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The word oxygen in the literature typically refers to molecular oxygen (O 2) since it is the common product or reactant of many biogeochemical redox reactions within the cycle. [37] Processes within the oxygen cycle are considered to be biological or geological and are evaluated as either a source (O 2 production) or sink (O 2 consumption). [36 ...
Ice freezing or melting (Sea ice freezing or melting, ice shelf melting, iceberg melting) Groundwater discharge whereby the 1., 3. and 5. are all inputs, adding freshwater to the ocean, while 2. is an output, i.e. a negative freshwater flux and 4. can be either a freshwater loss (freezing) or gain (melting).
Runoff is the flow of water across the earth, and is a major component in the hydrological cycle. Runoff that flows over land before reaching a watercourse is referred to as surface runoff or overland flow. Once in a watercourse, runoff is referred to as streamflow, channel runoff, or river runoff. Urban runoff is surface runoff created by ...
This includes both surface runoff and channel runoff. As it flows, the water may seep into the ground, evaporate into the air, become stored in lakes or reservoirs, or be extracted for agricultural or other human uses. Subsurface flow: The flow of water underground, in the vadose zone and aquifers. Subsurface water may return to the surface (e ...
Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the combined processes which move water from the Earth's surface (open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation) into the atmosphere. [ 2 ] : 2908 It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies , and water bodies) and transpiration (evaporation that occurs ...
Those currents comprise half of the global thermohaline circulation that includes the flow of major ocean currents, the other half being the Southern Ocean overturning circulation. [2] The AMOC is composed of a northward flow of warm, more saline water in the Atlantic's upper layers and a southward, return flow of cold, salty, deep water.
Surface runoff (also known as overland flow or terrestrial runoff) is the unconfined flow of water over the ground surface, in contrast to channel runoff (or stream flow). It occurs when excess rainwater , stormwater , meltwater , or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil .
The runoff from the land flows into streams and rivers and discharges into the ocean, which completes the global cycle. [5] The water cycle is a key part of Earth's energy cycle through the evaporative cooling at the surface which provides latent heat to the atmosphere, as atmospheric systems play a primary role in moving heat upward. [5]