The Water Cycle

Hydrosphere  The Hydrosphere is the portion of the Earth that is composed of water  Water covers over 70% of Earth’s surface  Of this 70%:  97% is Ocean water  3% is fresh water

Water Cycle  The water cycle is the movement of water between the oceans, atmosphere, and the solid Earth

Evaporation  Evaporation is the process where a liquid is converted into a gas  Surface water is heated  Turns into a gas  Goes into the atmosphere  Transpiration-Water evaporating from a plant

Condensation  Condensation is the process where a gas turns into a liquid  Occurs in the atmosphere where water vapor evaporated off the surface cools

Precipitation  When enough water vapor in the atmosphere condenses it falls back down to Earth in the form of rain or snow.  This is precipitation

Runoff/Infiltration  When water returns to the surface of the Earth it can do one of 2 things  Infiltration-Water seeps down into the ground through the soil  Runoff-Water runs along the surface of the Earth until it enters another body of water