Figure 9-1: R I V U X G
Earth’s Dynamic Oceans This image shows the relative size of Earth compared to a sphere containing all of Earth’s water. The sphere is about 860 miles in diameter and includes fresh water, oceans, ice, and even water in the atmosphere. Nearly three-quarters of Earth’s surface is covered with water, a substance that is essential to the existence of life. In contrast, there is no liquid water at all on Mercury, Venus, Mars, or the Moon.
Earth’s Dynamic Oceans This image shows the relative size of Earth compared to a sphere containing all of Earth’s water. The sphere is about 860 miles in diameter and includes fresh water, oceans, ice, and even water in the atmosphere. Nearly three-quarters of Earth’s surface is covered with water, a substance that is essential to the existence of life. In contrast, there is no liquid water at all on Mercury, Venus, Mars, or the Moon.
(Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Howard Perlman, USGS)