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The deuterium to hydrogen ratio for ocean water on Earth is known very precisely to be (1.5576 ± 0.0005) × 10 −4. [35] This value represents a mixture of all of the sources that contributed to Earth's reservoirs, and is used to identify the source or sources of Earth's water.
Water is a basic necessity of life. Since two thirds of the Earth is covered by water, the Earth is also called the blue planet and the watery planet. [notes 1] The hydrosphere plays an important role in the existence of the atmosphere in its present form. Oceans are important in this regard.
In Earth science, it is common to conceptualize the Earth's surface as consisting of several distinct layers, often referred to as spheres: the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and the biosphere, this concept of spheres is a useful tool for understanding the Earth's surface and its various processes [30] these correspond to rocks ...
Surface-water-gley developed in glacial till in Northern Ireland. Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from soil by restricting the former term specifically to ...
[20] [21] The release of molecular oxygen by cyanobacteria as a by-product of photosynthesis induced global changes in the Earth's environment. Because oxygen was toxic to most life on Earth at the time, this led to the near-extinction of oxygen-intolerant organisms, a dramatic change which redirected the evolution of the major animal and plant ...
The existence of liquid water, and to a lesser extent its gaseous and solid forms, on Earth are vital to the existence of life on Earth as we know it. The Earth is located in the habitable zone of the Solar System ; if it were slightly closer to or farther from the Sun (about 5%, or about 8 million kilometers), the conditions which allow the ...
The term phase is sometimes used as a synonym for state of matter, but it is possible for a single compound to form different phases that are in the same state of matter. For example, ice is the solid state of water, but there are multiple phases of ice with different crystal structures, which are formed at different pressures and temperatures.
Water is also adhesive as it is able to adhere to the surface of any polar or charged non-water molecules. [33] Water is denser as a liquid than it is as a solid (or ice). [33] This unique property of water allows ice to float above liquid water such as ponds, lakes, and oceans, thereby insulating the liquid below from the cold air above. [33]