Hydrosphere

The hydrosphere (from Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr) 'water', and σφαῖρα (sphaîra) 'sphere')^[1]^[2] is the combined mass of water found on, under, and above the surface of a planet, minor planet, or natural satellite. Although Earth's hydrosphere has been around for about 4 billion years,^[3]^[4] it continues to change in shape. This is caused by seafloor spreading and continental drift, which rearranges the land and ocean.^[5]

It has been estimated that there are 1.386 billion cubic kilometres (333 million cubic miles) of water on Earth.^[6]^[7]^[8] This includes water in gaseous, liquid and frozen forms as soil moisture, groundwater and permafrost in the Earth's crust (to a depth of 2 km); oceans and seas, lakes, rivers and streams, wetlands, glaciers, ice and snow cover on Earth's surface; vapour, droplets and crystals in the air; and part of living plants, animals and unicellular organisms of the biosphere. Saltwater accounts for 97.5% of this amount, whereas fresh water accounts for only 2.5%. Of this fresh water, 68.9% is in the form of ice and permanent snow cover in the Arctic, the Antarctic and mountain glaciers; 30.8% is in the form of fresh groundwater; and only 0.3% of the fresh water on Earth is in easily accessible lakes, reservoirs and river systems.^[9]

The total mass of Earth's hydrosphere is about 1.4 × 10¹⁸ tonnes, which is about 0.023% of Earth's total mass. At any given time, about 2 × 10¹³ tonnes of this is in the form of water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere (for practical purposes, 1 cubic metre of water weighs 1 tonne). Approximately 71% of Earth's surface, an area of some 361 million square kilometres (139.5 million square miles), is covered by ocean. The average salinity of Earth's oceans is about 35 grams of salt per kilogram of sea water (3.5%).^[10]

^ ὕδωρ, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
^ σφαῖρα, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
^ Encyclopædia Britannica, 'Hydrosphere': https://www.britannica.com/science/hydrosphere/Origin-and-evolution-of-the-hydrosphere
^ Albarède, Francis; Blichert-Toft, Janne (November 2007). "The split fate of the early Earth, Mars, Venus, and Moon". Comptes Rendus Geoscience. 339 (14–15): 917–927. Bibcode:2007CRGeo.339..917A. doi:10.1016/j.crte.2007.09.006.
^ "Our Changing Planet: an Introduction to Earth System Science and Global Environmental Change." Our Changing Planet: an Introduction to Earth System Science and Global Environmental Change, by Fred T. Mackenzie, 2nd ed., Pearson Education, 2011, pp. 88–91.
^ Where is Earth's water?, United States Geological Survey.
^ Eakins, B.W. and G.F. Sharman, Volumes of the World's Oceans from ETOPO1, NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, CO, 2010.
^ Water in Crisis: Chapter 2, Peter H. Gleick, Oxford University Press, 1993.
^ World Water Resources: A New Appraisal and Assessment for the 21st Century (Report). UNESCO. 1998. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
^ Kennish, Michael J. (2001). Practical handbook of marine science. Marine science series (3rd ed.). CRC Press. p. 35. ISBN 0-8493-2391-6.

[1] ὕδωρ, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus

[2] σφαῖρα, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus

[3] Encyclopædia Britannica, 'Hydrosphere': https://www.britannica.com/science/hydrosphere/Origin-and-evolution-of-the-hydrosphere

[4] Albarède, Francis; Blichert-Toft, Janne (November 2007). "The split fate of the early Earth, Mars, Venus, and Moon". Comptes Rendus Geoscience. 339 (14–15): 917–927. Bibcode:2007CRGeo.339..917A. doi:10.1016/j.crte.2007.09.006.

[Our_Changing_Planet_2011,_pp._88-5] "Our Changing Planet: an Introduction to Earth System Science and Global Environmental Change." Our Changing Planet: an Introduction to Earth System Science and Global Environmental Change, by Fred T. Mackenzie, 2nd ed., Pearson Education, 2011, pp. 88–91.

[USGS-6] Where is Earth's water?, United States Geological Survey.

[7] Eakins, B.W. and G.F. Sharman, Volumes of the World's Oceans from ETOPO1, NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, CO, 2010.

[8] Water in Crisis: Chapter 2, Peter H. Gleick, Oxford University Press, 1993.

[Shiklomanov1998-9] World Water Resources: A New Appraisal and Assessment for the 21st Century (Report). UNESCO. 1998. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.

[10] Kennish, Michael J. (2001). Practical handbook of marine science. Marine science series (3rd ed.). CRC Press. p. 35. ISBN 0-8493-2391-6.

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