How the Hydrologic Cycle Works

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Have you ever wondered why we have never run out of water? Although the earth is
four and a half million years old, the water has never been totally depleted. This is
due to one special process: the hydrologic cycle, more commonly called "the
Water Cycle."


This Hydrologic Cycle recycles the earth's valuable water supply. In other words, the
water keeps getting reused over and over. Just think, the next glass of water you
drink could have been part of a dinosaur's bath in the Mesozoic Era one hundred
million years ago.
Water in that glass of water could have been a liquid, a solid, and a gas countless
times over thanks to the water cycle. Can you identify the three states of water in
the USGS image show above?

How the Hydrologic Cycle Works
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EVAPORATION
The sun is the energy that powers this remarkable process. Its energy in the form of
light, and heat causes water to evaporate from oceans, rivers, lakes and even
puddles. "Evaporate" means it turns the water from a liquid to a gas, or "vapor."
Warm air currents rising from the earth's surface lift this water vapor up into the
atmosphere.

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CONDENSATION
When the air currents reach the cooler layers of the atmosphere, the water vapor
condenses around and clings on to fine particles in the air.
This step is called condensation. When enough vapor attaches itself to tiny pieces of
dust, pollen or pollutants, it forms a cloud. Clouds do not last forever. Old clouds
constantly re-evaporate and new ones form, creating ever-changing patterns in the
sky.
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PRECIPITATION
As the air gets more and more moist, the droplets that form the clouds grow larger
and larger. Eventually they will get so big that the swirling atmospheric winds can no
longer hold them up. The droplets then fall from the sky as precipitation.
Precipitation can be in the form of rain, snow, sleet or hail depending on other
atmospheric conditions such as temperature.

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INFILTRATION
Once the precipitation reaches the ground, several things can happen to it. First, it
might be re-evaporated. For instance, we've all seen the mist rising off hot roads
after a summer shower. If it isn't re-evaporated, much of the water will become run-
off that goes into streams and rivers as it flows back to the ocean.
Some of the precipitation will be absorbed into the ground. This is called infiltration.
Once in the ground, the water can join the earth's Ground water supply. This is one
of the world's largest storehouses of water. The water could also be absorbed from
the ground by the roots of plants.
GROUND WATER RUN-OFF
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Transpiration - The Water Cycle








Another form of evaporation that contributes to the water cycle is transpiration.
Here, water given off through the pores of plants and animals joins the atmosphere
as a vapor. Check, for instance, your own breath on a cold day. What you are seeing
is water vapor being given off by your body.


With transpiration and evaporation,
the cycle begins again:
EVAPORATION, CONDENSATION,
PRECIPITATION, RUN-OFF,
INFILTRATION, and TRANSPIRATION.
Each time a molecule of water goes
through the cycle it is cleaned, or
purified, so it can be used by plants
and animals again tomorrow, next
year, and hopefully forever.