moving around, water is stored in various reservoirs. The largest, by far, is the oceans, accounting for 97% of the volume (Figure 13.3). Of course, that water is salty. The remaining 3% is fresh water. Two-thirds of our fresh water is stored in the ground and one-third is stored in ice. The remaining fresh water — about 0.03% of the total — is stored in lakes, streams, vegetation, and the atmosphere.

  9. In the 1 L jug analogy, what represents glacial ice?

    • One ~20 mL ice cube
    • Two teaspoons
    • 970 mL of water
    • Three eyedropper drops
    Reveal answer

    Answer: One ~20 mL ice cube

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: To put that in perspective, let’s think about putting all of Earth’s water into a 1 L jug (Figure 13.3b). We start by almost filling the jug with 970 ml of water and 34 g of salt. Then we add one regular-sized (~20 mL) ice cube (representing glacial ice) and two teaspoons (~10 mL) of groundwater. All of the water that we see around us in lakes and streams and up in the sky can be represented by adding three more drops from an eyedropper.

  10. In the jug analogy, groundwater is represented by what?

    • 34 g of salt
    • One ice cube
    • 970 mL of water
    • Two teaspoons (~10 mL)
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Two teaspoons (~10 mL)

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: To put that in perspective, let’s think about putting all of Earth’s water into a 1 L jug (Figure 13.3b). We start by almost filling the jug with 970 ml of water and 34 g of salt. Then we add one regular-sized (~20 mL) ice cube (representing glacial ice) and two teaspoons (~10 mL) of groundwater. All of the water that we see around us in lakes and streams and up in the sky can be represented by adding three more drops from an eyedropper.

  11. In the jug analogy, what represents all lake, stream and atmospheric water?

    • Two teaspoons
    • 34 g of salt
    • Three eyedropper drops
    • One ice cube
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Three eyedropper drops

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: To put that in perspective, let’s think about putting all of Earth’s water into a 1 L jug (Figure 13.3b). We start by almost filling the jug with 970 ml of water and 34 g of salt. Then we add one regular-sized (~20 mL) ice cube (representing glacial ice) and two teaspoons (~10 mL) of groundwater. All of the water that we see around us in lakes and streams and up in the sky can be represented by adding three more drops from an eyedropper.

  12. Approximately what volume of water is in the atmosphere at any time?

    • 117 km³
    • 1,580 km³
    • 1,338,000,000 km³
    • 13,000 km³
    Reveal answer

    Answer: 13,000 km³

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: Although the proportion of Earth’s water that is in the atmosphere is tiny, the actual volume is huge. At any given 3 time, there is the equivalent of approximately 13,000 km of water in the air in the form of water vapour and 3 water droplets in clouds. Water is evaporated from the oceans, vegetation, and lakes at a rate of 1,580 km per day, and just about exactly the same volume falls as rain and snow every day — over both the oceans and land. The 3 precipitation that falls on land goes back to the ocean in the form of stream flow (117 km /day) and groundwater

Play the whole quiz inside a game Answers stay hidden while you play

Make your own — free

Turn any notes into a game in under a minute. Free to start.

Make a quiz