Hydrosphere Contents

1. Water

Water is by far the most abundant substance on the Earth's surface

Satellite image of Earth from space, from NASA GSFC.

The hydrosphere is the collective term given to all the different forms of water on the Earth's surface, whether in the oceans, shallow seas, lakes, rivers, groundwater or glaciers. There are 1.4 billion cubic kilometres present as liquid water, ice and water vapour.

How much water is there on the Earth's surface?