How does water move through the water cycle, and what is a watershed?
Explain the processes of the water cycle (evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, runoff, infiltration) and describe watersheds, groundwater and the water table (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.9 and ES.10).
A SOL-level answer on the water cycle for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: the processes that move water (evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, runoff, infiltration), the energy that drives it, what a watershed and divide are, groundwater and the water table, and porosity and permeability, with worked exam questions.
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What this topic is asking
Virginia Earth Science SOL standards ES.9 and ES.10 ask you to explain the water cycle and the freshwater systems it feeds: watersheds, groundwater and the water table. The EOC tests this with process-identification items (name the step), energy-source items (what drives it), and applied items about runoff and human impact on the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The water cycle connects the ocean, the atmosphere and the land, so it underpins much of the rest of the module.
The processes of the water cycle
What drives the cycle
Two forces power the water cycle. Solar energy provides the heat for evaporation and transpiration, lifting water into the atmosphere. Gravity pulls water back down as precipitation and moves it downhill as runoff and downward as infiltration. So the Sun lifts the water and gravity returns it, a useful way to remember the energy story.
Watersheds and divides
Watersheds matter because what happens on the land, farming, paving, pollution, ends up in the water that the watershed drains. In Virginia, much of the land drains into the Chesapeake Bay watershed, so land use across the state affects the Bay.
Groundwater and the water table
Water that infiltrates moves down into the ground and fills the spaces in soil and rock as groundwater, a major source of fresh water. The zone of saturation is where all the pore spaces are full of water, and its upper surface is the water table. The water table rises in wet periods and falls in droughts or when wells pump faster than the groundwater is recharged. An aquifer is a body of permeable rock that stores and transmits useful amounts of groundwater.
Try this
Q1. Name the process by which plants release water vapor into the atmosphere. [1]
- Cue. Transpiration.
Q2. Explain why replacing forest with pavement increases the risk of flooding. [2]
- Cue. Pavement is impermeable, so water cannot infiltrate; more water runs off quickly over the surface, increasing runoff into streams and the chance of flooding.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of VDOE exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
VA Earth Science SOL 2023 (style)1 marksWhat is the main source of energy that drives the water cycle? (A) Earth's internal heat. (B) the Sun. (C) the Moon's gravity. (D) wind from the poles.Show worked answer →
A 1-point multiple-choice item on the water cycle.
The correct answer is B. The Sun supplies the energy that evaporates water from oceans, lakes and soil, lifting it into the atmosphere to begin the cycle. Earth's internal heat (A) drives plate tectonics, the Moon's gravity (C) causes tides, and wind (D) is itself driven by uneven solar heating.
The test rewards knowing that solar energy drives the water cycle (and gravity returns the water as precipitation and runoff).
VA Earth Science SOL 2024 (style)2 marksA region receives heavy rain. (a) Define a watershed. (b) Explain how the amount of water that becomes runoff rather than infiltration changes when farmland is replaced by paved roads and parking lots.Show worked answer →
A 2-point item on watersheds and runoff.
(a) 1 point: a watershed (drainage basin) is the area of land where all the water that falls on it drains to a common stream, river or body of water.
(b) 1 point: paved surfaces are impermeable, so water cannot soak in (infiltrate); more of it runs off the surface quickly, increasing runoff (and flood risk) and reducing the water that recharges groundwater.
Markers reward the definition of a watershed in (a) and linking impermeable paving to increased runoff and reduced infiltration in (b).
Related dot points
- Describe the features of the ocean floor (continental shelf, slope, abyssal plain, mid-ocean ridge, trench) and explain how temperature and salinity control seawater density (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.10).
A SOL-level answer on the ocean for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: the features of the ocean floor and how they relate to plate tectonics, what salinity is and what changes it, how temperature and salinity control seawater density, and why this drives deep circulation, with worked exam questions.
- Explain surface currents (driven by wind and deflected by the Coriolis effect into gyres), deep density-driven circulation, and upwelling, and describe how currents transfer heat and affect climate (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.10).
A SOL-level answer on ocean currents for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: wind-driven surface currents and gyres, the Coriolis effect, the difference between warm and cold currents, deep density-driven (thermohaline) circulation, upwelling and marine productivity, and how the Gulf Stream affects climate, with worked exam questions.
- Describe estuaries and the Chesapeake Bay, including brackish water and its role as a nursery, and explain how watershed land use, runoff and sea-level rise affect coastal Virginia (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.10 and human impact).
A SOL-level answer on the Chesapeake Bay for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: what an estuary is and why the Bay's brackish water makes it a nursery, the threats from nutrient runoff and eutrophication, the role of the watershed, sea-level rise and coastal flooding, and conservation, with worked exam questions.
- Distinguish mechanical and chemical weathering, identify the agents of erosion and deposition, and explain how particle size, sorting and water velocity control where sediment is deposited (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.6 surface processes).
A SOL-level answer on surface processes for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: mechanical versus chemical weathering and what speeds each, the agents of erosion (water, wind, ice, gravity), how water velocity controls the size of sediment carried and deposited, sediment sorting and rounding, and landforms like deltas and moraines, with worked exam questions.
- Explain humidity, relative humidity and dew point, describe how clouds form when air cools to saturation, and identify the main cloud types and forms of precipitation (Virginia 2018 Earth Science SOL ES.8 and ES.9).
A SOL-level answer on atmospheric moisture for the Virginia Earth Science EOC: humidity and relative humidity, the dew point and saturation, how clouds form when rising air cools and condenses on nuclei, the main cloud types (cumulus, stratus, cirrus), and the forms of precipitation, with worked exam questions.
Sources & how we know this
- 2018 Science Standards of Learning (Earth Science) — Virginia Department of Education (2018)
- SOL Practice Items (All Subjects) — Virginia Department of Education (2024)