Through which process can a river help in groundwater recharge?

Correct answer: Water seeping through the river bed and banks

Groundwater recharge occurs when water moves from the surface into pores, cracks, and spaces in soil and rock, adding to underground water storage. A river can support this process when some of its water seeps through the riverbed and banks into permeable ground. Therefore, option C is correct. The amount of recharge depends on factors such as the type of sediment, the permeability of the bed and banks, the duration of flow, and the condition of the groundwater system.

The other choices describe impossible or unrelated events. River water does not remain permanently in the sky, and it does not instantly become saline merely because it eventually reaches the sea. A river cannot turn into stone. The essential word is “seeping”: infiltration from the channel or its sides allows surface water to enter underground spaces. Thus the supplied answer C correctly explains how rivers may help replenish groundwater.