Name _________________________________________________

Date ______________________

The Water Cycle

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/mwater.html
Where is Earths Water?
1. What does it mean that the Earth is a closed system, like a terrarium? __Because gravity holds it all
___
__together_____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
2. How does water the water amount from millions of years ago compare to todays water amount? ____
______It is the same ____________________________________________________________________
3. Out of all the water on Earth, what percentage is usable by humans? ___2.5_______________________
4. Of the water usable by humans, where is the largest percentage of that water found? ________________
____Glaciers and ice caps
___________________________________________________________
5. Complete the following diagram:

6. Of the freshwater, where is most of the water tied up? _In the ground___________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
7. Of the remaining freshwater, where is the largest majority of that water found? Aquifers
__________
____________________________________________________________________________________
8. What percentage of freshwater is found as surface water? ______1.2% _________________________
9. Compare the amount of freshwater to the amount of saltwater in cubic kilometers: _______________
_________1340 more cubic kilometers__________ _________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

How Much Water Is There?

1. How much of the Earths surface is covered by water? __71%__________________________________
2. Besides the ocean, where else does water exist? ____in the air as water vapor
_______________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Where does most of the water people and other life on Earth come from? Ground and surface water_
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. Compare the amount of groundwater to surface water: ______________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. What term is used for the storage place of groundwater? ____________________________________
6. How is groundwater recharged? ________________________________________________________
7. How does groundwater recharge rivers? _________________________________________________
8. In 2005, how much surface water did the United States use? _________________________________
9. In the same time period, how much groundwater did people use? ______________________________

The Water Cycle

What is another term used for the water cycle?

hydrologic cycle

__________________

Atmosphere
1. Which two processes changes liquid water into vapor which then rises into the atmosphere?
Evaporation and Evapotranspiration _____________________________________________
2. Which process produces the majority of the vapor in the atmosphere? __Condensation ___
3. What percentage of vapor does transpiration add to the atmosphere? ____________________
4. If all the water in the atmosphere rained down and covered the Earth, how deep would it be?
_______ 332.5 million cubic miles _______________________________________________
Condensation
1. Define condensation: __ When the vapor got cold it changed back into it a liquid __
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Why is condensation an important part of the water cycle? _ because it is responsible
____for the formation of clouds
__________________________________________
3. Besides clouds, what else can happen due to condensation? _Precipitation ___________
Evaporation
1. Define evaporation: ________ water changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor ____________
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Where does most of the evaporated water come from? Oceans, seas, rivers, and lakes
____________________________________________________________________________
3. What is necessary in order for evaporation to occur? _Heat_____________________________
4. What percentage of the water evaporated from the ocean is transported over land and falls as
precipitation? ___10% __________________________________________________________
5. How long does an evaporated water molecule stay in the air? __10 days______________

Evapotranspiration
1. According to this website, define evapotranspiration: (beneath the diagram)

The water lost to the atmosphere from the ground surface, evaporation
from the capillary fringe of the groundwater table, and the transpiration of
groundwater by plants whose roots tap the capillary fringe of the
groundwater table
2. Define transpiration:

Evaporation of water from plant leaves

3. How much water in the atmosphere is due to transpiration:
10 percent
4. How does a plant transpire?
They put down roots into the soil to draw out water and nutrients up into the stems and
leaves
5. How much can an oak tree transpire per year?
40000 gallons
Freshwater Storage
1. What bodies of water does surface water include:
Streams, ponds, lakes, reservoirs, and canals
2. What processes are included in inflows to surface water?
Precipitation, runoff, seepage, and tributary
3. What processes are included in outflows of surface water?
Evaporation, movement of water into groundwater, and withdrawals by people
Groundwater Discharge
1. Describe why groundwater is an important part of the water cycle:
Its the major contributor to flow in many streams and rivers
2. Where is the majority of groundwater found?
In tiny pore spaces
3. When are aquifers formed
When water leaches through the soil and is trapped in cracks in impermeable rock
4. Explain how water becomes part of the groundwater:
When it rains water penetrates the water and seeps down into the zone of saturation
5. What percentage of freshwater is groundwater?
30.1
Groundwater Storage
1. Where does most of the water in groundwater come from?
Precipitation
2. Describe the difference between the saturated zone and the unsaturated zone
The saturated zone is completely filled with water and the unsaturated zone has no water in
it
3. What is the water table?
The top of the saturation zone separating the saturation zone and the aeration zone
4. To what level would you have to dig to find water?

The water table

4. Label the diagram below:

Ice, Snow, and Glaciers

1. What is meant by storage, in relation to the water cycle?
Frozen
2. Where is the 90% of Earths ice mass found? Where is the rest of it found?
Antarctica and Greenland
3. What majority of freshwater is held in ice caps and glaciers?
68.7%
Infiltration
1. What is happening to water during infiltration?

Water on the ground surface enters the soil

2. What happens to water that infiltrates the shallow soil layer?
It will gradually move vertically and horizontally through the soil and subsurface
material
3. What happens to the water that infiltrates deeper?
It recharges groundwater aquifers
4. What is the greatest factor affecting infiltration?
Precipitation
5. What happens to rain, once the soil is saturated?
It turns into surface runoff
6. What percentage of water is found in the ocean?
96%

Precipitation
1. What forms of water can precipitation take?
Rain, sleet, snow, or hail
2. How does most precipitation fall?
Rain
3. What has to happen before water can fall as precipitation?
They have to be big droplets
4. How do water droplets grow?
They stick together

Stream flow
1. How does USGS define stream flow?

The amount of water flowing in a river

2. What is a stream?
A small narrow river
3. What percentage of freshwater is found in rivers?
0.006%
Sublimation
1. What is sublimation?

The conversion between the solid and the gaseous phases of matter, with
no intermediate liquid stage

2. What is sublimation, in relation to the water cycle?

The process of snow and ice changing into water vapor in the air without
first melting into water

3. When does sublimation occur?

When certain weather conditions are present, such as low relative
humidity and dry winds

4. Where on Earth does sublimation happen a lot?

Higher altitudes
5. What is a Chinook Wind and where do they occur?
Westerlies from the Pacific whose moisture gets wrung out as it passes
over the Rocky Mountains

Surface Runoff
1. What is surface runoff?
Is the flow of water that occurs when excess water from rain, melt water, or other sources
flows over the earth's surface
2. When does runoff occur?
When the surface is really saturated

Place the letter from the diagram above in the space provided next to its associated term in
the lists below:
[ I ] Condensation
[ K] Evapotranspiration
[ E] Groundwater discharge
[ D] Infiltration
[ C] Snowmelt runoff to streams
[ M] Streamflow
[ L] Surface runoff
[ A] Water storage in ice and snow
[ M] Desublimation [ R] Plant uptake

[ H] Evaporation
[ O] Freshwater storage
[ F] Groundwater storage
[ B] Precipitation
[ N] Spring
[ P] Sublimation
[ J] Water storage in the atmosphere
[ G] Water storage in oceans