GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The ultimate source of water flowing in any stream is snowmelt, rain-on-snow, or rainfall. Snowmelt generally produces regular seasonal patterns of stream flow during the onset of warmer temperatures with melting of snow packs accumulated during the winter.

Detailed explanation-2: -Groundwater sources are beneath the land surface and include springs and wells. As can be seen from the hydrologic cycle, when rain falls to the ground, some water flows along the land to streams or lakes, some water evaporates into the atmosphere, some is taken up by plants, and some seeps into the ground.

Detailed explanation-3: -About three-quarters of Earth’s freshwater is stored in glaciers. Therefore, glacier ice is the second largest reservoir of water on Earth and the largest reservoir of freshwater on Earth!

Detailed explanation-4: -Most groundwater originates as meteoric water from precipitation in the form of rain or snow.

Detailed explanation-5: -Groundwater is recharged both from the glacial meltwater river and local precipitation falling on the aquifer or draining from nearby hillslopes. Glacier meltwater is particularly important in a zone from 50 to 500 m from the river, where glacier meltwater comprises >25 % and often >50 % of recharge.