Water moves through the hydrosphere through various processes such as evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff, and infiltration.
1. Evaporation: The process of water turning from a liquid state into a vapor or gas state. The heat from the sun causes the water in oceans, lakes, rivers, and even plants to evaporate and rise into the atmosphere.
2. Condensation: Once the water vapor is in the atmosphere, it cools down and condenses into tiny water droplets or ice crystals. These tiny droplets and crystals come together to form clouds.
3. Precipitation: When the water droplets in the clouds become too heavy, they fall back to the ground as precipitation. Precipitation can take various forms such as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
4. Runoff: When precipitation reaches the ground, it often flows over the surface as runoff, finding its way into rivers, lakes, or oceans. This runoff can occur because the ground is saturated, there is no vegetation to absorb the water, or the precipitation rate exceeds the ground's capacity to absorb it.
5. Infiltration: Some of the precipitation also soaks into the ground, a process known as infiltration. It filters through the soil and enters underground reservoirs called groundwater. Groundwater can be stored in porous rocks and soil, known as aquifers.
6. Transpiration: This is the process where plants absorb water through their roots and release it through tiny pores in their leaves called stomata. This water vapor adds to the moisture in the atmosphere, eventually leading to condensation and precipitation.
Overall, water moves through a continuous cycle known as the water cycle or hydrological cycle. This cycle involves the constant movement of water between the Earth's surface, the atmosphere, and back again, ensuring that water is constantly being redistributed and recycled through the hydrosphere.
explain how water moves through the hydrosphere.
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