WATER ON EARTH

EARTH IS THE ONLY PLANET WHERE WATER IN ITS LIQUID FORM

EXISTS. IN OTHER PLANETS, WATER OCCURS IN THE FORM OF ICE
OR VAPOR. AS SEEN FROM SPACE, EARTH LOOKS MOSTLY BLUE AND
WHITE BECAUSE OF WATER, SNOW, ICE, AND CLOUDS ON ITS
SURFACE, THE PART OF THE EARTH’S SUBSYSTEM CONTAINING THE
OCEANS, LAKES, STREAMS, UNDERGROUND WATER, AND SNOW
AND ICE IS THE HYDROSPHERE. IT MAKES UP ABOUT 71% OF THE
EARTH’S SURFACE.
 THE HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE
The hydrologic cycle, also known as water cycle, is the movement of water around the Earth’s surface
and its subsystems. The cycle consists of interconnected pathways and reservoirs. Reservoirs are the
places where water resides for varying amount of time, while pathways are the processes that allow
water to move between reservoirs and subsystems.
• Heat coming from the sun provides energy for the movement of water. It causes evaporation or
the process in which liquid water changes into vapor. It occurs in the oceans, surface water bodies,
vegetation, and soil. About 80% of water vapor in the atmosphere evaporates from the ocean.
• This allows condensation, the change from vapor into liquid or solid, to occur. Water droplets
group together and form clouds.
• When water droplets or ice crystals in the clouds become large and heavy, precipitation occurs.
Precipitation transfers water from the atmosphere to the Earth’s surface in liquid or solid form as
rain, snow, or hail
EARTH’S WATER

The total amount of water in the planet, also known as Earth’s water badger, generally remains
constant through time. Water moves and changes in form, but is neither created nor destroyed.
Only a very small percentage is added to the hydrologic system by volcanic eruptions and
meteors from space.
• The largest water reservoir is the ocean that contains about 97.5% of Earth’s total water,
which is mostly saline water. This has a major implication in humans since humans depend on
freshwater for drinking, agriculture, and industrial use.
• The residence time is the average length of time spent by water molecule in a reservoir. In
large reservoir, the residence time of water is longer
An ocean is a vast body of saline water. There is only one global or world ocean and it covers 71 of Earth.
Geographically divided into five distinct regions and into numerous seas, gulfs, bays, and straits. Historically,
the four recognized oceans are the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Arctic Ocean.

The saltiness of saltwater is called salinity. The major chemical elements present in seawater are sodium and
chlorine ions. Other natural elements are also present in seawater in very low concentrations. The salinity of
seawater varies from 33 to 37 parts per thousand. When it is evaporated, three quarters of the dissolved
material is comprised of NaCl (common salt). The principal sources of the elements dissolved in seawater
are weathering and volcanic eruptions.

There are three major zones in the ocean

- The surface layer, which consists of relatively warm, low-density water, extends from the ocean surface to a
depth of 100 m.
- The second layer, called thermocline, the temperature of water decreases rapidly with depth.
- Below the thermocline is the deep zone, where the temperature is uniformly low. Eighty percent of the
water in the ocean is in the deep zone

Saltwater Reservoir
FRESHWATER RESERVOIRS

Glaciers and Ice Sheets Permafrost

A glacier is a permanent body of ice, which A soil, rock, or sediment that is frozen for
consists largely of recrystallized snow. In polar more than two consecutive years is called
region and high-altitude regions, not all of the permafrost. The frozen ground varies in
snow that fall melts because of very cold thickness from a few meters to about 150 m.
temperature even during summer. The The upper 30 cm to 100 cm of soil thaws
unmelted snow is covered by another layer during summer and refreezes during winter.
the following winter. The snow gradually Most of the permafrost is found in polar
accumulates and becomes compacted, turning regions, although they may exist in high-
into a mass of ice. An ice sheet is a mass of altitude regions. The total water stored as
glacial land ice extending more than 50000 underground ice in a permafrost is estimated
km². to be 300 000 km³.
SURFACE WATER RESERVOIRS
Stream
A stream is a moving body of surface water that Lakes
flows downslope toward sea level because of
Lakes are large inland bodies of fresh or saline
gravity. It has clearly-defined passageways called
channels where particles and dissolved substances
water. Its upper surface is exposed to the
are transported. A river is a stream with a atmosphere and is essentially flat. It forms in
considerable volume and a well-defined channel. places where water collects in a low area
Streams are interconnected and form a tree- (depression) and behind natural or
shaped network of small streams, making up the humanmade dams. Ponds are small and
branches and joined to a large main stream or river, shallow lakes. Dams are barriers constructed
which comprise the trunk. The smaller streams are along stream to contain the flow of water.
also called tributaries. The land area in which the Water in the lakes came from streams,
water flows into a particular stream is called a
overland flow, and groundwater
drainage basin or watershed. The line that
separates individual drainage basin is called
drainage divide.
 The types of wetlands include marshes, swamps,
and estuaries.

