<p><img alt="" src="https://data.ulearngo.com/assets/0963ecc2-f5bf-4d9a-a4a7-a49833906a98" width="300"/></p>
<h3><strong>Where does the water come from that is needed by your cells?</strong></h3>
<p>Unlike energy, matter is not lost as it passes through an ecosystem. Instead, matter, including water, is recycled. This recycling involves specific interactions between the biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem. Chances are, the water you drank this morning has been around for millions of years, or more.</p>
<h2>The Water Cycle</h2>
<p>The chemical <a data-lesson="the-building-blocks-of-life" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="chemical-foundation-of-life" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/chemical-foundation-of-life/the-building-blocks-of-life">elements</a> and water that are needed by organisms continuously recycle in ecosystems. They pass through biotic and abiotic components of the biosphere. That’s why their cycles are called <strong>biogeochemical cycles</strong>. For example, a chemical might move from organisms (<em>bio</em>) to the atmosphere or ocean (<em>geo</em>) and back to organisms again. Elements or water may be held for various periods of time in different parts of a cycle.</p>
<ul>
<li>Part of a cycle that holds an element or water for a short <a data-lesson="summarizing-the-evolutionary-history-of-the-animal-kingdom" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="introducing-animal-diversity" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/introducing-animal-diversity/summarizing-the-evolutionary-history-of-the-animal-kingdom">period</a> of time is called an <strong>exchange pool</strong>. For example, the atmosphere is an exchange pool for water. It usually holds water (in the form of water vapor) for just a few days.</li>
<li>Part of a cycle that holds an element or water for a long period of time is called a <strong>reservoir</strong>. The ocean is a reservoir for water. The deep ocean may hold water for thousands of years.</li>
</ul>
<p>Water on Earth is billions of years old. However, individual water <a data-lesson="first-organic-molecules" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="evolution-overview" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/evolution-overview/first-organic-molecules">molecules</a> keep moving through the water cycle. The <strong>water cycle</strong> is a global cycle. It takes place on, above, and below Earth’s surface, as shown in the figure below.</p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 500px"><img alt="The water cycle takes place on, above, and below Earth's surface" height="395" src="https://data.ulearngo.com/assets/d12454bc-82bf-4acb-8c3f-c3bfcdc791e4" title="The water cycle takes place on, above, and below Earth's surface" width="500"/><p class="wp-caption-text">Like other biogeochemical cycles, there is no beginning or end to the water cycle. It just keeps repeating.</p></div>
<p>During the water cycle, water occurs in three different states: <a data-lesson="basic-principles-of-gas-exchange" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="respiratory-system" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/respiratory-system/basic-principles-of-gas-exchange">gas</a> (water vapor), liquid (water), and solid (ice). Many processes are involved as water changes state in the water cycle.</p>
<h3>Evaporation, Sublimation, and Transpiration</h3>
<p>Water changes to a gas by three different processes:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Evaporation</strong> occurs when water on the surface changes to water vapor. The sun heats the water and gives <a data-lesson="water-and-life-2" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="biology-foundations" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/biology-foundations/water-and-life-2">water molecules</a> enough <a data-lesson="biology-203-glossary-9" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="cell-metabolism" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/cell-metabolism/biology-203-glossary-9">energy</a> to escape into the atmosphere.</li>
<li><strong>Sublimation</strong> occurs when ice and snow change directly to water vapor. This also happens because of <a data-lesson="heat-conservation-and-dissipation" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="animal-body-form-function" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/animal-body-form-function/heat-conservation-and-dissipation">heat</a> from the sun.</li>
<li><strong>Transpiration</strong> occurs when <a data-lesson="nutritional-adaptations-of-plants" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="soil-plant-nutrition" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/soil-plant-nutrition/nutritional-adaptations-of-plants">plants</a> release water vapor through leaf pores called stomata (see the figure below).</li>
</ol>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 395px"><img alt="Tiny stomata are found on a plant leaf" height="500" src="https://data.ulearngo.com/assets/30d6447e-9106-471c-a287-30326372fe86" title="Tiny stomata are found on a plant leaf" width="395"/><p class="wp-caption-text">Plant leaves have many tiny stomata. They release water vapor into the air.</p></div>
<h3>Condensation and Precipitation</h3>
<p>Rising air currents carry water vapor into the atmosphere. As the water vapor rises in the atmosphere, it cools and condenses. <strong>Condensation</strong> is the process in which water vapor changes to tiny droplets of liquid water. The water droplets may form clouds. If the droplets get big enough, they fall as <strong>precipitation</strong>—rain, snow, sleet, hail, or freezing rain. Most precipitation falls into the ocean. Eventually, this water evaporates again and repeats the water cycle. Some frozen precipitation becomes part of ice caps and glaciers. These masses of ice can store frozen water for hundreds of years or longer.</p>
<h3>Groundwater and Runoff</h3>
<p>Precipitation that falls on land may flow over the surface of the ground. This water is called <strong>runoff</strong>. It may eventually flow into a body of water. Some precipitation that falls on land may soak into the ground, becoming <strong>groundwater</strong>. Groundwater may seep out of the ground at a spring or into a body of water such as the ocean. Some groundwater may be taken up by plant roots. Some may flow deeper underground to an <strong>aquifer</strong>. This is an underground layer of rock that stores water, sometimes for thousands of years.</p>
<p><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="318" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iohKd5FWZOE?rel=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;cc_lang_pref=en&amp;cc_load_policy=1" width="551"><span class="mce_SELRES_start" data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;">﻿</span></iframe></p>
<h3>Science Friday: Forecasting the Meltdown: The Aerial Snow Observatory</h3>
<p>75% of Southern California's water supply comes from the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. This video by Science Fridayexplains how NASA uses the Airborne Snow Observatory that uses specialized instrumentation to carefully measure the water content.</p>
<p><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="318" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0pcWA5w3Q3c?rel=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;cc_lang_pref=en&amp;cc_load_policy=1" width="551"><span class="mce_SELRES_start" data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;">﻿</span></iframe></p>
<h2>Summary</h2>
<ul>
<li>Chemical elements and water are recycled through biogeochemical cycles. The cycles include both biotic and abiotic parts of ecosystems.</li>
<li>The water cycle takes place on, above, and below Earth’s surface. In the cycle, water occurs as water vapor, liquid water, and ice. Many processes are involved as water changes state in the cycle.</li>
<li>The atmosphere is an exchange pool for water. Ice masses, aquifers, and the deep ocean are water reservoirs.</li>
</ul>

ad260561-7f24-4cf8-a3f2-b129f5e47c91

Water Cycle

Biology studies life and living organisms. Biology can be divided into different sections that cover the morphology, physiology, anatomy, behavior, and so on of living organisms.

Biology

Discover the intricacies of ecosystems, energy flow, food chains, trophic levels, biomes and climate, vegetation zones in Nigeria, population growth patterns, biodiversity, and environmental issues such as air pollution and global warming.


Water Cycle

Lesson video

Lesson video

Track Your Learning Progress

Earlier discussion