Hydrological Cycle: Processes, Impacts and Hydrogen Bonds

This report provides a detailed overview of the hydrological cycle, a crucial process governing the Earth's environment and climate. It explains the key processes involved, including evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection, and how these steps form a continuous cycle driven by solar energy and changes in water states. The report also explores the significance of hydrogen bonds in water molecules and their influence on water's properties, such as melting and boiling points, density, polarity, and its ability to maintain liquid state across a wide temperature range. Furthermore, the report highlights the role of hydrogen bonds in facilitating high heat of vaporization and making ice less dense than liquid water, which in turn helps to regulate temperature for animals. The report concludes with references to relevant scientific literature.

Running head: HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE
HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE
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1HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE
Hydrological Cycle is defined as the cyclic movement of the water within the Earth on, below or
above the earth’s surface. The cycle is driven by various processes. These processes involve the
changing the state of water from liquid to solid or gas or vice versa. The hydrological cycle
impacts hugely on the earth’s environment (Marsalek, 2014). The climatic conditions are
governed by this hydrological cycle. The hydrological cycle deals with the exchange of energy
that results in change of temperature. This cycle influences the climate of a place. The process
involve in this cycle are evaporation, condensation, precipitation and Collection.
Initially the solar energy warms the water bodies. The upper part of the water bodies gets
heated rapidly and allow the water to evaporate. This result in changing the state of the water
from liquid to gaseous state and force the gaseous form to evaporate up above the Earth’s space.
The warm air rises above the water bodies and gets mixed in the atmosphere. This phase of the
hydrological cycle as known as the evaporation phase. The hot air is then cooled in high
altitudes. The temperature of the air decreases due to the low temperature of the high altitudes.
This convers the air into small water droplets. This phase is known as condensation where the
gaseous state of water is changed into liquid state again. These tiny particles join with each other
resulting to form fogs and clouds in sky. When these tiny particles form a huge cloud then the
water droplets are dropped in the earth surface again in the form of rain. This phase of the
hydrological cycle is known as precipitation. The rainwater then gets accumulated in the water
bodies which is again evaporate by the solar energy. These steps are repeated in a cycle manner.
This is known as the hydrological cycle (Wu, Christidis & Stott, 2013).
Hydrogen bond in water is the force of attraction among the hydrogen atom and the
oxygen atom. One of the molecule of hydrogen atom combines with the oxygen atom to form the
water. The lifetime of these hydrogen bonds are too short as well as weak because of the great

2HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE
amplitude liberations of light hydrogen molecules (Elsaesser & Becker, 2013). This bond
governs various properties of the water such as melting point, boiling point, state of water,
density, polarity and molecular weight. For example: the intermolecular hydrogen is responsible
for high boiling point of the water. The other role played by this hydrogen bond are as follows
(Ignatov & Mosin, 2013):
These hydrogen bonds allow the water to persist its liquid state for a wide range of temperature.
These hydrogen bonds results in high heat of vaporization factor for water.
These hydrogen bonds helps to make the ice less dense than the normal liquid water.
The heat of vaporization assists to make the perspiration an effective way to decrease the
temperature for the animals surviving in the earth’s surface.
This helps to regulate the temperature of water.

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References
Elsaesser, T., & Becker, H. J. (Eds.). (2013). Ultrafast hydrogen bonding dynamics and proton
transfer processes in the condensed phase (Vol. 23). Springer Science & Business Media.
Ignatov, I., & Mosin, O. V. (2013). Structural mathematical models describing water clusters.
Journal of.
Marsalek, J. (2014). Urban water cycle processes and interactions: Urban Water Series-
UNESCO-IHP. CRC Press.
Wu, P., Christidis, N., & Stott, P. (2013). Anthropogenic impact on Earth’s hydrological cycle.
Nature Climate Change, 3(9), 807.