16.

1 Earth as a System: The Hydrologic Cycle 517

16.1 Earth as a System: The Hydrologic Cycle

We live on a planet that is unique in the solar systemit is in just the right location and is just the
right size (see Chapter 22). If Earth were appreciably closer to the Sun, water would exist only as a
vapor. Conversely, water would be forever frozen if our planet were much farther away. Moreover,
Earth is large enough to have a hot mantle that supports convective flow, which carries water to the
surface through volcanism. Water that rose from Earths interior through mantle convection gener-
ated our planets oceans and atmosphere. Thus, by coincidence of favorable size and location, Earth Figure 16.1 Distribution of
is the only planet in the solar system that has a global ocean and a hydrologic cycle. Earths water

Water is found almost everywhere on Earthin the Total Freshwater Surface water
oceans, glaciers, rivers, lakes, air, soil, and living tissue. global water and other freshwater
All these reservoirs constitute Earths hydrosphere, Freshwater Surface water Atmosphere 0.22%
which contains about 1.39 billion cubic kilometers (333 2.5% and other Biological water 0.22%
freshwater Rivers 0.46%
million cubic miles) of water. The vast majority of it, an 1.3% Swamps
estimated 96.5 percent, is stored in the global ocean. Saline lakes 2.53%
Ice sheets and glaciers account for another 1.74 percent, and
leaving less than 2 percent divided among lakes, streams, groundwater Groundwater Lakes Soil moisture
subsurface water, and the atmosphere (Figure 16.1). 1% 30.1% 20.1% 3.52%
All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full;
unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither
they return again. Oceans Glaciers
96.5% Snow
Ecclesiastes 1:7 and ice and ice
sheets 73.1%
As the perceptive writer of Ecclesiastes implied, 68.6%
water is constantly moving among Earths different
spheresthe hydrosphere, the atmosphere, the geo-
sphere, and the biosphere. This unending circulation
of water, called the hydrologic cycle, describes what
happens as water evaporates from the ocean, plants, and
soil; moves through the atmosphere; and eventually falls Hydrologic Cycle
as precipitation (Figure 16.2). Precipitation that falls onto
the ocean has completed its cycle and is ready to begin Pr
ec
n
another. tio Precipitation
Evaporation ra

ip
When precipitation falls on land, it either soaks o 96,000 km3

ita
ap
320,000 km3
into the ground, a process called infiltration, flows Precipitation

tion
Ev

over the surface as runoff, or immediately evapo- 284,000 km3

rates. Much of the water that infiltrates or runs off
eventually finds its way back to the atmosphere via Evaporation/Transpiration
evaporation from soil, lakes, and streams. In addi- 60,000 km3
tion, some of the water that soaks into the ground is
absorbed by plants, which later release it into the at-
mosphere. This process is called transpiration (trans 36,000 km3
ff
= across, spiro = to breathe). Because both evapora- Runo
tion and transpiration involve the transfer of water
from the surface directly to the atmosphere, they are Infiltration
often considered together as the combined process of Oceans
evapotranspiration.
More water falls on land as precipitation than is lost
by evapotranspiration. The excess is carried back to the
ocean mainly by streams; less than 1 percent returns SmartFigure 16.2 The hydrologic cycle
as groundwater. However, much of the water that flows The primary movement of water through the cycle is shown by the large
in rivers is not transmitted directly into river channels arrows. A number refers to the annual amount of water taking a particular
after falling as precipitation. Instead, a large percent- path.
age first soaks into the soil and then gradually flows as
518 Chapter 16 Running Water

groundwater to river channels. In this manner, ground-
water provides a form of storage that sustains the flow of
streams between storms and during periods of drought.
When precipitation falls in very cold areasat high
elevations or high latitudesthe water may not immedi-
ately soak in, run off, or evaporate. Instead, it becomes
part of a snowfield or a glacier. In this way, glaciers store
large quantities of water. If present-day glaciers were
to melt and release their stored water, sea level would
rise by several tens of meters worldwide and submerge
many heavily populated coastal areas. As you will see in
remains about the same. Each year, solar energy evapo-
rates about 320,000 cubic kilometers of water from the
oceans, but only 284,000 cubic kilometers return to the
oceans as precipitation. A balance is achieved by the
36,000 cubic kilometers that are carried to the ocean as
runoff. Although runoff makes up a small percentage of
the total, running water is, nevertheless, the single most
important erosional agent sculpting Earths land surface.
16 .1 C o ncept C hec k s

Chapter 18, over the past 2 million years, huge ice sheets
have formed and melted on several occasions, each time
changing the balance of the hydrologic cycle.
Figure 16.2 also shows that Earths hydrologic cycle
is balanced. This basically means that although water
is constantly moving from one reservoir to another,
the overall amount of water in the oceans and on land
1. Describe or sketch the movement of water through the
hydrologic cycle. Once precipitation has fallen on land,
what paths might the water take?
2. What is meant by the term evapotranspiration?
3. Over the oceans, evaporation exceeds precipitation, yet
sea level does not drop. Explain why.

EYE on Earth
T his photo shows the famous Thousand
Springs along the Snake River in
southern Idaho. The springs are natural
outlets for groundwater.
Question 1 Is there water in this image that
cant be seen? If so, where might it be?
Question 2 Prepare a story that speculates
on the answers to the following questions.
Suggest several possibilities for both
questions:
a. W
 hat journeys did the water in this
image take to get to this place?
b. W
 hat paths might the water follow
when it makes its way back to the
ocean?

David R. Frazier/Alamy Images