The water of the planet Earth is conveniently classified into a number of categories, defined either by origin or the place where it is found, which may be in the atmosphere, hydrosphere or lithosphere. Seawater, which constitutes by far the bulk of all the Earth's water, is treated separately. The most commonly identified categories are as follows.
Meteoric water
Meteoric water is derived from the atmosphere, precipitating as rain or snow, and participating in the hydrological cycle (q.v.). Rainwater, being largely derived from the ocean by evaporation (also from lakes and rivers, and from land surfaces immediately following precipitation), is strongly modified by the distance it has traveled from the source area; rains near the sea coast are enriched geochemically with ‘cyclic salts’, i.e. sea salts carried into the clouds from the bubbles of breaking waves.
Surface water
The term surface water includes all those waters associated with the land surface, as in streams, rivers, ponds,...
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Acid rain;Groundwater;Hydrological cycle;Medicinal springs;Water on Earth and other planets;Water resources: natural quality
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Fairbridge, R.W. (1998). Water: Categories . In: Encyclopedia of Hydrology and Lakes. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht . https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4497-6_236
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