Answer 1:
The reason Earth has liquid oceans has to do
with a few factors. Much of the water on Earth
comes from processes that occurred during Earth's
formation and cooling. So that is how Earth got
water in the first place. Earth still has this
water mostly due to its gravity and its magnetic
field. Earth's magnetic field protects the
surface and atmosphere from things like solar
wind, which could strip the Earth of its water and
atmosphere if it got too close. The gravity on
Earth is also strong enough that the water and
atmosphere molecules stay on or near the surface,
instead of flying off into space. Finally, the
reason Earth has liquid oceans (as opposed to
being frozen over with ice) is because it happens
to orbit in the hospitable zone of the Sun so
the temperatures on Earth remain at a range where
liquid water can exist on the surface as the
oceans we have now.
There are other planets and celestial bodies
that do have water, just not the same way that
we know it on Earth. At one point in time Mars had
water, but it no longer has a magnetic field to
protect it from solar radiation and it is smaller
than Earth, so the gravity is not as strong.
Any water that Mars might still have is frozen
beneath the surface. Also, Europa, one of
the moons of Jupiter has evidence of water, in the
form of large frozen ice sheets and possibly
subsurface oceans. Europa is very cold
(surface temperature -160 degrees C or -260
degrees F) so any water on the surface is frozen
and if there did exist liquid water it would have
to be below the surface. Click Here to return to the search form.
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