The water cycle
The amount of water currently on the Earth is essentially constant, but it is always moving around in a complex cycle that takes it on multiple routes between the atmosphere, underground, glaciers, and surface waters such as lakes, oceans and rivers.
For example, the Sun heats the oceans causing liquid water to evaporate and form clouds, which may deposit their water over land as rain. The rainwater takes multiple routes: some enters rivers and runs back into the oceans, another portion will evaporate back into the atmosphere, while yet another amount will seep into the ground and enter aquifers - water bearing rock formations below the Earth's surface.
Most of the Earth's fresh water is in the form of ice – glaciers and ice sheets.
Image: Artwork illustrating the water cycle (credit: Gary Hincks/SPL)
Introduction
The water cycle
TV clips (3)
play
Lake Baikal life
Bizarre and ancient life forms in the freezing depths of the world's deepest lake.
The cold here could kill someone in under a minute. The cameraman wore a dry suit and poured boiling water over his regulator before diving to stop it freezing. The seals are extremely shy, so the cameraman had to position remote cameras along a predicted route from their ice lairs. These are the first images of the Baikal seals under the ice.
play
The water cycle
Iain Stewart paraglides over a waterfall on a journey through the water cycle.
Professor Iain Stewart paraglides over a waterfall on a journey through the water cycle, which constantly circulates water around our planet.
play
Deep desert water
Iain Stewart shows how the ancient Garamantes flourished in the Sahara desert.
Professor Iain Stewart shows how an ancient group of people called the Garamantes exploited water below the ground, known as groundwater, to flourish in the Sahara desert. The water they were using came from a time when the Saharan climate was wet.
The water cycle
The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or the H2O cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. Although the balance of water on Earth remains fairly constant over time, individual water molecules can come and go, in and out of the atmosphere. The water moves from one reservoir to another, such as from river to ocean, or from the ocean to the atmosphere, by the physical processes of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and subsurface flow. In so doing, the water goes through different phases: liquid, solid (ice), and gas (vapor).
The water cycle involves the exchange of energy, which leads to temperature changes. For instance, when water evaporates, it takes up energy from its surroundings and cools the environment. When it condenses, it releases energy and warms the environment. These heat exchanges influence climate. By transferring water from one reservoir to another, the water cycle purifies water, replenishes the land with freshwater, and transports minerals to different parts of the globe. It is also involved in reshaping the geological features of the Earth, through such processes as erosion and sedimentation. Finally, the water cycle figures significantly in the maintenance of life and ecosystems.
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