Water Cycle

Law of Conservation of Mass Matter & Energy move throughout the earth Nothing is created or destroyed.

4 Parts of the Earth Lithosphere-Earth’s land Atmosphere-Envelope of gases that surround Earth Hydrosphere-All Earth’s water Biosphere-Support all Earth’s life

Biogeochemical Cycles Explains the interconnectedness between living things and Earth Connects-Biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, & atmosphere 3 types of cycles:  Water  Nitrogen  Carbon/Oxygen

Reservoirs Places where various chemicals are stored for periods of time & recycled Water cycle:  Lakes  Glaciers  Oceans  Rivers

Water Cycle Continuous movement of water through reservoirs in atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, & lithosphere. Occurs in solid, liquid, and gas.  Ice (glaciers)  Ocean, lakes, rivers, ground water, ponds  Water vapor in air

Main Processes Evaporation/Transpiration Condensation Precipitation Runoff Storage in Reservoirs

Evaporation/Transpiration Evaporation: Changes a liquid to a gas Causes cooling. Transpiration: Evaporation from living cells-mainly plants What causes this? Increase in thermal (heat) energy. Where does this come from? Solar Energy from the sun.

Condensation Once in atmosphere cool air causes the water vapor to change from gas to liquid  This causes Clouds As air cools the gas molecules move closer together and condense around dust or salt in the air. Clouds are huge masses of Water Vapor.

Precipitation Precipitation: Water Vapor turns back into liquid form. Falls back to Earth Soil-Absorbs or runoff Reservoirs-Stored in lakes, ponds, rivers, etc.