UGS 303 SUSTAINING A PLANET Article Reading The Fluid Earth Chapter 4 09 15 2015 Hydrologic Cycle Involves the transfer of water in it various forms solid liquid gas through the land air and water environment Matter and energy are involves in the transfer Heat from the sun warms the ocean and land surface and causes water to evaporate which enters the atmosphere and circulates with the air Warm air rises in the atmosphere and cooler air descends The water vapor rises with the warm air Cooling causes water vapor to condense on small particles in the atmosphere and to precipate as rain snow or ice and fall back to Earth s surface Plants retain some water in their tissue the rest is returned through transpiration Much of the water evaporated from the ocean return there directly but a small amount is carried by atmospheric winds Once the ground the water finds its way to streams lakes or rivers in runoff or by percolation into and through groundwater The heat involved in the water cycles and its distribution globally are major variables in the development of weather patterns and climate Oceans The oceans receive their heat from the sun mainly in the equational region and this heat is distributed around the planet by ocean currents The oceans is a two layer system separated by the thermocline a region of rapid decrease in temperature with increasing depth The upper layer is turbulent and usually mixed by winds blowing across the seas surface whereas the deep ocean is relatively calm and slowly moving currents Water Waves Capillary waves small and have wavelengths less than 1 7 cm Surface tension an elastic property of the water surface causes the water to return toward the undisturbed state Gravity waves larger waves in which gravity returns the waves toward a level state Wave height H is the overall change in height between a wave crest and trough The wave height is twice the wave amplitude A Wavelength is the distance between two successive wave crests peaks or troughs The period of a wave is the time interval that it takes for two successive peaks to pass a fixed point and is usually measured in seconds The frequency is the number of peaks that pass a fixed point per second STOPPED AT THERE ARE SEVERAL TYPES OF WAVES ON PDF PAGE 4
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