Water is the basic element of nature and it is the main source of life in our

beloved earth
Water is found almost everywhere on Earth, from high in the atmosphere
(as water vapor) to low in the atmosphere (precipitation, droplets in clouds)
to mountain snowcaps and glaciers (solid) to running liquid water on the
land, ocean, and underground.
It covers 70% of the Earth's surface but actually it represents 0.05 percent
of Earth's total mass. The total volume of water present in the earth is near
about 1.386 billion cubic kilometers (about 333 million cubic miles). Out of
this volume 97.5 % is salt water and 2.5% is fresh water. Only 0.03 percent
of fresh water is present as a liquid form in the earth.
As what was Leonardo di Vinci said, water is the driving force of all nature.
It provides life, eases out heat, drains harmful substances and mediates
many day-to-day work.

Now goes to the main topic of the discussion, The water Cycle..
The water cycle is also called the hydrological cycle and or hydro logic
cycle.
Now what are the driving forces of Water cycle?
First we have Sunlight causes evaporation and propels oceanic and
atmospheric circulation, which transports water around the globe. Then
gravity, it causes precipitation to fall from clouds and water to flow
downward on the land through watersheds. Energy from the sun and the
force of gravity drive the continual cycling of water among these reservoirs.
So we know that water cycle is a continuous process, and that includes
Steps with few processes.
These:

We have here first the at starts of the water cycle: where in waters rises up
to the atmosphere.
Evaporation, a process where water at the surface turns into water vapour.
Taking a look closer, the water from water bodies like the oceans, the seas,
the lakes, and the river bodies, absorbs the heat energy from the Sun and
turns into vapors. Through the evaporation water moves from the
hydrosphere to the atmosphere as the water evaporates.
We also have here, Transpiration, which is a subset of the evaporation
process. It is evaporation of liquid water from plants and trees into the
atmosphere. Nearly all (99%) of all water that enters the roots transpires
into the atmosphere.
Sublimation, another way for the water to turn into water vapor. It is the
process where ice and snow (a solid) changes into water vapor (a gas)
without moving through the liquid phase.

So after water vapors formed in the atmosphere at the high altitudes. We

will have Condensation which is the process where water vapor (a gas)
changes into water droplets (a liquid). This is when we begin to see clouds.
- What happens here is that the water vapor changes into very tiny particles
of ice water droplets because the temperature at high altitudes is low, these
particles come close together and form clouds and fog in the sky. Hence, in
this process, changes the state of water from gas to liquid occurs, because
the water droplets combine to make bigger droplets.

Now we will have Transportation, the movement of solid, liquid and

gaseous water through the atmosphere. Note that without this movement,
the water evaporated over the ocean would not precipitate over land.
Then goes Precipitation Process. It is water that falls to the earth. Most
precipitation falls as rain but includes snow, sleet, drizzle, and hail. On
average, about 39 inches (980 mm) of rain, snow and sleet fall each year
around the world.
What happened here was that when the air cannot hold any more as the
cloud’s droplets join together and get too big to overcome gravity, the water
precipitates at this high altitudes, these water droplets will fall down as rain.
The temperature here is low and hence the droplets lose their heat energy.
Note if the temperature is very low, below zero degrees, the water droplets
fall as snow. Water also precipices in the form of drizzle sleet and hail
hence the water enters lithosphere.

Another way of water falling down from atmosphere to lithosphere is the

Deposition. It Is the reverse of sublimation, where in Water vapor (a gas)
changes into ice (a solid) without going through the liquid phase. This is
most often seen on clear, cold nights when frost forms on the ground

Then comes the situation of the water being on the earth lithosphere.
First we have here the Surface flow or runoff: Runoff is the river, lake,
and stream transport of water to the oceans.
The water pours down in whatever form, leads to runoff. When water runs
over the ground it displaces the topsoil with it and moves. When the snow
melts into water it also leads to runoff, the minerals along with the stream.
This runoff combines to form channels and then rivers and ends up into
lakes, seas and oceans. Thus, here the water enters hydrosphere.

We also have here Infiltration where in – it is the movement of water into

the ground from the surface. Simply this occurs when water seeps into the
land surface. Here, The water fills pockets of air in the soil and rock. Water
infiltrates because of the force of gravity. When the water reaches
an impermeable layer, it creates an aquifer.
That goes to Percolation which Is movement of water past the soil going
deep into the groundwater.
Ground water flow - Is the flow of water underground in aquifers. The water
may return to the surface in springs or eventually seep into the oceans.

Plant Uptake - is water taken from the groundwater flow and soil moisture.
Only 1% of water the plant draws up is used by the plant. The remaining
99% is passed back into the atmosphere.

Other waters in ground water flows downward under the layers of the soil
and then goes back to hydrosphere to oceans, etc and then the cycle starts
and again and again and continuous to so on.