6.

1 The Earth’s Surface

About two-thirds of the earth’s surface is covered with water. Of this, about 97%
is seawater and only about 3% is freshwater. Big portion (68.7%) of this very small
amount of freshwater is “locked” in the form of ice mainly found in Greenland and
Antarctica. Ground-water comprises 30% of freshwater while only about 1% of
freshwater is found in rivers, lakes, ponds, and in the atmosphere in the form of water
vapor.
Water takes many different forms on earth–as water vapor in the atmosphere, as
liquid water in rivers and lakes, as icebergs in oceans, and as glaciers in mountain
peaks. The hydrologic cycle maintains a constant supply of water on earth.
You might wonder that since there is a very small amount of freshwater available,
there will not be enough for man, plants, and animals. But remember that there is a
continuous cycle of water or the hydrologic cycle as shown in Figure 6.2. Because of
this hydrologic cycle, enough precipitation falls every year, which covers 0.85 meter of
the earth’s surface. The degree of precipitation differs from one region to another.
Figure 6.2 shows that more
water is evaporated from the ocean
than what goes back to it and there is
more water that falls on land than
what was evaporated from it. It was
found that only two-thirds of the water
that falls to the surface of the earth is
evaporated back to the atmosphere.
The other one-third sinks into the
ground or flows back into rivers or
oceans.
The amount of water that sinks
into the ground depends on how dry
and what kind of ground there is in a
region. This water-filled underground
region is called ground water. The
upper surface of the ground water is
called water table. The level of water
table differs from one region to another. In dry, hot, and high regions the water table
could be deeper but in moist regions, the water table is close to the surface of the land.
6.2 The Earth’s Ocean
The oceans cover about 71% of the Earth’s surface. There are four great oceans:
the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic. These oceans vary in depth, area, and volume.
The largest in terms of these parameters is the Pacific Ocean followed by the Atlantic
Ocean. The ocean and seas comprise the marine or salt water environment.

Four Major Oceans

1. Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest ocean. It
encompasses approximately a third of the
earth’s surface, having an area of 179.7 million
square kilometers. It extends from the Arctic in
the north to the Southern Ocean in the south,
bounded by Asia and Australia in the west and
the Americas in the east. The Marianas Trench
in the western North Pacific is the deepest
point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 meters (35,797 ft). The Pacific
contains about 25,000 islands, the majority of which are found south of the
equator.
2. Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the
earth’s four oceans and the most heavily
traveled. The Atlantic Ocean proper has a
surface area of about 82 million sq km. It is
essentially and S-shaped north-south channel.
Extending from the Arctic Ocean in the north to
the Antarctic continent in the south and situated
between the eastern coast of the American
continents and the western coasts of Europe
and Africa.
 3. Indian Ocean covers approximately one-fifth of
the total ocean area of the world. It is bounded
by Iran, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh to the
north; the Malay Peninsula, the Sunda Islands
of Indonesia, and Australia to the east;
Antarctica to the south; and Africa and the
Arabian Peninsula to the west. It has an area of
73,440,000 square km and considered as the
world’s third largest ocean. The ocean is
named after the geographic location called India.
4. Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world’s
oceans located in the Northern Hemisphere and
mostly in the Arctic North Polar Region. It is
almost completely surrounded by the
landmasses of Eurasia and North America, and
a cover of ice distinguishes it. The ocean covers
an area of about 14,090,000 sq km. Lands in it
and adjacent to it include Point Barrow in
Alaska, the Arctic archipelago, Greenland,
Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, and Northern Siberia.

Characteristics of Ocean Water

1. Ocean water is salty. Salinity is the measurement
of the amount of salt dissolved in water. The most
common and the most abundant salt dissolved in
the ocean is sodium chloride. Salts dissolved in
ocean water come from two sources: weathering
of minerals from rocks and volcanic gases. The
average ocean water’s salinity is 96.5% water and
3.5% salt or 35 parts of salt per thousand parts of
water.
The salinity varies depending on location.
Near the surface, and near a body of freshwater, the salinity is lower due to the
addition of freshwater (rain, snow, and melting ice). Near the poles, the salinity is
higher due to snow and glacier formation. During summer, salinity is higher due
to excessive evaporation.
2. The density of pure water is 1,000 kg/m3. Ocean water is denser than pure water
because of the salt dissolved in it. One liter of freshwater is less dense than one
liter of salt water, thus, pure water will float on top of ocean water. Density of
ocean water at the sea surface is about 1,027 kg/m 3.
Two main factors affect the density of ocean water: temperature and
salinity. When the temperature is high, the density of ocean water increases as
more salts are dissolved due to high temperature. Given a container with 1,000
mL of salt water, apply heat to the container. The water in the warmer layer will
float on top of the water in the colder layer. Increasing salinity also increases the
density of water. Mixing two waters that differ in salinity, the less saline water will
 float on top of the more saline water. However, temperature affects the density of
water more than salinity does. A layer of water with higher salinity can actually
float on top of water with lower salinity if the layer with higher salinity has higher
temperature than the layer with lower salinity.
3. The temperature of the oceans is not constant, nor is it uniform throughout the
oceanic mass. Temperature of water varies with location.
4. Dissolved gases are important in maintaining life activities of marine organisms.
Carbon dioxide is sixty times greater in the marine waters than in the
atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is important for marine producers in photosynthesis
and in building coral reefs and exoskeletons of some animals. Carbon dioxide
comes from the atmosphere and respiration of marine organisms. Oxygen mixes
with salt water by the process of diffusion and photosynthetic activities of the
marine producers.

