From the clouds to the depths of the earth: Understand the water cycle on planet Earth

Every child, teenager, teenager or adult has faced a situation at some point in their life. with the term “water cycle”. You may even have built your own terrarium and created a mini ecosystem with its own functional “hydrological recycling” system. But do you remember exactly how it works?

Almost all of the water on our planet contributes to the maintenance of this system, but an aquifer reservoir in the most hidden depths of the Earth’s crust may escape this process. Remember the water cycle, the factors that can change this phenomenon and some curiosities and learn a little more about them.

Where does water come from?

When we talk about this phenomenon, it is not uncommon to think that only superficial reservoirs such as rivers, dams, lakes and forests participate in the cycle. However, everything containing water has the capacity to contribute to the continuity of this process..

The largest aquifer reserves on our planet are in the oceans, with an equivalent of 1.3 billion cubic kilometers. But other reserves, such as glaciers and groundwater, are also required.

Regarding groundwater, it is known that the most superficial aquifers at depths of up to 2 km play a more active role in maintaining the cycle, since their contact with the surface is facilitated through cracks, porous and crystalline rocks and even human exploitation. .

But, There are also salt water reserves at depths of more than 10 km.. It is still not known precisely how these reservoirs contribute to the hydrological cycle due to their chemical properties and access difficulties.

But besides these mega reservoirs, every living thing on the planet contributes to this vital phenomenon with a drop of water.

remembering the water cycle

To recall, the water cycle is a “hydrological recycling” phenomenon in which liquid water goes through a process of evaporation, forming clouds where the water can exist in condensed form (ice), and when it reaches the limit, it precipitates back to the surface. ground.

Although it seems like a simple process The hydrological cycle requires a lot of energy from the system and “ideal” conditions for it to occur satisfactorily.. The primary heat source for all this water to evaporate is the Sun, so the exposure time of these aquifer sources is what contributes to the maintenance of the system.

However, very extreme climates tend to suffer in this process. In very cold places, the evaporation process occurs more slowly because the Sun must provide enough energy to heat that volume of water.

At the other extreme, in very dry regions such as deserts, the cycle is accelerated by water scarcity in order for changes to occur satisfactorily, with little rain and at well-defined times. In desert cases, most of the water comes from underground reservoirs..

On the other hand, places with physical barriers and high humidity, such as slopes and mountainous regions, may be affected by excessive rainfall.

Is it always the same rain?

The rain that occurred last week did not come from the water you used in your laundry a month ago. Remember when I said it wasn’t that simple? All of the evaporated water is taken into the atmosphere and most of this vapor is kept in the form of clouds.

We know that the Earth rotates and that this rotation produces winds due to the Coriolis effect. The “wind” responsible for rain is generally referred to as the Trade Winds; these are hot and humid and are caused by temperature differences between the tropics and the poles.

This movement drags atmospheric moisture along the paths Contributes to the formation of rain clouds from low pressure areas armed with moisture collected in the oceans. This movement even has a very characteristic name like Flying Rivers, or even Rivers of Air.

So today’s rain may come from ocean waters, perhaps from another continent, thanks to the water cycle and the movement of atmospheric winds.

Just to relax

Have you ever wondered how water knows to fall “fresh” into rivers and “salt” into oceans? The answer is actually quite simple. Water molecules at sea level and in their pure state will always evaporate at 100 °C.

This makes the process much easier for fresh water. However, even if evaporation is a few degrees higher in salt water, only the water molecule will evaporate..

As the “clean” water molecule evaporates, other components crystallize. Thus, all of the evaporated water will be fresh, and when it falls into the oceans, it will mix with the salts dissolved in the sea and even contribute to controlling the salinity of the seas.

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