Landforms
Cody Carns
GEO 101—Earth Science
Colorado State University—Global Campus
Dr. Sue Finstick
December 23, 2013

Landforms
Without the process of the hydrologic cycle, there would be no such thing as life. We can’t survive without water, and this is the specific way we are able to understand how water moves in the world. The hydrologic cycle is the process that transports water between the sky, land and oceans all driven by the sun’s energy. The purpose of this paper is to explain the cycle, and relate it to the particular region of my residence in Colorado, but also provide an insight to how it differs from something such as a desert landscape. Having the benefit of being exposed to many different climates through out my short adventures, it’s fascinating to see the effect of the water cycle in multiple regions.
Hydrologic Cycle
To better understand the water cycle, we need to look at the reservoirs where the water is stored. These can come in many different forms such as oceans, glaciers, icecaps as well as the atmosphere. When talking about the water, it is crucial to remember we are talking about the chemical substance H2O, which include liquid, solid, and gaseous form (NESTA, 2008). The climate changes produce many different variations in the hydrologic cycle, and the different routes the water takes between these reservoirs as mentioned are called the pathways or flows. The main ways of travel between the various types of reservoirs are evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and surface and underground flow (Egger, 2003). These more specific pathways or flows are evaporation, precipitation and snowmelt runoff. The evaporation transports the water to the atmosphere, rain and or snow than falls back down to the earth surface, and snowmelt turns into a liquid that consequently flows back down to river and seas to restart the cycle.
While residing in Colorado, you get the true feeling of all four seasons. With all those seasons, along with Gods’ gift of the mountainous region, Colorado plays a crucial role in the water cycle by capturing moisture from the air masses. When the precipitation falls as snow it gets stored until the spring and summer, and eventually finally melting and providing the essential water for settlements, agriculture and industries downstream (Price, 2002). This is key because it usually happens at the lowest times of rainfall. Colorado is very unique because it accounts for rain, snow and glaciers as well. Mountain ecosystems have long been nicknamed nature’s “water tower,” and because of the distinct climate zones that change with altitude, mountains have become fragile environments that play a huge role in the water cycle.
Desert Landscape The desert landscape may be the most distinct out of all the different regions. What makes the desert landscape differentiate from other ecosystems, are the well-known extreme temperatures, but also the unique landforms scattered throughout their surroundings. Almost everyone has a picture of endless miles of sand, but sand only actually covers about 1/5th of all desert surfaces (Science Clarified, 2009). Some of the other features that make up the remaining scare features of the desert include Alluvial fans, arroyos, desert pavement, oasis and playas. Extremely high solar radiation and a lacking amount of shade form a stressful environment, where only the strong truly survive. Very trace amounts of precipitation stunt major plant growth and limit the amount of water available for animal consumption. Adaptation is the main key and usually related to water acquisition. Although precipitation is very rare, when it does occur it’s very intense and usually over as quickly as it started. Most vegetation will have shallow root systems that can quickly absorb rainfall in a given situation.
Conclusion
All the different landforms employ a face of beauty and purpose of providing the earth with what it needs to survive. Understanding these purposes are what makes earth science so fascinating. The amount of differences in Colorado and other mountainous regions compared to a desert in Arizona are endless, but they each play an important role in the ecosystem. The hydrologic cycle has never been given the credit it deserves, because we are the dependents, and without that cycle, we simply don’t exist.

References:
Egger, Anne. (2003). The Hydrologic Cycle: Water’s Journey Through Time. Retrieved from: http://www.visionlearning.com/en/library/Earth-Science/6/The-Hydrologic-Cycle/99
National Earth Science Teachers Assoication. (2008). The Water Cycle: A Climate Change Perspective. Retrieved from: http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Water/water_cycle_climate_change.html
Price, Martin. (2002). Mountains: Globally Important Ecosystems. Retrieved from: http://www.fao.org/docrep/w9300e/w9300e03.htm
Science Clarified. (2009). Dune and Other Desert Features. Retrieved from: http://www.scienceclarified.com/landforms/Basins-to-Dunes/Dune-and-Other-Desert-Features.html