Distribution of Freshwater and Saltwater

How is Earth’s water distributed among saltwater and freshwater • Earth is known as the “blue planet”

because over 70% of Earth’s surface is covered with water.

• Most of Earth’s freshwater is found in the polar ice caps near the North and South Poles.

• From largest to smallest, the amounts of water on Earth are salt water (97%), solid fresh water (2%), liquid fresh water (1%).

How is Earth’s water distributed among saltwater and freshwater

• From largest to smallest, the amounts of water on Earth are salt water (97%), solid fresh water (2%), liquid fresh water (1%).

Salt Water

• Most of the water on Earth is found in Earth’s oceans

• Oceans contain salt water.

• In order of size from largest to smallest, Earth’s oceans are the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.

Fresh Water• Most of the Earth’s freshwater is located

in the polar caps (ice).

• Underground water, lakes, rivers, and glaciers hold the rest of Earth’s surface freshwater.

• The largest portion of the Earth’s liquid freshwater is trapped between underground layers of rock. This trapped freshwater is called groundwater.

• A glacier is a very slow moving river of ice.

Distribution of Water on Earth• Saltwater oceans and (salt) lakes (97%)• Freshwater (3%)

– Of the total Freshwater on Earth:76% of freshwater is ice

– 12% of freshwater is Shallow Groundwater – 11% of freshwater is Deep Groundwater – 0.34% of freshwater is found in Lakes and

Rivers – 0.037% of freshwater is Water Vapor

• All living things share less than 1% of total water on Earth!

Groundwater

Groundwater