How much water does Earth have? [ADDED EUROPA]

[mr_mordred2095]

Originally Posted by antipody

I've always wondered why there hasn't been a crack in the Earth that all the water ran down and disappeared from the surface... Looking at that volume it doesn't seem like the crack would have to be that big...

I've never though of that, lol, good question xD

[Mathuisella]

Originally Posted by antipody

I've always wondered why there hasn't been a crack in the Earth that all the water ran down and disappeared from the surface... Looking at that volume it doesn't seem like the crack would have to be that big...

Originally Posted by mr_mordred2095

I've never though of that, lol, good question xD

Originally Posted by ThunderbirdMoz

Thats a good question and doesnt deserve to be mocked. Probably because the Earth is full of magma under constant pressure pushing up that where the magma and water meet, it will eventually cool the magma to form a layer of rock until it plugs the gap.

Science bitches


the earth has a iron and nickel core which spins very fast and creates our magnetic field which in turn protects us from the sun ( solar flares, stellar winds ) the core itself is surrounded by molten/liquid rock which is called magma it containing metals and other materials on the periodic table.

The magma is made up of a few layers depending upon its contents density.

the earths crust is just magma which as cooled over billions of years and through gravity has collected water and other gases to create what we call our planet.

the crust is just that, a crust. A thin layer of hard outer shell not unlike a chickens egg, quite fragile. Yet is able to renew itself when cracked. ( undersea fissures and volcani) An interesting read is what is called "The rock Cycle", like the water cycle it is important to life on the planet yet doesn't really get taught or remembered...

The real kicker to all this is that none of it is possible without the radiant heat that stems from the earths core. Our lifeblood is not so much the Sun, as life can still exist for quite some time without a star, but without radiant heat from the earths core powering our planet we will end up like Mars.

Mars is just like earth, there was once water on it and perhaps life as it lies within the goldilocks zone, but is has roughly 1/4 of the earths mass and the radiant heat from its core was depleted long ago, taking with it the magnetic field which left the planet unprotected from the harshness of the solar winds which stripped it of its atmosphere.

[Foliage]

Originally Posted by antipody

I've always wondered why there hasn't been a crack in the Earth that all the water ran down and disappeared from the surface... Looking at that volume it doesn't seem like the crack would have to be that big...

If it did it would just boil, then almost immediately harden the lava and we would have massive humidity which would cause a runaway CO2 effect most likely like venus.

[Foliage]

Originally Posted by Mathuisella

Mars is just like earth, there was once water on it and perhaps life as it lies within the goldilocks zone, but is has roughly 1/4 of the earths mass and the radiant heat from its core was depleted long ago, taking with it the magnetic field which left the planet unprotected from the harshness of the solar winds which stripped it of its atmosphere.

It took the earth billions of years for life to form, how long ago was mars's atmosphere lost? It could be that it lost its atmosphere before it even had time for life to form.

[Mathuisella]

Originally Posted by Foliage

It took the earth billions of years for life to form, how long ago was mars's atmosphere lost? It could be that it lost its atmosphere before it even had time for life to form.

True, i said it was a possibility for life, not a fact

my previous post was a bit of a late night memory splurge from my year 10 geography classes 11 years go, so it's a little fuzzy.

[HunterBunter]

Originally Posted by Bastard Child

So about the global warming thing we're not doing anything about......

Yeah I don't really see what this has to do with those images either. Care to illuminate us?

Originally Posted by antipody

I've always wondered why there hasn't been a crack in the Earth that all the water ran down and disappeared from the surface... Looking at that volume it doesn't seem like the crack would have to be that big...

There are massive cracks already under water in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, and all around the Pacific ocean.

http://goo.gl/maps/2It9Q

As already mentioned there's liquid rock (magma) in there oozing out, and since those are particularly hot spots, the water in contact is both boiling away and reacting to form igneous rock.

The first moment that a crack appears, that has water access, will do as you suggest for a while until it meets the magma, and you'll have the beginnings of a new ocean.

[Bastard Child]

Now with added Europa

This image shows a comparison of the amount of water on Jupiter’s moon Europa as compared with Earth’s water. It's subsurface ocean plus ice layer could range from 80 to 170 kilometers in average depth.

https://www.facebook.com/ScienceIsSeriouslyAwesome

[Aetherone]

Originally Posted by Foliage

It took the earth billions of years for life to form

Epic thread dig, but ...
The earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old. The surface may not have been continuously life supporting until after the Heavy Bombardment by debris that was left over from the formation of the Solar System at approximately 3.8 GA.
The oldest life indications appear around 3.49 GA
https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012AM/we...per205981.html

Life hardly took any time at all to appear and start colonising the earth surface. Certainly less than a billion and possibly as little as a few hundred million.

[Bastard Child]

Interesting post Aetherone, I'd love to see a mission to Europa given priority.

[Sankari]

Originally Posted by Bastard Child

Interesting post Aetherone, I'd love to see a mission to Europa given priority.

'All these worlds are yours except Europa. Attempt no landing there.'

[Danske]

Originally Posted by Sankari

'All these worlds are yours except Europa. Attempt no landing there.'

Who said this?

God?

[Bastard Child]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010:_Odyssey_Two

[Dodge M4S]

I would be more interested to see how much oil we have.

[HunterBunter]

Originally Posted by Dodge M4S

I would be more interested to see how much oil we have.

yah, esp compared to how much Europa has.

[Sankari]

Originally Posted by Danske

Who said this?

God?

Son, I am disappoint. Every geek should know that quote.