what is hydrological cycle?
within the drainage basin, there is a hydrological cycle with hydrological processes
The hydrological cycle is the endless circulation of water from the ocean into the atmosphere through evaporation, back to the land in the form of rain again into the ocean in the form of surface run off
in other words the hydrological cycle describes the circulation of water from hydrosphere (ocean), atmosphere and lithosphere (land) in a great series of continuous interchange of both geographical position and physical state
every day about 1400000 million metre cubic of water are evaporated from the earth surfaces.
1050000 million metre cubic of water reprecipitate into the ocean and 350000 millions metre cubic of water reprecipitate on lands surfaces eventually flow back into the oceans
such water movement is driven by solar energy (the heat derived by the earth from the sun) because this energy is necessary to bring about important changes in the physical state and geographical position of the enormous amount of water in the cycle
water exist in three states; solid (ice), liquid (rain) and gas (water vapour).
the water is ever moving through a series of processes called the water cycle
generally speaking, the water cycle describes the movement and storage of water among the four main sectors of the earth system
- the atmosphere
- the biosphere
- the lithosphere
- the hydrosphere
the water cycle itself is a closed system, because no material is lost