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Water carried into the mantle eventually returns to the surface in eruptions at mid-ocean ridges and hotspots. [131]: 646 Estimates of the amount of water in the mantle range from 1 ⁄ 4 to 4 times the water in the ocean. [131]: 630–634 The deep carbon cycle is the movement of carbon through the Earth's mantle and core.
The oceanic general circulation is defined as the horizontal space scale and time scale larger than mesoscale (of order 100 km and 6 months). [citation needed] They depict oceans using a three-dimensional grid that include active thermodynamics and hence are most directly applicable to climate
This deep ocean water circulation is relatively slow and water at the bottom of the ocean can be isolated from the ocean surface and atmosphere for hundreds or even a few thousand years. [115] This circulation has important impacts on the global climate system and on the uptake and redistribution of pollutants and gases such as carbon dioxide ...
Approximately 505,000 km 3 (121,000 cu mi) of water falls as precipitation each year, 398,000 km 3 (95,000 cu mi) of it over the oceans. [10] [15] The rain on land contains 107,000 km 3 (26,000 cu mi) of water per year and a snowing only 1,000 km 3 (240 cu mi). [15] 78% of global precipitation occurs over the ocean. [11]
Overview of climatic changes and their effects on the ocean. Regional effects are displayed in italics. [1] This NASA animation conveys Earth's oceanic processes as a driving force among Earth's interrelated systems. There are many effects of climate change on oceans. One of the most important is an increase in ocean temperatures.
The ocean contains 97% of Earth's water, and oceanographers have stated that less than 100% of the World Ocean has been explored. [5] The total volume is approximately 1.35 billion cubic kilometers (320 million cu mi) with an average depth of nearly 3,700 meters (12,100 ft). [6] [7] [8]
The same amount of water falls as atmospheric precipitation, 458,000 km 3 on the ocean and 119,000 km 3 on land. The difference between precipitation and evaporation from the land surface (119,000 − 74,200 = 44,800 km 3 /year) represents the total runoff of the Earth's rivers (42,700 km 3 /year) and direct groundwater runoff to the ocean ...
Typically, fresh water is defined as water with a salinity of less than 1% that of the oceans – i.e. below around 0.35‰. Water with a salinity between this level and 1‰ is typically referred to as marginal water because it is marginal for many uses by humans and animals. The ratio of salt water to fresh water on Earth is around 50:1.