GEOG-120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Lightning, Eutrophication, Geosphere
Document Summary
Uxes into the reservoir (from a source) and uxes out (to a sink: hydrologic cycle. Hydrologic cycle summarizes how water ows through our environment. Ocean holds 97% of water; freshwater accounts for 3%; two-thirds of it is in glaciers, snow elds, and ice caps; less than 1% we can readily use. Water moves from bodies of water by evaporation the conversion of a liquid to gas; warm temperatures and strong winds speed rates of evaporation. Water also enters the atmosphere by transpiration the release of water vapour by plants through their leaves an effectively creates pure water by ltering our minerals carried in solutions. Water returns to the earth by precipitation; which may be taken up by plants and used by animals, but most ows as runoff. Aquifers are porous bodies of rock and soil that hold groundwater; recharged by precipitation. Producers pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and out of surface water to use in photosynthesis.