Percentage Of Ocean Water On Earth – K is for Quintillion — a very large number that looks like 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000! As the E/V Nautilus has discovered in recent research, there are just as many interesting facts about the deep sea. Explore below to learn more about our underwater world.
The ocean contains 352 quintillion gallons of water! Water enters the ocean from rivers and melting ice and leaves the ocean for the atmosphere by evaporation.
Percentage Of Ocean Water On Earth
Because so much of our oceans remain unexplored, it’s impossible to know how many species of animals call its waters home. Scientists estimate that 91 percent of ocean species have yet to be classified, making Nautilus’ work vital. One study found that there are at least 228,450 known species in the ocean – with an estimated 2 million yet to be discovered.
The Health Benefits Of Sea Water
The seabed provides an often untouched record of human history, making it an important research target for archaeologists studying the complex chronicles of humanity. An estimated 3 million shipwrecks can be found at the bottom of the oceans around the planet — most of which have yet to be discovered!
The beetle-sized Volkswagen ROV is built to withstand pressures at a depth of 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) with more than 6,000 pounds per square inch (psi) of force. That’s about 2.5 miles deep! ROV
The average depth of the ocean is about 12,100 feet (3,600 meters) – or about 2.3 miles! The age and size of the ocean affect its depth. The Pacific is the deepest basin of the world ocean.
Most of the surface of our planet is covered with water! The world’s oceans cover 71% of the Earth’s surface, which equates to about 139 million square miles (360 million square kilometers) of salty blue.
Why Is Pressure Different In The Ocean?
Located more than 35,000 feet (10,600 meters) below the ocean’s surface, part of the Mariana Trench is the ocean’s deepest point.
Deep-sea corals continue to amaze scientists with their remarkable ability to thrive in some of the most inhospitable environments on Earth – and have done so for thousands of years! A coral colony has the ability to survive for millennia, which allows researchers to piece together ecological puzzles, such as major climate events throughout our planet’s history.
Hydrothermal vents are cracks in the Earth’s seafloor that spew superheated, mineral-rich water — like geysers spewing forth from volcanoes! Seawater in hydrothermal vents can reach temperatures in excess of 700° Fahrenheit (370° Celsius), but seawater does not boil due to the extreme pressure at the depths where these unique features are found.
We have better maps of Mars than our own ocean! As of June 2020, the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 project, which aims to enable complete mapping of the global ocean floor by 2030, has only mapped one-fifth of the entire world’s seabed. That’s equivalent to maps only twice the size of Australia!
This Is What The World Would Look Like If The Oceans Dried Up
Stretching more than 64,000 kilometers around the planet, the mid-ocean ridge is the longest mountain range in the world. But there is very little chance of seeing this unique formation with your own eyes – over 90% of the mid-ocean ridge is underwater.
For every 33 feet (10 meters) of depth, ocean pressure increases by one atmosphere. At the bottom of the Mariana Trench – the deepest part of the ocean – the pressure is greater than 16,000 pounds per square inch (PSI). For comparison, the air pressure at sea level that humans experience daily is 14.7 PSI.
Most of the most active volcanic systems on our planet are under water below 2,000 meters. In total, there are an estimated 75,000 volcanoes that rise more than half a mile (1 kilometer) above the ocean floor.
Located off the coast of Australia, the Great Barrier Reef stretches for more than 1,400 miles. Not only is the reef the largest living structure on Earth, it’s also visible from space.
How Big Is The Pacific Ocean?: Ocean Exploration Facts: Noaa Office Of Ocean Exploration And Research
In short: a lot. Tiny photosynthetic organisms, known as phytoplankton, help turn sunlight into oxygen, just as plants do on land. Scientists believe that between 50% and 80% of the oxygen produced on Earth comes from our oceans. Plankton that sinks like marine snow is also an important food source for deep-sea organisms.
We know very little about deep sea sponges, but we’re sure that these aquatic invertebrates are quite abundant! To date, scientists have described over 8,500 species of sponges worldwide, but there are probably more than 25,000, making it highly likely that many of the specimens collected by researchers at E/V
Here’s a hint: it’s in the ocean. Physical forces separate water of different temperatures so that warm water rises and cold, denser water sinks. Cold dense water travels along the sea floor. In the Denmark Strait, between Iceland and Greenland, cold, thick water flows over the Denmark Cataract, which rapidly drops 2,400 meters to create the largest waterfall in the world.
