The Hydrologic Cycle
The Hydrologic Cycle (also called the Water Cycle) is the process that moves water around the earth. The Water Cycle can change the form of water from liquid to water vapor to ice, and even clean it along the way, but it can't make more water. The water you drink today may have been lapped up by dinosaurs millions of years ago!
The Water Cycle is powered by the sun which evaporates water from oceans, rivers, lakes, and even from trees. As the water vapor rises, it cools, condensing into clouds. Winds blow some of the clouds over land. The water falls to earth as precipitation. Runoff flows on the earth's surface into streams, rivers, or ponds. Water that sinks into the soil flows through underground reservoirs, or aquifers, as groundwater. Water passes through many different aquatic habitats before gravity pulls it to earth's lowest point, the ocean.
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