| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) |
Standardized Result |
|---|---|---|
| Garrison, Tom S. Oceanography: An Invitation to Marine Science. Thompson Brooks/Cole, 2005: 4. | "The average depth of the ocean is about 3,796 meters (12,451 feet), the volume of seawater 1.37 billion cubic kilometers" | 1.37 billion km3 |
| "The World Ocean." The Columbia Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. 2007, 6th Ed. New York: Columbia University Press. | "The World ocean has an area of about 361 million sq km (139,400,000 sq mi), an average depth of about 3,730 m (12,230) ft, and a total volume of about 1,347,000,000 cu km (322,280,000 cu mi)." | 1.347 billion km3 |
| Viau, Elizabeth Anne. World Builders: Water on Earth. California State University Los Angeles. 2003. | [see table 1] | 1.310302 billion km3 |
| Gleick, P.H. Earth's water distribution. Water Science for Schools. U.S. Geological Survey. 28 August 2006. | [see table 2] | 1.338 billion km3 |
| "Ocean Volume and Depth." Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia 10th ed. 2008. | "The volume of the oceans and their seas is nearly 1.5 × 109 [sic] cubic kilometers" | 1.5 billion km3 |
You've heard it all before: 70 percent of the earth is covered in water! But what does that really mean? These waters that are spoken of have a breakdown into five different categories: Oceans, rivers, lakes, groundwater, and ice. As an essential part of our daily diet, water is vital for the survival of our ecosystem. The world's oceans comprise 97.3% of the total water on earth and consists of 5 oceans: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Southern. The current range for the volume of the world's ocean is from 1.3 to 1.5 billion cubic kilometers and it will still get larger and larger as time passes.
There are two origins of water: comets (extraterrestrial bombardment) and out gassing (condensation of steam from early volcanism). These processes are continuing today. It is estimated that the volume of the earth's ocean increases by 1 cubic meter every year.
| Volume in Thousands of Cubic Kilometers |
Percentage of Total Water on Earth |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oceans | 1,310,302 | 97.3 | This is salty sea water. |
| Ice | 29,492 | 2.2 | Much of this ice is in the Antarctic |
| Groundwater | 6,733 | 0.5 | Underground aquifers, deep wells |
| Lakes | 242 | 0.02 | Provide drinking water, irrigation water, fish and recreation |
| Soil Moisture | 74 | 0.005 | This is being used by our crops, trees, and surface vegetation |
| Water Vapor in the Atmosphere | 14 | 0.001 | Clouds, fog, and dew |
| Rivers | 1.3 | 0.0001 | Provide water for drinking, irrigation, and recreation |
| Adapted from: Environment Canada | |||
| Water source | Water volume, in cubic miles |
Water volume, in cubic kilometers |
Percent of fresh water |
Percent of total water |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oceans, Seas, & Bays | 321,000,000 | 1,338,000,000 | -- | 96.5 |
| Ice caps, Glaciers, & Permanent Snow | 5,773,000 | 24,064,000 | 68.7 | 1.74 |
| Groundwater | 5,614,000 | 23,400,000 | -- | 1.7 |
| Fresh | 2,526,000 | 10,530,000 | 30.1 | 0.76 |
| Saline | 3,088,000 | 12,870,000 | -- | 0.94 |
| Soil Moisture | 3,959 | 16,500 | 0.05 | 0.001 |
| Ground Ice & Permafrost | 71,970 | 300,000 | 0.86 | 0.022 |
| Lakes | 42,320 | 176,400 | -- | 0.013 |
| Fresh | 21,830 | 91,000 | 0.26 | 0.007 |
| Saline | 20,490 | 85,400 | -- | 0.006 |
| Atmosphere | 3,095 | 12,900 | 0.04 | 0.001 |
| Swamp Water | 2,752 | 11,470 | 0.03 | 0.0008 |
| Rivers | 509 | 2,120 | 0.006 | 0.0002 |
| Biological Water | 269 | 1,120 | 0.003 | 0.0001 |
| Total | 332,500,000 | 1,386,000,000 | – | 100 |
| Source: Gleick, P. H., 1996: Water resources. In Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather, ed. by S. H. Schneider, Oxford University Press, New York, vol. 2, pp. 817–823. | ||||
Ketsia Erra -- 2008