5 stages of the WATER CYCLE

Did you know that our planet is mostly made up of water? Our planet Earth is considered to be 70% water. We can find water in different states: liquid, solid and gaseous. We find liquid water in lakes, rivers, streams, seas and oceans. In the gaseous state it appears as water vapor in the atmosphere.

And, in a solid state, we can find it forming glaciers, polar caps, and in high mountain areas. It is also present in the soil, forming groundwater, aquifers, and in all living things. The water cycles, and therefore is in constant change and movement, this event is called the water cycle.

In this lesson of a Teacher we will tell you each one of the stages of the water cycle, join us!

Thanks to water cycle, in the world, enormous amounts of water are mobilized without us noticing it with the naked eye.

The surface water evaporates forming clouds, the water contained in the clouds then precipitates back to the ground, infiltrating the ground and forming aquifers, etc. Water has the ability to recycle, move and change state, however,

Part of this cycle is fast, 1 drop of water can remain 16 days in a river until it changes state and 8 days in the atmosphere in the form of steam. But, in turn, that time can turn into centuries for glaciers and thousands of years for water flowing through a deep aquifer.

Of all the water we have on Earth, about 97.5% is salt water and is forming the seas and oceans. The remaining 2.5% is freshwater, and we can find it as part of glaciers, aquifers and surface waters such as rivers and lakes.

Let’s see below what are the different stages of the water cycle.

The stages of the water cycle are mainly five: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, seepage and runoff. Let's see what they are about!

Evaporation

It is a process by which surface water changes from a liquid to a gaseous state. Water from the surface, from lakes, streams, rivers, and oceans, evaporates into the atmosphere. Of the total water evaporated, 80% comes from the oceans and 20% comes from continental waters and transpiration from vegetation.

Transpiration is the water vapor that plants release into the atmosphere through their leaves and stems. Evaporation is more intense in hot places with high temperatures. Most of the water vapor is usually held in the atmosphere outside of clouds.

Condensation

It is the reverse process of evaporation. water changes from gaseous to liquid. We can observe this process in our daily lives, such as when we heat water in a pot with a lid, after a while we can see small drops of water on the lid, or when we get out of bathing with hot water, we find the mirrors, glass or tiles wet.

With the water of planet Earth, this process occurs in the atmosphere, as a consequence of air currents and temperatures. Water vapor condenses in the atmosphere, forming clouds. We can say, then, that clouds are masses of condensed water vapor and consequently, they are formed by drops of water.

Precipitation

It's the way that water falls from the atmosphere to the earth's surface. When clouds accumulate many drops of water due to condensation, they fall or precipitate by their own weight, giving rise to rain. There are various forms of precipitation such as snow, hail, water snow.

Filtration

When rainwater or snowfall reaches the earth's surface, part is absorbed by the ground, becoming part of groundwater and another part runs off towards surface sources, such as lakes, streams and rivers. Rainwater infiltrates very slowly into the ground, passing through sediments until it reaches a depth where groundwater or aquifers are found, sometimes it can flow through springs, rivers, lakes etc Different types of soil store different amounts of water and absorb it differently.

runoff

Runoff or runoff is the last of the stages of the water cycle. It is the movement of water over the soil into watercourses surface such as rivers, streams, lakes and finally oceans. All the water courses are connected, even the smallest ones connect with wide rivers and finally the rivers culminate in the oceans.

Thanks to all these stages of the water cycle, water has the ability to move and recycle on our planet Earth.

Vera, C.; Camilloni, I. (2007). "Water cycle". Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.