Year of Science - June
Posted by maggie.surface on June 1st, 2009
Source: EarthGauge©
- Celebrate Oceans and Water - with the Year of Science 2009
- United Nations Environment Programme - Freshwater
- Alliance for Water Efficiency
- BBC Oceans - Exploring the secrets of our underwater world
- Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands
- Water Efficiency - The Journal for Water Conservation Professionals
Environmental professionals and EoE Contributors: Celebrate Year of Science 2009 with the Encyclopedia of Earth by authoring an article under this month’s theme: Oceans and Water. Email Maggie Surface to contribute to the Encyclopedia of Earth.
Hydrologic cycle
The hydrologic cycle is a conceptual model that describes the storage and movement of water between the biosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere, and the hydrosphere (see Figure 1). Water on our planet can be stored in any one of the following major reservoirs: atmosphere, oceans, lakes, rivers, soils, glaciers, snowfields, and groundwater. Water moves from one reservoir to another by way of processes like evaporation, condensation, precipitation, deposition, runoff, infiltration, sublimation, transpiration, melting, and groundwater flow.
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River
Rivers are of immense importance geologically, biologically, historically and culturally. Although they contain only about 0.0001% of the total amount of water in the world at any given time, rivers are vital carriers of water and nutrients to areas all around the earth. They are critical components of the hydrological cycle, acting as drainage channels for surface water – the world’s rivers drain nearly 75% of the earth’s land surface.
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Ocean circulation
An ocean current can be defined as a horizontal movement of seawater in the ocean. Ocean currents are driven by the circulation of wind above surface waters, interacting with evaporation, sinking of water at high latitudes, and the Coriolis force generated by the earth’s rotation. Frictional stress at the interface between the ocean and the wind causes the water to move in the direction of the wind.
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Marty Matlock
Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department
University of Arkansas
United States
Encyclopedia of Earth Topic Editor
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
United States
Encyclopedia of Earth Content Source
Jean-Pierre Gattuso
National Center for Scientific Research
France
Encyclopedia of Earth Author and Topic Editor
Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations
Encyclopedia of Earth Content Source
Visit the Year of Science homepage for more individuals, organizations and resources related to this month’s theme, oceans and water.
Main image credits Michaël Catanzariti and Kris Miller
