Lesson 1.2.3

1.2.3 How much change occurs over time in the water and carbon cycles? Quiz: OCR Geography, Unit 2

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 1.2.3, How much change occurs over time in the water and carbon cycles?: 20 multiple choice questions for the OCR Geography (H481), Unit 2: Earth's Life Support Systems, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What term describes a system where inputs and outputs balance around a stable average?

    • Negative feedback
    • Positive feedback
    • Dynamic equilibrium
    • Static equilibrium

  2. Which short-term cycle causes fluctuations in evapotranspiration rates between day and night?

    • Milankovitch cycle
    • Orbital cycle
    • Diurnal cycle
    • Seasonal cycle

  3. What is a confined underground aquifer where water rises under natural pressure called?

    • Drainage basin
    • Water table
    • Unconfined aquifer
    • Artesian basin

  4. What management strategy captures carbon dioxide directly from power station emissions for underground storage?

    • Wetland restoration
    • Carbon trading
    • Afforestation
    • Carbon sequestration

  5. In temperate zones, when are soil moisture stores generally highest during the year?

    • Late spring
    • Autumn
    • Summer
    • Winter

  6. Which long-term climate variation period leads to major transfers of carbon into glacial ice?

    • Interglacial period
    • Glacial period
    • El Niño event
    • Diurnal cycle

  7. Which global mechanism allows countries to buy and sell greenhouse gas emission allowances?

    • Drainage basin planning
    • Water allocation
    • Carbon trading
    • Afforestation

  8. Which technique uses satellites to collect continuous global data on forest cover changes?

    • Field sampling
    • Soil profiling
    • Remote sensing
    • Direct gauging

  9. Replacing natural vegetation with concrete surfaces in an urban area causes overland flow to do what?

    • Decrease
    • Stop completely
    • Remain constant
    • Increase

  10. How does clear-felling a forest impact the local atmospheric carbon dioxide store?

    • Increases atmospheric carbon
    • Decreases atmospheric carbon
    • Has no effect
    • Permanently freezes carbon

  11. If precipitation is 1000 mm and evapotranspiration is 600 mm, what is total runoff without storage change?

    • 1600 mm
    • 1000 mm
    • 600 mm
    • 400 mm

  12. Deep ploughing in agricultural fields speeds up soil organic matter decay, releasing which gas?

    • Nitrogen
    • Sulfur dioxide
    • Carbon dioxide
    • Oxygen

  13. Constructing permeable pavements in urban drainage basin planning primarily aims to increase what?

    • Infiltration
    • Surface runoff
    • Channel flow
    • Evapotranspiration

  14. Warmer ocean water temperatures due to global warming lead to what effect on carbon solubility?

    • No solubility change
    • Increased carbon solubility
    • Decreased carbon solubility
    • Double carbon solubility

  15. Convert a water flow rate of 3 cubic metres per second into litres per second.

    • 30 litres/sec
    • 3000 litres/sec
    • 300 litres/sec
    • 30000 litres/sec

  16. What process in deciduous trees decreases significantly during winter in northern Europe?

    • Surface runoff
    • Photosynthesis
    • Throughfall
    • Stemflow

  17. Thawing permafrost releases greenhouse gases, accelerating warming. What type of process is this?

    • Dynamic equilibrium
    • Positive feedback loop
    • Negative feedback loop
    • Static balance

  18. Increased atmospheric carbon dioxide leads to increased ocean acidity, affecting which marine organisms most?

    • Apex predators
    • Pelagic fish
    • Benthic scavengers
    • Calcifying organisms

  19. Restoring degraded peatlands impacts the water and carbon cycles by doing what?

    • Increasing surface runoff
    • Increasing carbon storage
    • Decreasing water storage
    • Accelerating carbon release

  20. During glacial periods, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were lower primarily because of what ocean process?

    • Higher solubility pump
    • Decreased ocean salinity
    • Reduced ocean volume
    • Faster surface currents

All OCR Geography quizzes