But the soil can hold only so much water. And when the ground becomes saturated, the excess water drains into lakes, rivers, oceans, etc. This excess water is called runoff. Then the hydrologic cycle starts all over again. The four major parts of the hydrologic cycle are in bold face.
Questions Name the four major parts of the hydrologic cycle.
The Hydrograph A storm hydrograph is a graph of river stage or discharge at a gaging site versus time. But before going into more detail of the hydrograph, let's define some terms. Stage is the height or level of the water surface above a given point at a particular location along the river. Discharge is the rate at which water passes a given point. Runoff is that part of the rainfall which travels over land into various bodies of water.