THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE (water cycle) is a global, Sun-driven process. On Earth, water travels in a cyclic process, transported from water bodies to the atmosphere, then to land, and subsequently, to water bodies in the hydrologie cycle. Water is evaporated by the Sun, incorporated into clouds as water vapor, falls to the land and water bodies as rain, and from land it goes back to the water bodies through several hydro-logic processes, such as runoff and infiltration. The hydrologie cycle is a closed system for Earth, as the amount of water remains fixed throughout, but it may vary with its distribution geographically, temporally, and seasonally. Six major components of the hydro-logic cycle are precipitation, infiltration, evaporation, transpiration, surface runoff, and groundwater flow. Evaporation and transpiration ...