CHAPTER

Hydrosphere
3
It has been raining for thousands of years. Did you ever doubt why the water in
seas and oceans never dried up? Less than 1% of water that reaches the earth is
useful to human beings. Can this water meet the necessities of all living beings?
To know the answers to all these questions let us read about the Hydrological
cycle.
Hydrological Cycle
Water is a cyclic renewable resource. It can be used and reused. Water
undergoes a cycle from oceans to land and then from land to the oceans. The
water cycle has been working for billions of years and all the life on earth depends
on it.
Hydrological cycle is the circulation of water in different forms i.e., the liquid,
solid and the gaseous phases. It also refers to the continuous exchange of water
between the oceans, atmosphere, land surface, sub surface and all organisms.
The hydrological cycle sometimes is expressed mathematically as
RF = RO + ET
Where RF (Rain Fall) includes all types of precipitation, RO is run off, ET is
Eavapo transpiration.
There are six stages of water cycle.
Evaporation Transportation Condensation
Precipitation Runoff Groundwater
Evaporation: Water is transferred from the surface to the atmosphere through
evaporation, the process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas. The sun’s
heat provides energy to evaporate water from the earth’s surface. Land, lakes,
rivers and oceans send up a steady stream of water vapour. Plants also lose water
to the air through transpiration.
Transportation: The movement of water through the atmosphere specifically
from over the ocean to over land, in the form of clouds. Clouds are propelled
from one place to another by either upper air circulation, surface-based circulations
like land and sea breezes or other mechanisms.
Condensation: The transported water vapour eventually condenses, forming
tiny droplets and clouds.
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 Lakes
Rivers

Fig. 3.1: Hydrological cycle

Precipitation: The primary mechanism for transporting water from the

atmosphere to the surface of the earth is precipitation. When the clouds meet cool
air over land, precipitation in the form of rain, sleet or snow, is triggered and water
returns to the land (or sea).
Run off: Most of the water which returns to land flows down hills as run off.
Some of it penetrates and charges groundwater while the rest, as river flow, returns
to the oceans where it evaporates.
Groundwater: Under special
circumstances, groundwater can even flow Reservoir Percentage
upward in artesian wells. The flow of of the Total
groundwater is much slower than runoff. Oceans 97 . 25 %
The hydrological cycle is not a simple Icecaps and glaciers 2 . 05 %
circulation of water between ocean,
Groundwater 0 . 68 %
atmosphere and the land. There are a number
Lakes 0 . 01 %
of sub-cycles operating within it.
Soil moisture 0 . 005 %
Water Sources Atmosphere 0 . 001 %
97.25% of water is saline ocean waters Rivers 0 . 0001 %
and only 2.75% is fresh water. The greatest
Biosphere 0 . 00004 %
portion of the fresh water (68.7%) is in the

28 Social Studies Hydrosphere

 form of ice and permanent snow cover in the Antarctica, the Arctic and in the
mountain regions, 29.9% exists as fresh ground waters. Only 0.26% of the total
amount of fresh water on the earth is concentrated in lakes, reservoirs and river
system, where it is most easily accessible for our economic needs and absolutely
vital for water ecosystems.
Oceans
Continents and oceans are the first order relief features of the earth. The huge
water bodies are called oceans. The geographers have divided the oceanic part of
the earth into five oceans namely The Pacific Ocean, The Atlantic Ocean, The Indian
Ocean, The Southern Ocean (Antarctic Ocean), and The Arctic Ocean.
The word ‘sea’ is often used interchangeably with ‘ocean’, but strictly speaking
a sea is a body of saline water, partly or fully enclosed by land.
The major oceanic divisions are defined in part by the continents, various
archipelagoes and other criteria. See the table below for more information; note
that the table is descending order in terms of size.
Rank Ocean Notes
1 The Pacific ocean Separates Asia and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, Papua
New Guinea together) from the Americas.
2 The Atlantic ocean Separates the America from Europe and Africa.
3 The Indian ocean Washes upon Southern Asia and separates Africa and Australia.
4 The Antarctic ocean Sometimes considered an extension of the Pacific, Atlantic and
(Southern ocean) Indian oceans which encircles Australia.
5 The Arctic ocean Sometimes considered a sea of the Atlantic, which covers much
of the Arctic and washes upon North America and Eurasia.