Brings its own lighting system. This is because sunlight entering water can only travel up to 1,000 meters under the best conditions, but in most cases cannot penetrate further than 200 meters.
This Is What Earth Would Look Like If The Oceans Slowly Drained Away
That title belongs to Point Nemo, a spot on the map located between South America and New Zealand. Celebrated in Jules Verne
, Point Nemo is located more than 1,600 miles (2,600 kilometers) from the nearest land at coordinates 48°52.6′S, 123°23.6′W.
’ mapping operations transit over unmapped areas to contribute to the Seabed 2030 initiative, an international joint project to combine all bathymetric data to create a comprehensive map of the ocean floor. As of 2012, we have mapped over 96,500 square miles (250,000 square kilometers) of seafloor in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Pacific Oceans, which is 0.07% of the ocean. Fortunately, many organizations are working towards the goal of a global ocean map.
At 223 feet (68 meters), our research vessel can travel 13,000 nautical miles (24,000 kilometers) at 10 knots on a charge and spend up to 40 consecutive days at sea. Earth is unique because it has so much water. It is found in the ground, on the surface, in the air and in our bodies.
Oceans, Land And Deep Subsurface: How Is Life Distributed Across Environments?
How much water is there on Earth alone? About 71% of the Earth’s surface is water. If you took all the water on Earth and put it in a sphere, it would be about 860 miles wide.
Where is that water? Is it salt water or fresh water? How much water is there in glaciers, groundwater, rivers and lakes?
Let’s take a look at some interesting facts about the global distribution and volume of water on Earth.
If you crunch the numbers, here are the percentages in the global water distribution of all these water sources.
Question Video: Recognizing Which Section Of A Pie Chart Corresponds To The Percentage Of Water Coverage On The Earth’s Surface
The table is a rough approximation of the global distribution of water as some water in the atmosphere as water vapor, permafrost and biological water.
Most of the Earth is salt water in the oceans. About 97.2% of the Earth’s surface water is in the oceans. There are 5 oceans surrounding the continents.
The average depth of the ocean is 2.7 kilometers, so the volume of water is about 1,338,000,000 cubic kilometers. Oceans are the basis of the water cycle.
Water moves continuously in nature in three phases: evaporation, condensation and surface runoff. Ocean currents are like giant conveyor belts that constantly move huge volumes of water.
Climate Change Indicators: Ocean Acidity
About 2.1% of the Earth’s water is in glaciers. Glaciers are the second largest reservoir of water with most of them in Greenland and Antarctica. Currently, the glaciers store about 24,060,000 cubic kilometers of water.
Glaciers vary most in water availability with ice ages and global warming. As temperatures rise, sea levels rise with it.
This is because the melting of ice sheets and glaciers adds to the total volume of water. Scientists estimate that sea levels will rise 32 to 68 inches by 2100. This sea level rise could swallow up parts of coastal cities like Shanghai, Olympia and New York.
As a hidden source of water, we find groundwater everywhere. About 0.65% of the water on Earth is found in groundwater stored in aquifers.
Question Video: Recalling What Percentage Of Water On Earth’s Surface Is Salt Water
There are two types of groundwater – saline and fresh groundwater. Fresh groundwater makes up about 45% of the country’s water. While saline groundwater makes up about 55%.
Groundwater has more than 100 times more fresh water than lakes and streams combined. In addition, groundwater is difficult to extract from the ground, slow to recharge and easily contaminated. That’s why groundwater is a delicate resource that we use as a rainy day fund and draw on in times of need.
Only 0.009% of water is stored in lakes. For example, the Great Lakes are sources of fresh water that comprise about 21% of the freshwater lakes on Earth. Lake Baikal in Russia has roughly the equivalent of all 5 great lakes.
Although rainwater washes minerals and salts into rivers and lakes, they are mostly freshwater. This is because their minerals are washed away and transported to the outlet in the nearest ocean. So, unlike salty oceans, lakes and rivers are constantly leaching minerals.
The World’s Saltiest Bodies Of Water
Salt lakes are landlocked bodies of water
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