watershed
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watershed or water basin, which collects water from various sources and channels it to a common outlet, such as a river, lake, or ocean. This helps regulate the flow of water across the landscape and plays a crucial role in maintaining ecosystems and supporting human activities.
Approximately 38% of global precipitation that falls on land becomes runoff, eventually flowing into streams, rivers, and lakes. The remaining percentage is absorbed by the soil, evaporates, or is taken up by vegetation.
Runoff is an important component of the water cycle as it is the flow of water over the land surface and eventually into rivers, lakes, and oceans. It helps in replenishing water bodies, maintaining stream flow, and transporting nutrients and sediment. Runoff also plays a role in regulating the earth's temperature by storing and releasing heat.
Evaporation: Water evaporates from oceans, lakes, and rivers due to heat from the sun. Condensation: Water vapor in the air cools and condenses into clouds. Precipitation: Water droplets in the clouds come together and fall to the ground as rain, snow, sleet, or hail. Runoff: Excess water flows over the surface and collects in rivers, lakes, or oceans. Infiltration: Water seeps into the ground and replenishes groundwater sources.
The movement of water over land is called runoff. Runoff occurs when water from precipitation flows over the surface of the land, eventually making its way into bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, and oceans.
No, not all runoff from precipitation is quickly evaporated back into the atmosphere. Runoff can follow different paths, such as flowing into bodies of water, infiltrating into the ground, or being stored in lakes or reservoirs. Evaporation is one of the ways water returns to the atmosphere, but it is not the only path for runoff water.