Wetlands 1. Marsh is a shallow wetland around lakes,

Land areas where water covers the surface streams, and oceans where grasses and reeds
for significant periods is referred to as are the dominant vegetation.
wetlands. They vary in size from relatively 2. Swamp is a wetland with lush trees and
large in flat areas to small in steep areas. vegetation found in low-lying areas beside
Wetlands are biologically diverse slow- moving rivers. Oxygen content in the
environments filled with species that rely on swamp water is typically low, but swamp
both the land and water for survival. It is also plants and animals are adapted to these low-
oxygen conditions
a fragile ecosystem that is sensitive to the
amount and quality of water. Wetlands 3. Estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of
constitute about 8.5% of the total land surface water where freshwater from stream meets
and atmospheric water. the saltwater from the sea. It is home to many
organisms that can tolerate the sharp changes
in salinity due to the constant change of salt
content
FLOOD
GROUNDWATER
A flood is a natural event in which an area
Groundwater is freshwater found in the rock
that is usually dry is submerged under water.
and soil layers beneath the surface. The
It usually occurs when the rate of precipitation
groundwater is the largest reservoir of liquid
is higher chan the rate in which it could be
freshwater on Earth. It constitutes about
absorbed by the ground or carried by streams.
30.1% of the total freshwater on the planet.
It can also occur even during dry periods when
Water-bearing rock layers called aquifers are
natural or humanmade reservoirs collapse.
akin to a “sponge” which holds groundwater
Some floods may occur suddenly and recede
in tiny cracks, cavities, and pores between
quickly, while others lasts for few days to
mineral grains
several weeks.
GROUNDWATER PROFILE

When a well is excavated in the ground, the first layer encountered is the moist
soil layer on the surface. Beneath this is a zone where the spaces between the
particles are filled mainly with air. This is called the zone of aeration or
unsaturated zone. The layer beneath the zone of aeration is the zone of
saturation. In this layer, the spaces between the particles are filled with water.

The boundary between the zone of aeration and the zone of saturation is the
water table. Directly above the water table is a layer called capillary fringe
A reliable groundwater supply can be obtained from aquifers with good porosity and
permeability such as coarse-grained clastic sedimentary rocks. An aquifer in which the
groundwater is free to rise to its natural level is called unconfined aquifer, Water is open to the
atmosphere through pores in the soil and rock above the aquifer. In a confined aquifer, the
water is trapped and held down by pressure between impermeable rocks called quietude.

Water could rise in this well without pumping if the well is located at an elevation, which is
below the recharge zone of the confined aquifer. This is called artesian well

When groundwater emerges to the ground surface, a spring is created. Springs usually appear in
places where there is a decrease in permeability of the underlying material, such as presence of
an aquiclude below an aquifer

AQUIFERS, ARTESIAN WELLS, AND SPRINGS

GROUNDWATER-STREAM RELATIONSHIP
There is an interaction between groundwater flow and stream flow. There are
streams that lose water downstream and dry up. In this type of stream, the
water flows underground and contributes to the groundwater. This type of
stream is called lasing or influent stream. In contrast, there are also streams that
are fed by groundwater. This stream is referred to as gaining or effluent stream.
A stream or segments of large streams could be influent or effluent depending
on the amount of available water.
Most of the early human civilizations were developed along the world’s greatest
rivers-the Tigris and Euphrates of Mesopotamia, the Nile River of the Egyptians,
and the Yellow River of the Huang-He civilization. Their vast floodplains
supported agriculture, and their large channels allowed commerce to flourish.
Today, billions of people are still dependent on water channels for food, water,
transportation, and recreational and religious activities.

WATER AS A RESOURCE
WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND
CONSERVATION
The ever-increasing pressure in water resources calls for an effective water resources
management It involves planning, developing, distributing, and managing the optimum use of
water resources. Successful management requires accurate knowledge of the available
resources and demands, and mechanisms necessary to translate policies into actions

Current technological advances make the wastewater reusable after extensive treatment to
remove biodegradable materials, nutrients, and pathogens. Nonpotable water can be used for
irrigation, in industry, to maintain stream flow, and to replenish aquifers. In the Middle East,
countries in coastal areas also practice desalination. Desalination involves the reduction of the
mineral content by taking salt out of seawater and brackish water to produce freshwater.