Hydrology

Hydrology is the multidisciplinary science that seeks to understand, describe, and predict the occurrence, circulation, and distribution of water on and under the Earth's land surface, as well as the physical, chemical, and biological interactions of this water with the terrestrial environments of our planet. The science of hydrology uses the study of physical laws to determine the modes and amounts of the movement of water through the hydrologic cycle on Earth, and as such, hydrology incorporates elements of meteorology, climatology, oceanography, glaciology, [Page 1514]hydrogeology, and ecology in its studies. Such integration is not commonly done and requires attention to processes at work deeper in the upper crust of the Earth, including volcanic activity. Understanding the waters of the Earth and assessing the locations, interactions, ...