The Hydrological (Water) Cycle is the moving around of water in the atmosphere, sea, and ground in a continuous cycle. The path that the water follows is shown below:
- Clouds —–> Vegetation —–> Ground —–> Soil —–> Rock —–> Sea —–> Clouds
The following processes are involved in the hydrological cycle:
- Precipitation – water in any form that comes from the clouds (e.g. – snow, rain, sleet, hail)
- Interception – this is where plants, trees, or buildings collect the precipitation
- Stem Flow – where the precipitation flows along the stems of a plant to the ground
- Through Fall – where the precipitation is not intercepted but falls straight to the ground
- Infiltration – where the water filters through the ground and the tiny pores in the soil
- Percolation – where the water moves downwards through the soil
- Over Land Flow – this happens when either the soil is impermeable or saturated and the water flows over the top of it
- Ground Water Flow – this is the movement of water sideways through the soil
- Underground Flow – slow movement of water through the ground
- Transpiration – where the water goes up through the plants and is released into the air through the leaves
- Evaporation – where the water is evaporated straight from the ground or from the sea
- Evapo-transpiration – here, the water vapour consists of both evaporated and transpired water