[Transcript] The earth's surface is covered with about 71 percent of water. This water is distributed in different bodies of water. This water may be fresh or it may be salty. A body of water is a collection of water on the earth's surface. These include the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, ponds, and glaciers. The largest body of water is the ocean. There are five oceans - The Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Artic and Southern oceans. The Pacific ocean is the largest of these oceans. It is also the deepest ocean. The deepest part is known as the Mariana Trench. The Atlantic ocean is the second largest ocean. It includes the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Baltic Seas and the Gulf of Mexico. The Indian ocean lies between the eastern coast of Africa and the western coast of Australia. To the North there is India and to the South is Antarctica. It is also the last known location of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. The Arctic ocean falls mostly in the Artic circle near the North Pole. It is the smallest and shallowest of the five oceans. For most of the year this body of water will contain chunks of ice. The Southern ocean was recognized as an ocean in 2000 by the International Hydrographic Organization. The waters surrounding Antarctica were originally extensions of The Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Many people confuse the ocean and the sea but they are actually different things. The sea is not as large as the ocean and the sea is a body of salt water surrounded by areas of land. The sea is salty because rivers carry dissolved salt from rocks in the river bed to the sea. The Caribbean sea is surrounded by the Caribbean island chain, parts of central America and South America. The Gulf of Mexico is surrounded by parts of North America, Mexico, Guatemala and Cuba. The Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea are not completely surrounded water. There are many seas all over the world but just because it's called a sea doesn't mean that it is one. Historically the Caspian Sea has been called a sea because of its size and saline water but at the same time it has many features of a lake - it is completely surrounded by land. The confusion comes because there is no agreed definition for a sea or a lake. The Caspian Sea is actually the world's largest lake. A lake is a body of freshwater or saltwater which is completely surrounded by land. Most lakes are fed and drained by rivers or streams. The second largest lake in the world in terms of surface area is Lake Superior in North America. A river has a beginning known as a source and an ending known as a mouth. The mouth is where a river enters a larger body of water such as a lake, sea or ocean. A river flows. The longest river in the world is the Nile in Africa and the largest river is the Amazon in South America. A stream is smaller than a river and in some cases you may be able to walk across a stream. Just like a river a stream flows and a stream connects two bodies of water. A pond is smaller than a lake. It may have salt water or freshwater. Ponds may be seasonal where they are only present during the wet season or they may appear when a river floods. Ponds can be artificial as well. Glaciers around the world are melting due to global warming. A glacier is a large body of ice that slowly moves across land under its own weight. They are made up of freshwater.

• published: 29 Apr 2020
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