Water

Water is found in many places on Earth including on the surface of the planet, within rocks below the surface, and in the atmosphere.  Water travels between different areas of the Earth through the water cycle. About 70% of the Earth surface is covered with water, and most of that is the ocean. Only a small portion of the Earth's water is freshwater, which is found in rivers, lakes, and groundwater. Freshwater is needed for drinking, farming, and washing. In addition to liquid water, water is also present on Earth in the form of ice. Without water, life as we know it would not exist.

Two large warm water eddies are swirling to the north of the <a href="/earth/Water/gulf_stream.html">Gulf Stream current</a> in this satellite image recorded with the AVHRR sensor (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) aboard a NOAA satellite on June 11, 1997. Blue colors indicate cooler water, while yellow and orange colors indicate warmer water.<p><small><em>Courtesy of the Ocean Remote Sensing Group, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory</em></small></p>The <a
  href="/earth/Water/ocean.html">oceans</a>
  are full of <a
  href="/earth/Life/life1.html">life</a>.
  Anthias are small, peaceful reef fish, and are a significant fraction of the
  colorful fishes seen in <a
  href="/earth/climate/coral_change.html">coral
  reef</a> areas. They occur in all tropical <a
  href="/earth/Water/ocean.html">oceans</a>
  and seas of the world, and feed mainly on <a
  href="/earth/Life/plankton.html">zooplankton</a>.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Corel Photography</em></small></p>The <a
  href="/earth/Water/circulation1.html">thermohaline
  circulation</a>, often referred to as the ocean's "conveyor belt",
  links major surface and deep water currents in the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific,
  and Southern Oceans. This pattern is driven by changes in water <a
  href="/earth/Water/temp.html">temperature</a>
  and <a
  href="/earth/Water/salinity.html">salinity</a>
  that change the <a
  href="/earth/Water/density.html">density</a>
  of seawater.<p><small><em> Image courtesy <a href="http://www.clivar.org/publications/other_pubs/clivar_transp/d3_transp.htm">CLIVAR</a> (after W. Broecker, modified by E. Maier-Reimer).</em></small></p>Hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean are located at tectonic <a
  href="/earth/interior/seafloor_spreading.html">spreading
  ridges</a>. While most of the water in the deep ocean is close to freezing,
  the water at hydrothermal vents is very hot and laden with chemicals. In
  this <a
  href="/earth/extreme_environments.html">extreme
  environment</a>, certain species of <a
  href="/earth/Life/archaea.html">Archaea</a>
  and <a
  href="/earth/Life/classification_eubacteria.html">Eubacteria</a>
  thrive, enabling a unique <a
  href="/earth/Water/life_deep.html">food
  chain</a> including fish, shrimp, giant tubeworms, mussels, crabs, and clams.<p><small><em> Courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>The massive 9.0 magnitude <a href="/earth/geology/quake_1.html">earthquake</a> off of Honshu, Japan on <a href="/headline_universe/march112011earthquaketsunami.html">11 March 2011</a> generated a <a href="/earth/tsunami1.html">tsunami</a> that exceeded 10 meters on the coast near the epicenter.  This image shows model projections for the tsunami wave height in cm which are in good agreement with the observed waves. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were lost, and their families, as we remember this event.<p><small><em><a href="http://blogs.agu.org/wildwildscience/files/2011/03/680_20110311-TsunamiWaveHeight.jpg">NOAA Tsunami Wave Height Projections image</a></em></small></p>This image is a montage of high resolutions photographs of the Earth taken in January 2012 by the Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite.  The image shows many stunning details of <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/earth.html">our home planet</a> - <a href="http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/VIIRS_4Jan2012.jpg">particularly at high resolution</a>. The beauty of our planet is obvious from space - our blue <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Water/overview.html">waters</a>, our white <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/cloud.html">clouds</a>, and the green from <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Life/life.html">life</a> abundant at the surface.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>

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