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Within the Earth's atmosphere and surface, the liquid phase is the most common and is the form that is generally denoted by the word "water". The solid phase of water is known as ice and commonly takes the structure of hard, amalgamated crystals, such as ice cubes, or loosely accumulated granular crystals, like snow.
Stratification in water is the formation in a body of water of relatively distinct and stable layers by density. It occurs in all water bodies where there is stable density variation with depth. Stratification is a barrier to the vertical mixing of water, which affects the exchange of heat, carbon, oxygen and nutrients. [1]
Water vapor thus has a scale height a fraction of that of the bulk atmosphere, [21] [22] [23] as the water condenses and exits, primarily in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere. [24] Carbon dioxide ( CO 2 ) and methane , being well-mixed in the atmosphere, tend to rise above water vapour.
Lake stratification, the formation of water layers based on temperature, with mixing in the spring and fall in seasonal climates. Atmospheric instability; Atmospheric stratification, the dividing of the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere into stably-stratified layers; Atmospheric circulation, caused by the unstable stratification of the ...
Generally, layers are based on water density: heavier, and hence denser, water is below the lighter water, representing a stable stratification. For example, the pycnocline is the layer in the ocean where the change in density is largest compared to that of other layers in the ocean.
Water cycle. The water cycle (known scientifically as the hydrologic cycle) is the continuous exchange of water within the hydrosphere, between the atmosphere, soil water, surface water, groundwater, and plants. Water moves perpetually through each of these regions in the water cycle consisting of the following transfer processes:
The underlying cause of the intensifying water cycle is the increased amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which lead to a warmer atmosphere through the greenhouse effect. [24] Fundamental laws of physics explain how the saturation vapor pressure in the atmosphere increases by 7% when temperature rises by 1 °C. [ 25 ]
A thermocline (also known as the thermal layer or the metalimnion in lakes) is a distinct layer based on temperature within a large body of fluid (e.g. water, as in an ocean or lake; or air, e.g. an atmosphere) with a high gradient of distinct temperature differences associated with depth.