Do You Know? Formal oceanographic investigation

Millions of years ago oceans were began only with the British expedition of
combined together? The single super Challenger, the first successful world wide
ocean was known as ‘panthalsa’. deep-sea expedition.

Relief of the Ocean

The ocean basins are in many ways similar to the land surface. There are
submarine ridges, plateaus, canyons and terraces found within oceans. Ocean floor
is divided into four parts.
1) Continental Shelf: The continental shelf with depth up to 200 mts
occupies about 7.6% of the ocean area. It is the border zone between land and sea.
The largest continental shelf is Siberian shelf in the Arctic Ocean, stretching to
1,500 kms in width.

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 Continental Shelf is important because:
Fish wealth is more in this region.
Rock petroleum, natural gas are found here.
Building seaport is possible here.
Continental Shelf
Continental Slope
Deep Sea Plain
Submarine Canyon
Mid Oceanic Ridge

Guyots

Oceanic Trenchs

Fig 3.2: Ocean floor

2) Continental Slope: The Continental slope is spread from 200 mts to 3,000
mts depth, with complex relief. It comprises of 15% of the ocean area. The
continental slope boundary indicates the continents. Submarine canyons are
observed in this region. These are formed by erosion process of glaciers and rivers.
3) Deep Sea plain (or) Abyssal Plain: Deep sea plains are gently sloping
areas of the ocean basins. These are the flattest and smoothest regions of the world.
The depths vary between 3000-6000 mts. It covers about 76.2% of the ocean basin.
4) Oceanic deeps (or) Trenches: These are the large narrow trenches that
plunge as great ocean deeps to a
depth of 6,000 mts. Contrary to our Do You Know?
expectations, most of the deepest Isobaths – A line joining points on
trenches are not located in the midst the sea bed at an equal vertical
of oceans. They are found more distance beneath the surface.
close to the continents. That is why Sometimes referred to as depth
they are very significant in the study contours.
of plate movements. As many as 57
deeps have been explored so far.
Do you know major ocean trenches?
Sl. No Name of the trench Ocean Depth (mts)
1 Challenger (or) Mariana The Pacific Ocean 11,022
2 Puertorico (or) Naves The Atlantic Ocean 10,475
3 Java The Indian Ocean 7,450

30 Social Studies Hydrosphere

Salinity of the Ocean
Did you ever take food without salt? Was it tasty? Did early human beings use
salt in their food? Where is salt available other than ocean? Is salt used just for
taste or for any other reasons? Is water salty in your village tank? Then why is
ocean water salty? Do you know that taking salt as basis Mahatma Gandhi had lead
civil disobedience movement (or) Dandi march which was one of the biggest
freedom movements?
Did you ever wonder why the oceans are filled with salt water instead of fresh
water? Just where did the salt come from and is it the same salt you find in the
dining room table? Most of the salt in the oceans come from land. Over millions
of years rain, rivers and streams have washed over rocks containing the compound
Sodium Chloride (NaCl), and carried into the sea. You may know Sodium Chloride
by its common name table salt. Some of the salt in the oceans come from under
sea volcanoes and hydro thermal vents. When water evaporates from the surface
of the ocean, the salt is left behind. After millions of years the oceans have developed
a noticeably salty water.
Salinity is the term used
to define the total content of
dissolved salts in sea water.
It is calculated as the amount
of salt (in grams) dissolved
in 1,000 gms of sea water. It
is usually expressed as parts
per thousand (%0) or PPT.
Generally speaking the
average salinity of the oceans
is 35%0 or about 35 parts of
salt in 1,000 parts of water.
All sea water contains large
amounts of dissolved
mineral matter of which
Sodium Chloride or common
salt alone constitutes 77.8%.

Do You Know?
River water contains 2%0
of sodium chloride.
Fig. 3.3: Water Salinity
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Factors affecting salinity in surface layers of Ocean:
1. Evaporation and precipitation.
2. In coastal regions by the fresh water flow from rivers and in Polar regions by
the process of freezing and thawing of ice.
3. Winds by transferring water to other areas.
4. The ocean currents.

Do You Know?
Highest Salinity in Water bodies Lowest Salinity in Water bodies
1) Lake Van – Turkey – 330%0 1) Baltic Sea – 3-15%0
2) Dead Sea – Israel – 238%0 2) Hudson Bay – 3-15%0
3) Great Salt lake – USA – 220%0

Give the reasons for the low

Isohaline: A line joining the points in the
salinity of Baltic sea.
ocean having the same degree of salinity.

