Precipitation is water being released from clouds as rain, sleet, snow, or hail. Precipitation begins after water vapor, which has condensed in the atmosphere, becomes too heavy to remain in atmospheric air currents and falls. A portion of the precipitation that reaches the Earth's surface seeps into the ground through the process called infiltration. The amount of water that infiltrates the soil depends on several factors.

Precipitation that reaches the surface of the Earth but does not infiltrate the soil is called runoff. Runoff can also come from melted snow and ice. When there is a lot of precipitation, soils become saturated with water. Additional rainfall can no longer enter it. Runoff will eventually drain into creeks, streams, and rivers, adding a large amount of water to the flow.

Evapotranspiration is water evaporating from the ground and transpiration by plants. Evapotranspiration is also the way water vapor re-enters the atmosphere. Condensation is the process of water changing from a vapor to a liquid.

Water enters the ground by what process? Permutation ? Sublimation ? Transpiration ? Infiltration ?

Besides Glaciers where is the rest of the worlds fresh water?

Water enters the pores in the gravel. The water can flow in many different directions through the gravel. The water finds open pores and fills them. The water fills most but not all of the pores in the gravel. Water enters the channels in the limestone. The water can flow in many different directions in the limestone. The water can move faster through the large channels in the limestone than through the pores of unconsolidated rock. The water fills most of the cracks in the limestone.

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Farmer Lighthouse Chesapeake County Groundwater Problem

Homeowner A Texaco Gas Station Madison County Groundwater Problem

Radius #5 Capillary Fringe slopes downward here.