geography question for all you smarties....

[turtlepower]

Since this forum has a lot to do with fish/water and geography, I was hoping someone could answer a question I have about earth. Please, if you know the answer to the question answer it in stupid mans terms please.

We will use africa for the location in question. ok here it goes...where does all the Fresh water come from??? I mean, I know all fresh water flows into the ocean, but there are no glaciers for water to come from in africa, so where is it all coming from? It can't be rain, right? I mean the river flows sooo much water into the ocean, you would think that the fresh water would run out sooner or later. How does the earth make enough fresh water to keep pouring it into the ocean over and over??? Maybe I should have learned this in school, but I must have been sleeping that day. I know what of you smart cats can educate me on this in stpid mans terms. Thanks.

 

[Thalan]

There's actually a lot of really interesting stories about people trying to find the source of the Nile back in the early 1900s or so. The water comes from an underground resevoir. The St. Johns river flows from central Fl into the atlantic ocean around Jacksonville. Obviously the water isnt coming from glaciers or mountains as Fl is flat and hot.

 

[gobucks1]

Since this forum has a lot to do with fish/water and geography, I was hoping someone could answer a question I have about earth. Please, if you know the answer to the question answer it in stupid mans terms please.

We will use africa for the location in question. ok here it goes...where does all the Fresh water come from??? I mean, I know all fresh water flows into the ocean, but there are no glaciers for water to come from in africa, so where is it all coming from? It can't be rain, right? I mean the river flows sooo much water into the ocean, you would think that the fresh water would run out sooner or later. How does the earth make enough fresh water to keep pouring it into the ocean over and over??? Maybe I should have learned this in school, but I must have been sleeping that day. I know what of you smart cats can educate me on this in stpid mans terms. Thanks.

Well, we are running out of freshwater, kinda.

Alot of it comes from rain and a lot of it comes from ground water (underground rivers and whatnot).
It evaporates out of the ocean (leaving behind all the salt and whatnot) and moves to land where it rains down and builds up into rivers.

In stupid(er) terms.

well we does be losing allotta us's waters without saltsies

big waters come from sky-pee and more big waters come from down under rivers then flies to the lands and falls and make water flows!

 

[vaine111]

In stupid(er) terms.

well we does be losing allotta us's waters without saltsies

big waters come from sky-pee and more big waters come from down under rivers then flies to the lands and falls and make water flows!

 

[cassharper]

Or if you want an on-topic answer... that's not wrong you could always talk about the the rain cycle. Salt water evaporates like freshwater will. Salt does not have the ability to convert into a gas (much too heavy) so it stays behind (much like those "white" build-ups you see in FW aquariums or "salt creep" in SW aquariums). Whatever condenses in the clouds is fresh water. The wind currents carry it over land and voila, water.

 

[turtlepower]

Thanks for the replies but, really....that much water in rain keeps the nile up to height???? The nile flows ???billions of gallons every ?????minutes. Does africa get billions of gallons of rains to keep up with the trillions of gallons it expells???? Please no sacasim. I am serious here. I came to the site cause I know there are some smart cats on here who can explain. Help me to learn this question that is really stumping me.

 

[boogie]

Hi turtlepower, I have actually been on the Nile and it truly is an amazing river, like the Red River in N.D./M.N. it is one of two rivers in the world that run up.

I believe all if not most rivers begin at a source like a lake. Most rivers also have other rivers and creeks that run into them and contribute. I think Nile is Lake Victoria.

And yes, evaporation is the reason for the constant rush of water. I have to constantly pour water into my pond but it has been raining a lot in LA this month so I have been given a nice reprieve.

The ocean covers most of the earth, which evaporates every second, as does all other bodies of water, even my fish tanks which goes into the atmosphere and clouds rain down on us. I know you probably know this. Scientists believe that comets were the objects that brought H20 to earth originally, but that I think is up for debate.

I know this probably did not help

 

[Juxtaroberto]

Thanks for the replies but, really....that much water in rain keeps the nile up to height???? The nile flows ???billions of gallons every ?????minutes. Does africa get billions of gallons of rains to keep up with the trillions of gallons it expells???? Please no sacasim. I am serious here. I came to the site cause I know there are some smart cats on here who can explain. Help me to learn this question that is really stumping me.

Yeah. See, the ocean stays at a mostly constant temperature. How does it do this? Anytime it starts to heat up, water just evaporates from the surface, releasing that heat as latent (hidden) heat instead of absorbing it. Now, half of the world is constantly illuminated at any given moment, right? Can you imagine how much radiation the ocean gets bombarded with? How much it needs to evaporate to stay the same temperature (it doesn't do this consciously, but it's one of the properties of water).

Now, some rivers also come from underground reservoirs, but those also formed form rain percolating down onto the water table.

 

[Thalan]

Hi turtlepower, I have actually been on the Nile and it truly is an amazing river, like the Red River in N.D./M.N. it is one of two rivers in the world that run up.

Th St. Johns also runs north..... because Georgia sucks. (Sorry local humor)

 

[sapphire384]

that's dar alman asir. its a sunset over a cataphract in egypt. i got it from wikipedia. thought since we were talking about africa i'd show a pretty picture!