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The Hydrological Cycle

The hydrological cycle describes the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth. Water evaporates from oceans and land surfaces, rises into the atmosphere, condenses into clouds, and falls as precipitation onto land or ocean, where some infiltrates soils and recharges groundwater, and some runs off into rivers and lakes, returning to the oceans, closing the loop. The cycle involves storage of water in oceans, atmosphere, groundwater, ice, rivers, and biota and is usually in balance, though human activities like deforestation, water extraction, and climate change can potentially disrupt this balance.

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41 views22 pages

The Hydrological Cycle

The hydrological cycle describes the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth. Water evaporates from oceans and land surfaces, rises into the atmosphere, condenses into clouds, and falls as precipitation onto land or ocean, where some infiltrates soils and recharges groundwater, and some runs off into rivers and lakes, returning to the oceans, closing the loop. The cycle involves storage of water in oceans, atmosphere, groundwater, ice, rivers, and biota and is usually in balance, though human activities like deforestation, water extraction, and climate change can potentially disrupt this balance.

Uploaded by

alvin bautista
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Hydrological

Cycle
The Hydrological Cycle
 What you need to know:
 Be able to draw a diagram of the
hydrological cycle.
 Describe its main elements.
 Explain how balance is maintained within
the system.
What is the Hydrological
Cycle?
The hydrological cycle is the system which describes
the distribution and movement of water between the
earth and its atmosphere. The model involves the
continual circulation of water between the oceans, the
atmosphere, vegetation and land.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/education/teachers/key-stage3/lessonplan-hydrological-
cycle/animation
The Hydrological cycle
Describing the Cycle:

 Evaporation
Solar energy
powers the cycle.
Heat energy from
the sun causes
evaporation from
water surfaces
(rivers, lakes and
oceans) and….
 … transpiration from
plants. Transpiration is
essentially evaporation
of water from plant
leaves.

 Evapotranspiration –
water loss to the
atmosphere from
plants and water
surfaces.
Condensation
 The warm, moist air
(containing water
vapour) rises and, as
it cools,
condensation takes
place to form clouds.
Advection

 Wind energy may


move clouds over
land surfaces
where …
Precipitation
 …precipitation
occurs, either as
rain or snow
depending on
altitude.
 Stemflow (red
arrows) –
Precipitation flows
down stems and
branches to ground
 Throughflow (yellow)
Rate at which
precipitation flows
through branches
Run off / Overland flow

 The rainwater
flows, either over
the ground (run
off) into rivers and
back to the ocean,
or…
Groundwater flow
 … infiltrates
downwards through
the soil and rocks
where it is returned
to the oceans
through
groundwater flow.
Groundwater flow
The water cycle balance
 Usually the water cycle is in balance, and the
amount of precipitation falling will slowly soak
into the ground and eventually reach the
rivers.

 However, if rain falls for a long period of time


or if the ground is already soaked or
saturated with water then the chance of
flooding is increased.
Under the ground
A closed system
 The hydrological cycle is a good example of a closed
system: the total amount of water is the same, with
virtually no water added to or lost from the cycle.

 Water just moves from one storage type to


another.

 Water evaporating from the oceans is balanced by


water being returned through precipitation and
surface run off.
Human Inputs to the Cycle
 Although this is a closed system there is a
natural balance maintained between the
exchange of water within the system
 Human activities have the potential to lead to
changes in this balance which will have knock
on impacts.
 For example as the earth warms due to global
warming the rate of exchange in the cycle
(between land and sea and atmosphere) is
expected to increase.
Human Inputs
 Some aspects of the hydrologic cycle can be
utilized by humans for a direct economic
benefit
 Example: generation of electricity
(hydroelectric power stations and reservoirs)
 These are effectively huge artificial lakes and
this will disrupt river hydrology (amount of
water in a river)
Other Human Activities
 Paving, compacting soils, and altering the
nature of the vegetation (including
deforestation)
 The mining of ground water for use in
agriculture and industry
 Large amounts of water vapour released into
the atmosphere from industrial activity
 Large changes in vegetation by wildfire,
logging, clearance for agriculture
Impacts
 These human activities can lead to
increase chances of flooding
 Increases in soil erosion
 A cooling effect on the north west of
Europe (climate change)
 Possible higher precipitation levels in
the Arctic but less in the Tropics

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