Reservoirs of Available Water (liquid equivalent) on the Earth

ReservoirVolume
(106 km3		Percent
of total		Residence Time
Oceans
1350
97.3
103-104 yr
Glaciers
29
2.1
101-103 yr
Aquifers
8
0.6
2 wks-104 yr
Lakes
0.1
0.01
10 yr
Soil Moisture
0.1
0.01
52 days
Atmosphere
0.013
0.001
10 days
Rivers
0.002
0.0002
2 weeks
Biosphere
0.001
0.0001
6 days

After Graedel, T. E. and P. J. Cruzen, Atmospheric Change. An Earth System Perspective, W. H. Freeman and Company, 1993.

Water

A slightly different perspective is given by Debenedetti and Stanley, tabulated below.

Volume of water (km3)Resident in:
1.3 x 109
Oceans
3.3 x 107
Polar ice caps
2 x 105
Glaciers
1 x 105
Lakes
1.2 x 103
Rivers
2.2 x 105
Annual rainfall
Index

Tables

Data Reference
Lutgens & Tarbuck
Ch 2
 
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