Water and its Spatial Distribution

Solid

Liquid

Gas

What Are Water Stores?

Water stores are places where water is contained in and can be categorised as freshwater and saltwater stores. Glaciers, rivers, lakes, groundwater and soils contain freshwater, which means that they contain water with low amounts of salt that can be used more readily. Oceans are saltwater stores, which means that the ocean water has too much salt to be used directly.

What Are Oceans?

Oceans are large masses of water that are connected to one another. There are five oceans in the world. The largest ocean is the Pacific Ocean, which is surrounded by countries in Asia, Australia and the Americas. The second largest ocean is the Atlantic Ocean, which separates countries in the Americas from Europe and Africa. The third largest ocean is the Indian Ocean, which is surrounded by countries in Asia, Africa and Australia. Polar Bears swim in the Arctic Ocean, while penguins swim in the Southern Ocean.

What Are Glaciers?

Glaciers are large masses of ice that rest on land or float in the sea. They are found in places where it snows throughout the year so that enough snow accumulates and hardens into ice. Glaciers move slowly because they are very heavy.

What Are Lakes?

Lakes are water bodies surrounded by land. Lakes may receive water from rain, snow or rivers.

What Are Rivers?

Rivers are natural wide flows of freshwater across the land that store water temporarily before water flows into another water body. They flow from places of higher elevation to places of lower elevation as gravity pulls water downwards.

What Is Soil?

Soil refers to the loose topmost layer of Earth's surface where plants grow. This layer has different names and contains different materials.

What Is Groundwater?

Groundwater is found below the surface of the Earth. Water enters the ground through pores in the soil due to gravity. Groundwater forms when a part of this water makes its way to the rocks beneath, filling up the pores and cracks of these rocks. Countries like China and India use groundwater to grow crops, while countries like Indonesia and Thailand use groundwater for household activities.

Input

Precipitation

Flows

Infiltration

Percolation

Surface runoff

Groundwater flow

Channel flow

Output

Discharge into the sea

Evaporation

Transpiration

Water Budget in a Catchment

Water surplus

Water deficit