Question

Which of the following is important in the water cycle?
(A) Transpiration through leaves.
(B) Evaporation from the ocean.
(C) Percolation of water into the ground
(D) Absorption of capillary water by plants

Answer 1

The continuous or cyclic movement of water from the earth surface to the atmosphere and back again to the ground surface is called a water cycle. It is also called a hydrologic cycle or hydrological cycle.

Complete answer:
Evaporation from the ocean is an important step in the water cycle. Water constitutes about $73\%$ of the Earth’s surface. Of the total water, $96\%$ of the total water is saline and about $30\%$ of total water is freshwater. The freshwater sources are lakes, rivers, oceans etc. Water exist in all the three states namely solid, liquid and gas. In solid state, water exist as ice, glaciers etc. and in liquid state as rain and in water bodies and as moisture and water vapour in gaseous state. The different processes in the water cycle are condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, evaporation and transpiration.

The process by which water changes from the vapour or gaseous state to liquid state by lowering temperature is called condensation. The water vapour cools and gets liquefied. The process by which water is released from the cloud as it falls on the ground surface in the form of rain is called precipitation. The water falling on the earth surface as rain seeps into the ground through the process called infiltration. The water present in the ground surface goes to the atmosphere by the process of evaporation The process by which the conversion of liquid into water vapours on heating takes place is called as evaporation. The water evaporates and moves to earth’s surface. Then water again galls on the ground and seeps in the ground. This process takes place continuously. The process by which excess water is lost from the leaves of plants is called transpiration.
Thus, evaporation from the ocean is the most important among the above options.

Hence, the correct answer is option (B)

Note: Water cycle is a very important natural cycle that is essential to maintain the level of water on the earth surface. Sadly, due to global warming and other environmental issues, the level of groundwater is decreasing continuously. This is an alarming time when we should give the utmost importance to save water.