A group of scientists used satellite measurements to estimate the average depth of the ocean and how much water is in it, and concluded that there are 1.332 billion cubic kilometers of water and that it has an average depth of 3,682 meters below sea level.
Both numbers are lower than previous estimates of ocean volume and depth.
"A lot of water values are taken for granted," says Matthew Charette, the scientist in charge of the new ocean valuation. "If you want to know the volume of water on the planet and go to Google, you'll find 45 different numbers, most of them 30 or 40 years old.
For example, the little more than 3.5 kilometers that were calculated are between 21 and 51 meters less than those that were believed. On the other hand, the new calculated volume is up to 5 times less the volume equivalent to the Gulf of Mexico. While this may sound like a lot, it's only 0.3% less than one of the estimates from 30 years ago, but in such large volumes even that small percentage makes a big difference.
Importantly, the new lower volume calculation does not mean that the oceans are losing water, but rather reflects a better ability to identify mountainous regions in the deep ocean.
But even these measurements have some degree of error, since they are measured from space, and the best solution would be to do it by sonars on ships, but it would take 200 years for a single ship to travel the entire ocean to record the depth and volume measurements.
Authors: DForce
