Water contains all of the enchantment that exists on this world.

Water is a chemical compound made up of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O) that is essential for all kinds of life. Water is commonly used to refer to its liquid condition, although it also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor, or steam. 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. It is largely found in oceans and other major bodies of water on Earth, with 1.6 percent of water beneath the ground in aquifers and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds, and precipitation. Oceans hold 97 percent of surface water, glaciers and polar ice caps 2.4 percent, and rivers, lakes, and ponds 0.6 percent. Furthermore, living beings and manufactured objects include a little quantity of the Earth’s water.

Ocean

Ocean2

An ocean is a large body of saline water that is an important part of the hydrosphere. Ocean, a continuous body of water that is usually separated into several primary oceans and smaller seas, covers approximately 71 percent of the Earth’s surface (an area of 361 million square kilometers). More than half of this area has a depth of more than 3,000 meters (9,800 ft). The average oceanic salinity (3.5 percent) is roughly 35 parts per thousand (ppt), and practically all seawater has a salinity of 30 to 38 ppt. Though these waters are commonly referred to as numerous “different” seas, they actually form one global, linked body of salt water known as the World Ocean or global ocean. In oceanography, the concept of a global ocean as a continuous body of water with relatively unrestricted interchange among its components is significant.

The Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean are the major oceanic divisions, which are defined in part by continents, various archipelagos, and other criteria: these divisions are (in descending order of size) the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean. Seas, gulfs, bays, and other names are used to describe smaller parts of the oceans. Salt lakes, which are smaller bodies of landlocked saltwater that are not connected to the World Ocean, are also present. The Aral Sea and the Great Salt Lake are two well-known salt lakes.

Lakes

Vermillion lake

A lake (from the Latin word lacus) is a terrain feature (or physical feature) on the surface of the earth that is localized to the bottom of a basin (another sort of landform or terrain feature; that is, it is not global) and moves slowly if at all. A lake is defined as a body of water that is inland, not in the ocean, is larger and deeper than a pond, and is supplied by a river. Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, features lakes of ethane, most likely combined with methane, and is the only world known to have lakes other than Earth. Although Titan’s surface is shaped by countless river beds, it is unknown if Titan’s lakes are fed by rivers. Natural lakes can be found in hilly places, rift zones, and areas where glacier is occurring or has recently occurred. Other lakes can be found in endorheic basins or along mature river channels. Because of unstable drainage patterns left over from the previous Ice Age, there are many lakes in various places of the planet. Over geologic time spans, all lakes will gradually fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin in which they are contained.

Ponds

ponds

A pond is a natural or man-made body of standing water that is usually smaller than a lake. Ponds encompass a wide range of man-made bodies of water, including water gardens for aesthetic adornment, fish ponds for commercial fish breeding, and solar ponds for storing thermal energy. Current speed distinguishes ponds and lakes from streams. While stream currents are plainly visible, thermally driven micro-currents and mild wind-driven currents exist in ponds and lakes. These characteristics set a pond apart from other types of aquatic terrain, such as stream pools and tidal pools.

River

A river is a natural watercourse that flows towards an ocean, a lake, the sea, or another river, and is usually freshwater. A river may just flow into the ground or dry up altogether before reaching another source of water in some instances. Small rivers are often known by other names such as stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill; there is no universal definition of what qualifies as a river. Burn in Scotland and North-east England is an example of a term for a tiny river that is specific to its locality. Due to ambiguity in the terminology, a river is sometimes said to be larger than a creek, but this is not always the case.The hydrological cycle includes a river. Surface runoff, groundwater recharge, springs, and the discharge of stored water in natural ice and snowpacks are all common ways for water to enter a river (i.e., from glaciers).

Stream

stream

A stream is a body of water that flows with a current and is contained by a bed and stream banks. A stream in the United States is defined as a watercourse that is less than 60 feet (18 meters) broad. Streams play a vital role in the water cycle by acting as conduits for water, as well as instruments for groundwater recharge and as migration corridors for fish and wildlife. A riparian zone is the ecological area immediately adjacent to a stream. Given the continuous Holocene extinction, streams play a vital role in integrating fragmented habitats and hence in biodiversity conservation.Hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, aquatic ecology, fish biology, riparian ecology, and other fields of inter-disciplinary natural science and engineering are all involved in the study of streams and waterways in general.

 

What Causes the Ocean to Be Blue?

The ocean is blue, according to popular belief, because it reflects the blue sky. However, this is a misinterpretation.  According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the ocean is blue because of how it absorbs sunlight (NOAA). When sunlight strikes the ocean, it absorbs both long-wavelength hues at the red end of the spectrum and short-wavelength light, such as violet and ultraviolet. Blue wavelengths make up the majority of the remaining light we perceive.

The amount of light that can be absorbed by the water determines how blue it is. Water in a glass, for example, appears transparent because there aren’t enough water molecules to absorb the light.

However, the deeper you go down the water column, the bluer the water seems. Infrared, red, and ultraviolet light are absorbed first by water molecules, followed by yellow, green, and violet light. According to NASA, blue light is absorbed the least, giving it the highest ocean penetration depth.

If you look at unedited underwater images that weren’t taken with a camera flash or some artificial light source, you’ll notice that even the most vivid tropical fish appear blue.