Re: How many gallons of water are on the earth?

Area: Earth Science
Posted By: clay harris, faculty,Middle Tennessee State University
Date: Thu Jun 12 22:32:19 1997
Area of science: Earth Science
ID: 863108025.Es

Message:

MadSci Network: Earth Science

Hey, class!

I found several different sources and worked through the math for you. The answers range from 350 billion-billion gallons to 400 billion-billion gallons. The newest source I have (H.V. Thurman, 1997, Introductory Oceanography, 8th ed., Prentice-Hall , Inc., p. 80 & 139) provided the largest value; since it is the most recent publication, I would assume it is the most accurate value.

That translates to 400,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons (a 4 followed by 20 zeros). In scientific notation this would be 4E+20 (4 x 10 to the 20th power). That is a lot of water.

Clay Harris

Dept. of Geography & Geology

Middle TN State University

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