More About The Water Cycle

In term 2 week four, Miss J explained a bit more about the Hydrologic cycle. Before that, I will point out the processes that get involved in the Hydrologic cycle. First, Evaporation, Transpiration, Condensation, Precipitation, Interception, Infiltration, Surface Run Off and then Ground Water Flow. Interception, Infiltration, Surface Run Off and Ground Water Flow are new terms to us. Moreover, we will explain more about them. For Interception, it is the flow of water down the leaves, trees, branches, trunks or even houses and it is actually the process in which an obstacle prevents the water to flow directly down to Earth. For Infiltration, it is the process in which water permeates through the ground. This also has a link to the next term we have been introduced to, Surface Run Off. Surface Run Off is where the water flow on the surface of the ground. The speed of the flow can be determined by the steepness of the slope. If the slope is steep, the Surface Run Off will be faster, therefore leaving lesser time for the water to infiltrate into the ground, hence, the plants are unable to absorb much water. If the slope is quite gentle, the result will be vice versa. However, the rate of the infiltration is also affected by the permeability of the soil. How about Ground Water Flow then? It is the process where water flows under ground. The MAIN thing that keeps a river flowing will be ENERGY. As long as the river has energy, it will still continue to flow. One main misconception that Miss J had told us about will be that students always think that rivers MUST AND ONLY flow from highland when a river can also flow from lowland as it has energy. The speed of liquid is called vilocity. To compare a relationship, we must have at least two variables. To have a direct relationship, if the volume of the river increases, the energy will also increase. However, if the volume of the river increases but the energy decreases it is called an inverse relationship. All rivers try to achieve a process called EQUILIBRIUM. It is a process in which a river tries to have just enough energy to flow. If it has too much energy, it will find ways to get rid of it. If it has a weak flow, it will try to deposit the sediments it contains so that it has more energy to flow. Three main factors that affect the river's amount of energy will be firstly, the gradient of the slope, obstacles, (e.g. trees, rocks) or the amount and size of sediments. The amount of river energy allows it to cause EROSION, TRANSPORTATION AND DEPOSITION. Moreover, water shape landforms as well, which links back to our previous topic, Landforms. Did you know? Waterfalls are also part of the river system. In fact, it is quite big. Some examples will be the Victoria falls, Nigera falls. The path the river flows through is called the river channel. There are parts to a river system. There is the beginning, where it is known as the upper course, then there will be the middle course, lastly there will be the end, which is also known as the lower course. Other parts to the river system will be the tributaries, confluence and the river mouth. They are also new terms introduced to us. The tributaries are lakes or rapids. They all meet up at the confluence, the point where they meet. Then, they will all flow through the main river channel. After the lower course, the channel will end at the river mouth, where the river opens into the ocean. To sum it up, the river system is a body of water. Next, we learnt about the drainage basin, it is the land area that the river system lies in. And the watershed is an imaginary boundary that separates one drainage basin from the other. Did you know? River can flow from lowland to uphill as well. However, we still cannot find which river is it that has this amazing feature. Can anyone tell us?