Meaning & use
hydrosphere
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Meaning
nounsingularspecialist
All the water on Earth, including oceans, rivers, ice, groundwater, and water vapor in the air.
Grammar: Usually singular and uncountable in school science; do not use a hydrosphere for the whole system.
Patterns
- Earth's hydrosphere
- water in the hydrosphere
- the hydrosphere and atmosphere
The hydrosphere includes frozen glaciers as well as liquid seas.
Climate models track heat moving between the atmosphere and hydrosphere.
Common combinations
- Earth's hydrosphere
- Earth's hydrosphere is mostly ocean water.
- the hydrosphere cycle
- Lessons linked the hydrosphere with evaporation and rainfall.
- hydrosphere and lithosphere
- The worksheet asked students to compare the hydrosphere and lithosphere.
Word family
- hydrospheric adjective
- Relating to the hydrosphere.
- hydrological adjective
- Relating to water movement and distribution on Earth.
Commonly confused: hydrosphere or atmosphere?
hydrosphere vs atmosphere
The atmosphere is the layer of gases around Earth; the hydrosphere is Earth's water.
Practice
Which is part of the hydrosphere?
Choose one answer.
An underground aquifer is stored groundwater, so it belongs to the hydrosphere; air oxygen is atmospheric, granite is lithospheric, and ash is mainly atmospheric or deposited material.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hydrosphere”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.