To explain: Whether the amount of precipitation and evapotranspiration over the continents the same or not.
Answer to Problem 1LC
The amount of precipitation and evapotranspiration are not the same over the continents, rather the precipitation amount goes beyond the amount of evapotranspiration.
Explanation of Solution
Of the total precipitation falling on the Earth, only
The water infiltrated may else be stored as soil moisture or penetrates to even more depth to become a part of the groundwater. The groundwater would appear again on the surface as springs and the soil moisture would ultimately transpire or evaporate into the atmosphere.
If taken on a global scale including both the oceans and land surface the rate of precipitation and evapotranspiration is in balance. But if the continents alone are considered, precipitation surpasses evapotranspiration and vice versa in the case of oceans. The advectional movement of moist marine air onto the land surfaces creates this imbalance between the precipitation and evapotranspiration on continents.
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Chapter 9 Solutions
McKnight's Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation Plus Mastering Geography with Pearson eText -- Access Card Package (12th Edition)