Ocean Temperature
When compared to land the temperature in oceans does not show much variation.
But these little variations show great impact. For example, the activeness of South
West monsoon in India is affected by ‘El Nino’ and ‘La Nino’. These are the effects
caused by the changes of temperature in The Pacific Ocean. The ocean temperature
is influenced by latitudes, winds, ocean currents, unequal distribution of land and
change of seasons.
Normally, the temperature in the
Do You Know?
oceans varies from – 20C to 290C.
Can you imagine why the temperature Highest temperature is recorded in Inland Seas.
does not go beyond above limits? The temperature is highest in Red Sea i.e., 380C.
Vertical Distribution of
Temperature: As one goes deep inside the oceans, the temperature decreases.
The fall in temperature is very steep for the first kilometre. After that there is a
steady decline upto a depth of 5 kilometres. Below that the temperature is steady
at about 20C.
Ocean Currents
The ocean current is the general movement of a mass of water in a fairly defined
direction over great distance. The ocean currents are sometimes called ocean rivers.
Ocean currents may be classified, based on temperature, as cold currents and warm
currents.

32 Social Studies Hydrosphere

 Generally warm currents flow towards the poles, cold currents flow towards
the Equator. Ocean currents are classified as stream and drift based on speed. The
ocean water current which flows speedily is called a stream and that which flows
slowly is called a drift.Ocean currents are caused by following factors.
1. Centrifugal Force: The Centrifugal force at the equator is greater than that
at the poles because the great circles at the time of revolution coincide with the
equator. The variation of these forces make the equatorial water to move towards
the poles.
2. Effect of Winds: The stresses due to wind and the wind movement modifies
the theoretical direction of currents. Due to the frictional gliding of winds water is
dragged along the wind direction. Thus a 50 miles per hour wind will produce a
current whose velocity is 0.75 miles per hour.
3. Precipitation: The equatorial areas receive the greatest rainfall hence the
sea level is higher. As a result water moves north and south from the equator.
4. Solar Energy: Heating by solar energy causes the water to expand. That is
why, the ocean water is about 8 cm higher in level near the equator than in the
middle latitudes. This causes a very slight gradient and water tends to flow down the
slope.
Salinity, density differences, melting of ice also affect the ocean currents.
Ocean as a Resource
Most life on earth is under the water. Human being still have not finished
identifying all different forms of life in oceans. Human beings have depended on
oceans for their food and livelihood from the ancient times. Oceans provided
abundant food resources like fish and salt. We also use the sand, gravel etc. for our
industries or housing. Humans extract minerals like chlorine, fluorine, iodine from
it. Ocean waves are used for generating power. Ocean floor is mined for oils. Oceans
also provide with gems and
pearls. For centuries we have
created our civilisations on
its shores and traded across
each other travelling over
them.
Yet today Oceans have
also fallen victim to our
exploitation. Many large fish
likes whales have been
disappearing. Oceans have
also become dumping ground
for our plastic and other
Fig. 3.4: Petroleum drilling at Bombay High forms waste.

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 Do You Know?
Access of Pure Water
68.7% Ice and snow
29.9% Underground water
1.4% Rivers, lakes and reservioers
100.0% Total

Key words
1. Stream 2. Drift 3. Ocean currents 4. Transpiration

Improve your learning

1. Find the odd one out and give explanation for your choice.
a) evaporation b) condensation c) salination d) precipitation
a) tectonics b) centrifugal force c) solar energy d) precipitation
2. Correct the false statements.
a) Oceans trenches can be located near the continents
b) Relief features of the oceans are like plains
c) Most salt in the seas are washed into it from the land over centruries
d) Temperature of ocean water remains the same across the globe
3. Describe any one impact of ocean currents for the region you live.
4. Do you think description of blue planet is accurate? Describe anyone way your
activity impacts its oceans.

Project
Prepare a list of currents which are found in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
Identify the cold currents in different oceans.
The Pacific Ocean The Atlantic Ocean The Indian Ocean
Warm Cold Warm Cold Warm Cold
currents currents currents currents currents currents

34 Social Studies Hydrosphere