Why does the lake water not evaporate or soak into the ground?

In fact, water actually evaporates and seeps into the ground. However, the evaporation rate is very slow and the amount of water in the tank is continuously replenished, while the ground below will be saturated when water is permeated to a certain extent.

You may remember the concept of "evaporation" learned from high school. Simply put, evaporation is the process by which the liquid turns into a gaseous body under the influence of temperature and / or pressure. There are dozens of examples of this phenomenon in everyday life: wet clothes are dried in the sun, wet ground becomes dry after a period of time, wet hair quickly loses moisture if you go in the sun.

These are all proofs that water evaporates if it stays in the sun for too long. So why doesn't lake water evaporate?

Why does lake water not evaporate?

As mentioned above, water evaporates when there is a high heat source. The sun is the most natural, readily available, and stable source of heat on the planet, so why it is impossible to evaporate the water in the lake, or at least reduce the amount of water to the extent that anyone can realize?

There is a simple example to prove this phenomenon: Fill a glass of water with water and put it under the sun. After a few hours, you will see a significant reduction in the amount of water in the cup.

Picture 1 of Why does the lake water not evaporate or soak into the ground?
Water in the glass cup evaporates.(photo: Science ABC).

As you may have guessed, evaporation is caused by heat from the sun. The same thing happens with large waters, water actually evaporates. However, we can hardly recognize the difference in water levels in these areas.

There are two main reasons : first, the amount of water in ponds and large water bodies is enormous. Therefore, the evaporation process takes place very slowly, making it impossible to recognize the difference in water levels.

If so, in theory, the water in the pond must also run out after a certain amount of time, for example after a few weeks, a few months? Thankfully, that doesn't happen too often, thanks to the water cycle.

Picture 2 of Why does the lake water not evaporate or soak into the ground?
Water cycle.(photo: Science ABC).

You must have been taught this concept when you were still in school. The water cycle, or hydrological cycle, is the process of water evaporating into the air from ponds, streams and oceans, before condensing and returning to the ground in the form of rain, snow, hail .

This means that the evaporation of water from ponds and lakes will be naturally compensated by rain and other similar forms. However, there are still some freshwater lakes that are actually depleted over time if the rehydration rate is not fast enough.

Why does water not soak up to the ground?

At this point, we all understand why the amount of water in ponds and lakes will not decrease so much through evaporation, but what makes the water not soak up to the ground?

In fact, water seeps into the ground, however .

You know, water permeability depends on the soil beneath the lake . If the lake is too deep, then the high possibility of the bottom of the lake will be clay or impervious rock. In addition, the soil also has a "no limit". We say an object is "full" , or saturated, if it cannot absorb / absorb any particular thing.

Since there is always a water available to be absorbed above, the bottom of the lake will be "full" and no more water can be absorbed. Remember that different soil types will have different "water absorption rates" . The larger the particle, the faster the infiltration rate. In addition, many natural lakes are formed at high altitudes and often receive water from underground vessels.

In short, the water has soaked down, but to a specific limit, the soil under the lake is saturated, no more permeable. Meanwhile, the amount of water remaining in the lake will continue to participate in the slow evaporation process, then be compensated in many different ways.

In general, if a water entity has enough water and is often compensated naturally, then there is no reason for that water to disappear!