Formation of Water Currents

The hydrosphere is a dynamic system. It is in constant motion. The movement of
the flowing water systems like streams and rivers can easily be seen while the motions
of water in standing water systems like ponds and lakes are less obvious. The motions
of the seas and oceans can also be seen, but the large scale motion that moves water
in great distances such as between the tropics and the poles or between continents are
more difficult to see.
The motions of the bodies of water, which may be visible or less obvious, are
called water currents. These currents move the warm water in the tropics towards the
poles and the cold waters from the poles towards the tropics. These current also exist
on the surface and at certain depths (up to 4 km) in the ocean.
Two characteristics of the ocean affect the
movement of water. They are temperature and salinity.
Warm water is less dense or lighter, and
therefore, tends to move upward the surface. Cold
water is denser or heavier and, therefore, tends to sink
at the bottom.
Salt water is also denser or heavier and tends to
sink at the bottom while freshwater is less dense or
lighter, and thus, tends to rise at the surface.
The motions of the air or wind above it also affect the ocean currents. When
offshore wind blows, the energy of the wind is transferred at the water surface. The wind
pushes the surface water seaward causing the formation of currents. As the surface
water moves, the nutrient-rich water from the deeper regions of the oceans rises to
replace the surface water that outflows. Thus, upwelling or turnover of water takes
place. Such massive turnover or upwelling of water supplies the surface with nutrients
that markedly increase the growth of phytoplankton, the type of producers that form the
base of food chains of the aquatic environment.
Do this activity.
Activity 6.1
Current
I. Objective
 Discover how currents work

II. Materials

small clear glass bottle about 30 mL hot water

capacity fitted with a two-hole stopper cold water
2 glass tubes (1 longer than the small salt
bottle and the other shorter) funnel
larger glass jar plastic or rubber
ink or dye to color water tube to fit the funnel

III. Procedure
1. Fit the glass tubes into the hole of the stopper. Add the dye to the hot water. Fill
the small bottle with the colored hot water. Set it up as shown in Figure A. The
long tube should nearly reach the bottom of the small bottle and the short tube
should reach just below the stopper.
2. Place the small bottle inside the large jar. Attach a plastic or rubber tube to the
funnel. Using this funnel, fill the large jar with cold water until the small bottle is
fully underwater.

IV. Questions for Analysis

1. What happened in the setup?
2. Which is denser–the water in the small bottle or the water in the large jar?
3. Why is it denser?
4. Explain the movement of the colored and uncolored water in the setup. Use the
same setup. This time, fill the small bottle with colored tap water and large jar
with uncolored tap water in which a handful of salt has been dissolved.
5. What happened in the setup?
6. Explain the movement of the colored and uncolored water in the setup.

V. Conclusion
Different Oceanic Zones
Scientists have divided the ocean into five zones. These layers extend from the
surface to the most extreme depths where light can no longer penetrate. As one moves
from one zone to another, it would be observed that the temperature drops and the
pressure increases at an astounding rate. Each zone is likewise characterized by
fascinating and the most bizarre creatures.
The epipelagic zone is referred to as the photic
zone because this is where most of the visible light
exists. It extends from the surface up to a depth of 300
meters. The light that penetrates in this region is
responsible for the wide range of temperatures that
occur in this zone. Phytoplankton, a group of
microscopic algae, is the as the intensity of light
penetration decreases. Autotrophic and heterotrophic
forms of nutrition characterize the epipelagic or photic
zone.
The mesopelagic zone extends from 300 meters to 1,000
meters. The mesopelagic zone is sometimes referred to as the
twilight zone or the midwater zone. The light that
penetrates at this depth is extremely faint. It is in
this zone that we begin to see the twinkling lights
of bioluminescent creatures. A great diversity of
strange and bizarre fishes is found in this zone.
The animals that inhabit this region are mostly
predators with large mouths and specialized eyes
that can see in the dark.
The next zone is the bathypelagic zone. It is sometimes referred to as the
aphotic zone or the dark zone. This zone extends from 1,000 meters down to 4,000
meters. The only visible light here is produced by the bioluminescent creatures.
Themselves, thus, no plants thrive in this region. The water pressure at this depth is
immensely high. In spite of the pressure, a surprisingly large number of creatures can
be found here. The bathypelagic zone is characterized by animals that are either
predators or scavengers that feed on left over debris that sink from above.
The abyssopelagic zone, also known as the abyssal zone, is the next oceanic
zone. It extends from 4,000 meters down to 6,000 meters. The abyssal zone occupies
almost three-fourths of the oceanic zone. The water temperature is near freezing, and
there is no light at all. Very few creatures can be found at these immense depths. Most
of the animals that inhabit this zone are invertebrates and tiny mollusks.
 The last and the deepest ocean zone where deep
trenches and canyons can be found is the hadalpelagic
zone. This zone extends from 6,000 meters down to the
bottom of the deepest parts of the ocean. The deepest
part in the ocean is where the Marianas Trench is
located. This trench is 10,924 meters in depth. The
temperature of the water is just above freezing and the
pressure is incredibly high, approximately eight tons per
square inch. In spite of the high pressure and low
temperature, life can still be found here. Invertebrates
such as starfish and tube worms can thrive at these depths.