The Water Cycle

What is the most abundant substance in living things?

water

Water is the most what?

abundant substance in living things

The human body is composed of how much water?

70 percent

What is composed of 70 percent water

the human body

What are 95 percent water?

jellyfish

Jellyfish contain how much water?

95 percent

Water participates in what important biochemical mechanisms?

photosynthesis, digestion and cellular respiration

What participates in important biochemical mechanisms such as photosynthesis, digestion, and cellular respiration?

water

What are other uses of water?

it is the habitat for many species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, and it participates in the cycling of all of the materials used by living things

What is the habitat for many species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, and participates in the cycling of all of the materials used by living things?

water

What is it called when water vapor cools, it condenses and thanks to gravity it falls to Earth in the form of rain, snow or sleet?

precipitation over land or oceans

Describe precipitation over land or oceans:

When water vapor cools, it condenses and thanks to gravity it falls to the Earth

What happens through the process of transpiration?

water is absorbed by their roots and used in photosynthesis, but it is also lost from their leaves

Water is absorbed by their roots and used in photosynthesis, but it is also lost from their leaves in what process?

transpiration

What is condensation?

conversion of gaseous water vapor into liquid water

What is the conversion of gaseous water vapor into liquid water called?

condensation

What is infiltration?

movement of water into soil

What is the movement of water into soil?

infiltration

What is percolation?

the downward flow of water

What is the downward flow of water?

percolation

What is an aquifer?

a groundwater storage area

What is a groundwater storage area?

an aquifer

What are the major reservoirs of water on Earth?

oceans, it covers about three quarters of the Earth's surface and contain 97 percent of its water

The oceans are the major _.

resevoirs of water on earth

What does solar radiation cause?

evaporation from the ocean

What causes evaporation from the ocean?

solar radiation

80 percent of the evaporated water in the hydrologic cycle enters the atmosphere in what way?

evaporation from the ocean

What percent of the evaporated water in the hydrologic cycle enters the atmosphere by evaporation from the ocean?

80 percent

52 percent of water falls back into the oceans in what form?

rain

What percent of water falls back into the oceans in the form of rain?

52 percent

52 percent of water falls back into the oceans in the form of rain. Where does the remainder remain?

in the atmosphere as clouds, ice crystals and water vapor and then precipitated over land

What are the two ways in which water returns to the oceans from the land?

groundwater flow and runoff to the ocean

Describe disruptive human activity to the water cycle:

deforestion disrupts transpiration, urbanization and dams restricts runoff and infiltration, global warming changes precipitation patterns

What are the main reservoirs for fresh water?

glaciers, ice caps, aquifers, surface water

What is the role of plants in the cycling of water through ecosystems?

regulates water flow, prevents excessive runoff, undergoes transpiration

What processes in the water cycle are involved in the movement of phosphorous and nitrogen contaminants into lakes and oceans?

infiltration, groundwater flow, and surface runofff

What important cellular process producers water molecules as it breaks down glucose in the presence of oxygen?

aerobic cellular respiration

What is the biome/ecosystem that describes the area where fresh water streams meet the ocean, where fresh and salt water mix?

an estuary

What is transport overland?

the net movement of water vapor by wind

What is net movement of water vapor by wind called?

transport overland