what is hydrosphere and how it's thickness
Answers
Answer:
hi
Explanation:
The hydrosphere contains all the solid, liquid, and gaseous water of the Earth and ranges in thickness from (approximately) 6 to 12 miles. The hydrosphere extends from the surface of the Earth downward several miles into the lithosphere and upward approximately 7 miles into the atmosphere.
Answer:
The hydrosphere (from Greek ὕδωρ hydōr, "water"[1] and σφαῖρα sphaira, "sphere"[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]
The Pacific Ocean, part of Earth's hydrosphere
It has been estimated that there are 1.36 billion cubic kilometers (332 million cubic miles) of water on Earth.[6] This includes water in liquid and frozen forms in groundwater, oceans, lakes and streams. 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.[6]
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 20 × 1012 tonnes of this is in the form of water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere (for practical purposes, 1 cubic meter of water weighs one tonne). Approximately 71% of Earth's surface, an area of some 361 million square kilometers (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%).[7]