Which part of the Earth receives the least sun's rays and what part of the water cycle is when liquid water moves through the soil to become groundwater?
Part 1 varies by scale. On the small scale you have caves and places with only northern exposure so due to topography there are many small areas near places such as mountains canyons, plateaus that have not seen the sun for a geologic age. On a large scale the northern hemisphere receives less by some margin I cannot quote than does the southern hemisphere. Part 2 Is that percolation occurs during the transport stage of the water cycle after condensation / precipitation and before evaporation / transpiration.
In fact, the equator is where the direct sunlight is nearly at a 90-degree angle all year round! That's why these areas tend to have warmer temperatures all year round. On the flip side, the North and South poles mostly receive indirect sunlight; the Sun's rays fall on these areas at extremely oblique angles. Because the Earth is round, the frigid Polar Regions never get a high sun, and because of the tilted axis of rotation, these areas receive no sun at all during part of the year. Earth's axis always points in the same direction. Because of this, the part of Earth that receives the most direct rays from the Sun changes as the Earth travels around the Sun. At the equinox, the Sun's rays shine most directly on the equator, and the Northern and Southern Hemispheres get the same amount of Sunlight. Areas near poles receive less heat due to the Earth's tilt position. The tilt of earth is 23.5 degrees towards the Sun and earth is spherical in shape. Due to this tilt and spherical shape of earth, sun beam hits directly to equator and tropical regions whereas it hits at an angle towards the poles. Earth receives different amounts of solar energy at different latitudes, with the most at the equator and the least at the poles. Now, even though the Earth is rotating daily on its axis, the bottom of the Earth is always tilted away from the Sun. At this time, the South Pole gets no sunlight, while the North Pole soaks up twenty-four hours a day of sunlight. Water in different phase’s moves through the atmosphere (transportation). Liquid water flows across land (runoff), into the ground (infiltration and percolation), and through the ground (groundwater). Groundwater moves into plants (plant uptake) and evaporates from plants into the atmosphere (transpiration). Water in the atmosphere condenses into rain. Some of the rain recharges the groundwater, and the cycle keeps repeating. Groundwater, in other words, is part of the hydrologic cycle. Groundwater and surface water are interconnected; groundwater becomes surface water when it discharges to surface water bodies. Groundwater is found in two zones. The unsaturated zone, immediately below the land surface, contains water and air in the open spaces, or pores. The saturated zone, a zone in which all the pores and rock fractures are filled with water, underlies the unsaturated zone.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Agricultural Science
- Agronomy
- Crop Science
- Crop