The global hydrologic cycle distributes water across reservoirs of vastly different sizes. After oceans and glacial ice, groundwater is the largest freshwater reservoir by volume, followed by the atmosphere (as water vapour), while rivers/streams hold the smallest volume of water among common reservoirs at any instant despite their high flux.
Ranking terrestrial water reservoirs by abundance (volume stored at any given time): groundwater (largest of these three, occupying pore spaces in the crust down to...
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