Entry 16: The Water Cycle

In my opinion, this post on Nutrient Cycles is the most interesting, and here it goes.
Earth has a stable water supply which 98 percent of the earths water is contained in, oceans, lakes, rivers and streams with the remaining found in, the form of ice, water vapor, and in the bodies of living organisms. The constant movement of water, from earth to the atmosphere is called the water cycle. This cycle is driven by solar energy, and causes Earth's water supply is used over and over again. The sun evaporates water off of water bodies such as rivers and lakes, as well as form moist surfaces and bodies of living organisms.
This water is drawn back up into the atmosphere, and falls back to earth in the form of rain. There is a greater amount of evaporation, from the ocean than the amount of precipitation (rainfall) this results in a movement of water vapor by the wind to inland areas, areas closer the ocean receive more precipitation (rainfall) than those which are further from the ocean or are protected by a mountain range. Water is also absorbed from the bodies of terrestrial plants and animals as well as the soil, the collective process of evaporation from the soil and plants is called evapotransporation. This constant movement of water through evaporation by the sun. Water which is not evaporated by the sun may reenter the water cycle by seeping down through the soil, until it reaches the, a zone of saturation, here all of the holes and cracks of the soil are filled with water below which there is a bed of solid rock which the water cannot penetrate.
In my next post, which should also be my last informative post, I shall be continuing on the human aspect of nutrient cycles and finally my reflections of the whole Biology Learning Journal.

Information obtained from:
1)http://library.thinkquest.org/C007506/cycles.html