Lecture 8: Hydrosphere

1 Hydrosphere
 A hydrosphere is the total amount of water on a planet. The hydrosphere
includes water that is on the surface of the planet, underground, and in the air.
A planet's hydrosphere can be liquid, vapor, or ice.

 On Earth,
• liquid water exists on the surface in the form of oceans, lakes, and rivers.
• It also exists below ground—as groundwater, in wells and aquifers.
• Water vapor is most visible as clouds and fog.

 The major part of the earth water concentrates in seas and oceans, the
second in volume is ground water, the third is ice and snow of Artic and
Antarctic, atmospheric and bio-related water amounts some percentage of the
whole volume of the hydrosphere water.
2 Hydrosphere
 The frozen part of Earth's hydrosphere is made of ice: glaciers, ice
caps and icebergs. The frozen part of the hydrosphere has its own name,
the cryosphere.
 3 Three States of Water

 Pure water is tasteless, odorless, and colorless.

 Water can occur in three states: solid (ice), liquid, or gas (vapor)

Solid: having definite shape and volume

Liquid: no independent shape but has a definite volume
Gas: neither independent shape nor volume but tends to expand indefinitely
 4 Three States of Water

Latent Heat: energy absorbed or released by a substance during a change in its

physical state (phase).
5 Three States of Water
Evaporation: The process by which water (a compound) transitions from its
liquid state to its gaseous state below its boiling temperature.

Sublimation: Conversion of a substance from the solid to the gaseous state

without its becoming liquid

Condensation: Condensation is the change of the state of matter from the gas
phase into the liquid or solid(ice) phase.
6 Three States of Water
Solid water: ice is frozen water. When water freezes, its molecules move farther
apart, making ice less dense than water. This means that ice will be lighter than
the same volume of water, and so ice will float in water. Water freezes at 0°
Celsius, 32° Fahrenheit.

Liquid water: is wet and fluid. This is the form of water with which we are most
familiar. We use liquid water in many ways, including washing and drinking.

Water as a gas: vapor is always present in the air around us. You cannot see it.
When you boil water, the water changes from a liquid to a gas or water vapor. As
some of the water vapor cools, we see it as a small cloud called steam. This
cloud of steam is a miniversion of the clouds we see in the sky. At sea level,
steam is formed at 100° Celsius, 212° Fahrenheit.

The water vapor attaches to small bits of dust in the air. It forms raindrops in
warm temperatures. In cold temperatures, it freezes and forms snow or hail.
7 Water Cycle
 Water moves through the hydrosphere in a cycle called water cycle or
hydrologic cycle
The water evaporates, travels
into the air and becomes part of
a cloud, falls down to earth as
precipitation, and then
evaporates again. This repeats
again and again in a never-
ending cycle. Water keeps
moving and changing from a
solid to a liquid to a gas, over
and over again. This process is
called water cycle
8 Water Cycle
 Water cycle is a fundamental process of nature that ensures that water keeps
on moving and circulating within the Earth’s environment. Helps sustain life
on earth

 The total water of the world remains constant because the water travels
through a cycle and the net amount never changes.

Would you believe that a dinosaur could have once used your last drink of
water?
Water on earth today has been here for millions of years. Because of the water
cycle, water moves from the earth to the air to the earth again. We use it, over
and over again.
9 Water Cycle
Stages of Water Cycle
The process of the water cycle includes the four main stages, which are; evaporation,
condensation, precipitation, runoff, and infiltration.

Evaporation
• Evaporation marks the beginning of the
water cycle, converting liquid water into
water vapor due to heat.
• The sun provides the primary heat energy,
warming water bodies like oceans, rivers,
and lakes.
• This warmth causes liquid water to
transition into a gaseous state (vapor) and
ascend into the atmosphere.
10 Water Cycle
Transpiration

• Transpiration is the process when water

evaporates from plants.

• Plants loose water through their stems,

leaves and roots.

• A fully grown tree may loose several

hundred gallons of water through its
leaves on a hot dry day
11 Water Cycle
Condensation

• After the water evaporates it undergoes

condensation.

• When the moist air carrying water rises

higher into the atmosphere, it cools due
to the 0℃ temperature in that condition.

• This cooling leads to the formation of

tiny water droplets that combine to form
clouds
12 Water Cycle
Precipitation

• Precipitation is the process of the

release of water from clouds back to the
Earth’s surface.

• The water droplets in clouds become

heavy to fall under the influence of
gravity in various forms like rain, snow,
hail etc. depending on the atmospheric
conditions and temperature.

• It is a primary way water is delivered

from atmosphere to the earth
13 Water Cycle
Runoff

• After precipitation falls, the water moves

across the surface of Earth which is
called runoff.
• As it flows the water may seep into the
ground(infiltration), evaporate into the
air, become stored in lakes or reservoirs,
or be extracted for agriculture or other
human uses.
• This flow of water follows the natural
geography of the land, forming streams
Infiltration is the process in which surface water
and rivers that eventually flow into lakes percolates into the ground
and oceans.
14 Water Cycle
Accumulation

• The process in which water collects in large bodies (like ocean, seas and lakes).
Most of the water on earth is in the ocean.
15 Water Cycle
• Earth’s water is always in movement
on, above or below the surface of
earth.

• Since the water cycle is truly a cycle,

there is no beginning or end.

• Water can change states among

liquid, vapor and ice at various stages
in the water cycle, with these
processes happening in the blink of an
eye and over millions of years
 16 Water Cycle
Importance of Water Cycle

The importance of the water cycle can be understood through its crucial role in
sustaining life and environment. Some of the points are:

• It ensures a continuous supply of freshwater.

• The water cycle provides water for plants and animals, thus supporting the ecosystem.

• The movement of water through the different phases of the water cycle influences the
weather pattern.

• It constantly redistributes water throughout nature.

• It ensures water is available for agriculture and for hydroelectric power generation.
 17 Distribution of Earth’s Water

• Water is the most abundant substance at the surface of Earth. About 1.4 billion cubic
km (326 million cubic miles) of water in liquid and frozen form make up the oceans,
lakes, streams, glaciers, and groundwaters found there.
• Comprises ¾ of the earth surface
• The total mass of water in the oceans equals about 50 percent of the mass of
sedimentary rocks now in existence and about 5 percent of the mass of Earth’s crust
as a whole.
• Deep and shallow groundwaters constitute a small percentage of the total water
locked in the pores of sedimentary rocks—on the order of 3 to 15 percent.
• The amount of water in the atmosphere at any one time is, equivalent to roughly
13,000 cubic km (about 3,100 cubic miles) of liquid water, or about 0.001 percent of
the total at Earth’s surface. This water, however, plays an important role in the water
cycle.
18 Distribution of Earth’s Water