Infiltration is the process by which water can seep or be absorbed into the soil, which makes the soil wet or turns the water into groundwater. If there is something covering the soil, like a road or a sidewalk, then the water cannot be absorbed and instead sits on the hard surface. Parks and gardens allow the soil to be exposed and the water cycle to continue.

Evaporation is the process of water moving from the liquid phase to the gaseous phase and rising into the atmosphere. Once water has evaporated, it rises up into the atmosphere where it cools and forms clouds. During precipitation, this water may turn into river, lake, or ground water, which plants may have access to through their roots. 

When plants lose water through its leaves, it is called transpiration. This happens when it gets too hot and the water they have stored evaporates and escapes from the stomata of their leaves. Respiration refers to the cellular process by which energy is produced. Perspiration is also known as sweating, and is used to prevent overheating. Precipitation is the falling of water (in one of several forms) from the atmosphere.

Evaporation, transpiration and sublimation are the three processes by which water is vaporized and allowed to enter into the atmosphere. Transpiration is the process by which water is lost from plants during photosynthesis and respiration. Evaporation is the process by which water is vaporized by absorbing enough solar energy to break away from the rest of the water molecules, note the body of water does not come to a boil during evaporation. Sublimation is the vaporization of ice into water vapor in much the same way that evaporation occurs. 

The Earth's freshwater composes 2.5% of the total water on Earth of which only 1.2% is available as surface water. 

Only precipitation and runoff are the only two hydrologic cycle processes from the potential answers that result in major erosion. 

The glacial ice of the Arctic and Antarctic along with mountain glacial peaks compose 68.7% of all the freshwater on Earth. 

The carbon cycle is one of the most important cycles to living organisms. Carbon is one the most abundant elements on earth, helping to form molecules such as sugars, lipids, and proteins. There is a constant exchange of carbon from the abiotic and biotic environmental elements to the atmosphere. The breakdown of glucose is known as cellular respiration, and creates the byproduct carbon dioxide. This exhaled carbon dioxide is the method by which humans return carbon to the carbon cycle. Plants capture this carbon dioxide and use it to make sugars in a process called photosynthesis. As organisms die, they decompose and get compressed by soil, sand, or ice. These remains result in stored fossil fuels, which will be utilized by plants and extracted by humans for energy. Their extraction can cause a buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, leading to global warming.

The carbon dioxide that is released and then absorbed by plants is part of the carbon cycle because carbon dioxide is made up of a carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. The carbon cycle involves transfer of carbon from organic sources (decaying animals and plants), to the soil as fossil fuels and plant nutrients, to the air via plant absorption and fossil fuel burning, and back to organic sources as plants consume carbon dioxide in photosynthesis and animals consume plants.

Animals can release carbon through respiration via exhalation of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Animals can also release carbon by decomposition, which breaks down organismal waste and dead organisms, and puts the carbon into the soil.

Plants use photosynthesis to capture carbon dioxide, and can store carbon via carbon fixation. Humans can burn wood and fossil fuels into the atmosphere, but most animals cannot release carbon via such processes.