9. The Hydrological Cycle
In the same way that blood flows through the arteries and veins of
the human body, so does water through the lithosphere of the Earth.
The cyclical movement of water from subterranean regions to the
atmosphere and back again is called 'the hydrological or water
cycle.' Today this complete circulation of water is usually inter-
rupted by human intervention, being limited to the atmosphere and
the Earth's surface. Viktor called this the half hydrological cycle, the
shortcomings of which contribute significantly to our present cli-
mate change.The full hydrological cycle
The diagram below (Fig. 9.1) shows the full hydrological cycle. At
the left hand side the upward, anti-clockwise spirals indicate the
evaporation of water from the sea. This rises, condenses and falls as
rain. Some sinks into the earth and some drains away over the
ground surface, depending on whether the ground is forested and
what type of temperature gradient is active. In areas of natural for-
est where a positive temperature gradient normally prevails about
85% of rainfall is retained, 15% by the vegetation and humus and
about 70% sinking to the groundwater aquifer and underground
stream recharge.
This underground recharge is important, because water that is
linked to the subterranean water system acquires the negative energy
charge of the Earth. In a natural forest, the mature trees with deep
roots bring up this negatively charged water, along with vital miner-
als and trace elements from the deeper soils. As we shall see in Chap-
ter 14, trees act as biocondensers, harmonizing the positive energy
from the Sun with the negative energy of the Earth. As a result, the
evapo-transpiration from the leaves of the trees is a balanced, cre-
ative energy. This is shown in the diagram as a different direction of
spiral from the evaporation from the oceans, to indicate its superior
quality. The forest, as a more dynamic living system, creates transpi-
ration that carries the energy (nonmaterial) imprint of all the reso-
nances of the complex biosystem, including the subterranean
- THE HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE