Environmental Science (2+1)

Hydrological (water) cycle

 
• In the water cycle, energy is supplied by the sun, which drives evaporation whether it be from ocean surfaces or from treetops. The sun also provides the energy, which drives the weather systems, which move the water vapor (clouds) from one place to another (otherwise, it would only rain over the oceans). Precipitation occurs when water condenses from a gaseous state in the atmosphere and falls to earth.


• Evaporation is the reverse process in which liquid water becomes gaseous. Once water condenses, gravity takes over and the water is pulled to the ground. Gravity continues to operate, either pulling the water underground (groundwater) or across the surface (runoff). In either event, gravity continues to pull water lower and lower until it reaches the oceans (in most cases; the Great Salt Lake, Dead Sea, Caspian Sea, and other such depressions may also serve as the lowest basin into which water can be drawn).


• Frozen water may be trapped in cooler regions of the Earth (the poles, glaciers on mountaintops, etc.) as snow or ice, and may remain as such for very long periods of time. Lakes, ponds, and wetlands form where water is temporarily trapped. The oceans are salty because any weathering of minerals that occurs as the water runs to the ocean will add to the mineral content of the water, but water cannot leave the oceans except by evaporation, and evaporation leaves the minerals behind. Thus, rainfall and snowfall are comprised of relatively clean water, with the exception of pollutants (such as acids) picked up as the waster falls through the atmosphere.


• Organisms play an important role in the water cycle. As you know, most organisms contain a significant amount of water (up to 90% of their body weight). This water is not held for any length of time and moves out of the organism rather quickly in most cases. Animals and plants lose water through evaporation from the body surfaces and through evaporation from the gas exchange structures (such as lungs). In plants, water is drawn in at the roots and moves to the gas exchange organs, the leaves, where it evaporates quickly.


• This special case is called transpiration because it is responsible for so much of the water that enters the atmosphere. In both plants and animals, the breakdown of carbohydrates (sugars) to produce energy (respiration) produces both carbon dioxide and water as waste products. Photosynthesis reverses this reaction, and water and carbon dioxide are combined to form carbohydrates