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Exploring the sun's pivotal role in driving Earth's water cycle, this overview highlights the ocean's major contribution to evaporation and precipitation. It delves into the fundamental processes such as advection, condensation, and transpiration that sustain the cycle. Additionally, it examines the varying residence times of water in different parts of the cycle and the significant anthropogenic effects altering its natural balance.
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The sun's heat causes water to evaporate from the Earth's oceans, seas, and other bodies
Cloud Formation and Distribution
Water vapor rises and cools, leading to the formation of clouds and their distribution around the planet
Types of Precipitation
Precipitation in the form of rain, snow, or hail contributes to the replenishment of water bodies and completes the water cycle
Precipitation returns to the oceans and land, replenishing ice caps, glaciers, and other water bodies, and sustaining freshwater ecosystems
The ocean holds 97% of Earth's water and is the largest source of evaporation and precipitation, playing a crucial role in maintaining the balance of the water cycle
Precipitation that falls on land surfaces replenishes groundwater supplies and sustains freshwater ecosystems, ensuring a continuous supply of fresh water
Water reemerges at the Earth's surface in springs or is exchanged between surface water and groundwater in the hyporheic zone, contributing to the continuous flow of fresh water
Advection, condensation, evaporation, infiltration, percolation, precipitation, runoff, subsurface flow, and transpiration are the fundamental processes that make up the water cycle
Advection
Advection is the horizontal movement of water vapor in the atmosphere, contributing to precipitation over land
Condensation
Condensation is the process by which water vapor becomes liquid droplets, forming clouds and fog
Evaporation
Evaporation is the transformation of water from a liquid to a gaseous state, driven primarily by solar energy
Infiltration
Infiltration is the process where water penetrates the soil surface to become soil moisture or groundwater
Percolation
Percolation is the downward movement of water through soil and rock layers, driven by gravity
Precipitation
Precipitation is the deposition of water, in various forms, from the atmosphere to the Earth's surface
Runoff
Runoff refers to the flow of water over land, while subsurface flow is the underground movement of water through aquifers
Transpiration
Transpiration is the release of water vapor from plant leaves and soil into the atmosphere
Residence time is a measure of how long water remains in a particular component of the hydrologic cycle
Groundwater
Groundwater can have a residence time ranging from days to over 10,000 years, depending on the aquifer
Atmospheric Water
Atmospheric water typically has a short residence time of approximately 9 days
Ice Sheets
Ice sheets, particularly those in Antarctica and Greenland, can retain water for very long periods, with some ice being over 800,000 years old
Human-caused climate change is modifying the global water cycle, with projections indicating that these changes will continue to intensify
Urbanization and deforestation have significant impacts on the water cycle by altering patterns of precipitation, evaporation rates, and the availability of freshwater resources
The extraction of groundwater, including ancient 'fossil' water, introduces previously stored water into the active cycle, altering the natural balance of the water cycle
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Evaporation in water cycle
Water heats, turns to vapor, rises into atmosphere.
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Role of condensation
Vapor cools, forms clouds or fog.
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Precipitation and its forms
Moisture falls as rain, snow, hail; replenishes water bodies.
