In fact, water actually evaporates and seeps into the ground. However, the rate of evaporation is very slow and the amount of water in the lake is continuously replenished, while the ground below will be saturated when the water infiltration reaches a certain extent.
You may remember the concept of “evaporating” from high school. In simple terms, evaporation is the process by which a liquid turns into a gas under the influence of temperature and/or pressure. There are dozens of examples of this phenomenon in everyday life: wet clothes are dried in the sun, wet ground becomes dry after a period of time, wet hair quickly loses moisture if you walk in the sun.
These are all proofs of water evaporation if left in the sun for too long. So why doesn’t the lake water evaporate?
As mentioned above, water evaporates when exposed to high heat. The sun is the most natural, readily available, and persistent source of heat on the planet, so why not evaporate the lake’s water, or at least reduce it to the extent that everyone can? realize?
There is a simple example to demonstrate this phenomenon: Fill a glass with water and leave it in the sun. After a few hours, you should see a significant reduction in the amount of water in the cup.
The water in the beaker evaporates. (photo: Science ABC).
As you may have already guessed, the evaporation of water is due to the heat from the sun. The same goes for large bodies of water, where water actually evaporates. However, it is difficult for us to notice the difference in water levels in these areas.
There are two main reasons : first, the amount of water in ponds and lakes, large bodies of water is huge. As a result, the evaporation process is very slow, making it impossible to notice the difference in water levels.
If so, in theory, the water in the pond should also dry up after a certain period of time, for example after a few weeks, a few months? Thankfully, that doesn’t happen too often, thanks to the water cycle.
Water cycle. (photo: Science ABC).
You must have been taught this concept when you were in school. The water cycle, or hydrological cycle, is the process by which water evaporates into the air from lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans, before condensing and returning to the ground in the form of rain, snow, and hail. …
This means that the amount of water evaporating from ponds and lakes will be naturally compensated through rainfall and other similar forms. However, there are still some freshwater lakes that actually dry up over time if the rehydration rate is not fast enough.
At this point, we all understand why the amount of water in ponds and lakes will not decrease too much through evaporation, but what makes the water not seep into the ground?
Actually, water does seep into the ground, however…
You know, water infiltration depends on the soil beneath the lake bed . If the lake is too deep, then there is a high chance that the bottom of the lake will be impermeable clay or rock. In addition, soil also has a “saturation limit”. We say an object is “full” , or saturated, if it cannot absorb/absorb something more specific.
Since there is always an amount of water ready to be permeable above, the soil at the bottom of the lake will be “full” and cannot absorb any more water. Remember that different types of soil will have different “water absorption rates” . The larger the soil particles, the faster the infiltration rate. In addition, many natural lakes are formed at low altitudes and often receive water from underground aquifers.
In short, the water can seep down, but to a specific limit, the soil below the lake bed is saturated, no further infiltration. Meanwhile, the remaining water in the lake bed will continue to participate in the slow evaporation process, and then be compensated in many different ways.
In general, if a water feature already has enough water and is regularly replenished by nature, then there is no reason for the body of water to disappear!