Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
The hydrosphere (Water cycle: process of exchange between surface water,…
The hydrosphere
Water cycle: process of exchange between surface water, groundwater and the atmosphere
- Precipitation: The water goes to the surface through rain or snow and hail.
- Transpiration: Plants lose water by evaporation (caused by the heat of the Sun)
- Condensation: The water vapour of the transpiration, turns into clouds
- Evaporation: The surface water evaporates.
- Surface Runoff: The liquid water that returns to the surface, goes through the earth and forms rivers, which return their water to the oceans and the seas
- Infiltration: The water that falls to the surface penetrates the in the earth and becomes underground runoff.
Properties of water
-
Universal solvent: Is essential to living things because body needs to do some process occurs in substances dissolved in water.
-
Density variation: The density of the water decreases below 4 ºC, so the ice floats in the water. Thanks to this there can't be frozen water in the depths, so living things can survive in them.
Importance of water
To living things:
- Water is in their blood.
- Water can be used for their nutrition, interaction or reproduction.
- Water regulates their body temperature
To human health:
- Adult humans should drink a lot of water a day.
- The water must be potable.
- 63% of our body is composed of water
To the climate:
- Water has a limit heat capacity, so the areas closest to the sea have softer temperatures than the interior.
- Ocean currents help to transport heat between regions and regulate the temperature of the planet.
To the landscape: Water is the most important external agent that modifies the earth's surface. For example:
- Glaciers and rivers form valleys
Water has three states
Liquid state: Most liquid water is seawater. A small percentage is from inland water. Liquid water is between 0 ºC and 100 ºC. Liquid water can be separated depending on the salt level
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Water pollution
Biological pollution: water contains bacteria, or other parasites.
Chemical pollution: water contains traces of chemical substances, such as heavy metals or pesticides.
Physical pollution: water contains floating particles,is radioactive or it has been heated.
Human water use can be:
Consumptive (water is taken from source and is not returned, or it is altered considerably).
-
Water taken from natural sources can have contaminants so we do a process:
- Collection: when we take the water.
- Purification: we remove the contaminants