Beside water being important to life on Earth, the movement of water is one of the most important geologic processes affecting our planet. It not only plays a part in shaping the Earth’s surface, but also in shaping human lives on the planet. After all, humans have long settled where there is plenty of water, especially along rivers and ocean shores.
Water has carved a “feature-full” world. Lakes form high in the mountains or in flatlands. Running water from mountain glaciers carves deep valleys and carries sediment into rivers that drain into the oceans. Water will always be with us-at least until the Earth is consumed by the sun-which means we can count on about 5 billion years of water carving rock and depositing material on our planet’s surface.