A Level Geography - The Water Cycle

The process by which water vapour changes to liquid water

All the water that enters a river channel and eventually flows out of the drainage basin

A part of the system where energy/mass is stored or transformed

The downward movement of water within the rock under the soil surface

This applies to any water store that has reached its maximum capacity

This is an area of land drained by a river and its tributaries

The slow movement of water through underlying rocks

The water contained in the Earth's oceans and seas but not including inland seas

A form of linkage between one store/component and another that involves movement of energy or mass

The precipitation that falls on the vegetation surfaces or human-made cover and is temporarily stored on these surfaces

The total output of water from the drainage basin directly back into the atmosphere

This consists of groundwater, soil moisture, lakes, wetlands and rivers

A discontinuous layer of water at or near the Earth's surface

The portion of precipitation intercepted by the canopy that reaches the ground by flowing down stems, stalks or tree bole

The process by which liquid water changes to a gas

Those processes that affect the total mass of ice at any scale

A set of interrelated components working together towards some kind of process

The loss of water from vegetation through pores on their surface

The addition of matter and/or energy into a system

The water locked up on the Earth's surface as ice

Water found in the atmosphere

The downward movement of water from the surface into soil

The tendency of water to flow horizontally across land surfaces when rainfall has exceeded the infiltration capacity of the soil and all surfce stores are full to overflowing

The balance between inputs and outputs in a drainage basin

The portion of the precipitation that reaches the ground directly through gaps in the vegetation canopy and drips from leaves, twigs and stems

The movement of water down-slope through the subsoil under the influence of gravity