The water cycle describes how water is distributed and circulates between the atmosphere, land, and oceans. Water evaporates from the surface of oceans, lakes, and vegetation and forms water vapor in the atmosphere. Water vapor condenses to form clouds and precipitation, which falls back to Earth as rain or snow and collects in lakes, rivers, and groundwater or soils before returning to the oceans, completing the cycle.

1. Water Cycle runoff, groundwater atmosphere ocean land evaporation, evaporation precipitation on land precipitation on water