35. What is the volume of the world's oceans? 



Estimates vary from 317 to 330 million cubic miles; the most reliable 

 sources place the volume at approximately 328 million cubic miles. 

 Ocean waters comprise about 85 percent of the total water on the 

 earth's surface. 



The volume of all land above sea level is only one-eighteenth of the 



volume of the ocean. If the solid earth were perfectly smooth (level) 

 and round, the ocean would cover it to a depth of 12,000 feet. 



Bowditch, Nathaniel 



American Practical Navigator, U. S. Naval Oceanographic Office, 



1958. 

 Engel, Leonard and Editors of LIFE 



The Sea, Life Nature Library, Time, Inc., 1961. 



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