The sun makes the rivers and streams warm, some of the water turns into steam or vapor, and it leaves the river and goes into the air where it becomes a cloud. Oceans Rivers and streams carry all of the water that comes from rain and melted snow into the oceans. When the sun shines on the oceans, the water gets warmer and becomes vapor, which goes into the air and becomes a cloud. Most of the water on the earth is in the oceans. Water Shed The area of land that drains into a specific river system.
Water always seeks the lowest spot it can find.
Hard water Contains dissolved minerals because it has flowed over soft rocks which erode easily. Soft water Contains very few dissolved minerals because it has flowed over hard rocks which do not easily erode. Erosion Runoff carries loose soil with it causing erosion. Thousands of acres of top soil are lost each year. The fields in Pennsylannia had 2 feet of top soil before people started farming, now some ares have only 7 inches left.