- Statistics show that the total volume of water on earth is estimated at 1.386 billion km cube, where 97.5% is salt water and 2.5% fresh water.
- Out of this freshwater, only 0.3% is in liquid form on the surface, which means that the rest is underground, including on or under the ocean bed.
- U.S. Geological Survey drilled boreholes off the New Jersey coast and unexpectedly struck freshwater.
| UNCLOS and Geneva Conventions: Exploration in the area beyond Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) is regulated by the International Seabed Authority under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982.UNCLOS acts as a comprehensive legal framework, superseding the Geneva Conventions of 1958, which addressed similar issues based on customary international law.Article 311 of UNCLOS states that the convention will prevail over the Geneva Conventions among its signatories. The United States, however, has signed the Geneva Conventions but not UNCLOS. UNCLOS defines “resources” as all mineral resources, including polymetallic nodules, which are termed “minerals” upon recovery. |
Similarly, a team of scientists from Vietnam and even in other countries have discovered underwater sources of fresh water. For example, a river under the sea was discovered at the bottom of the Black Sea, which would count as one of the largest rivers in the world when compared to land-based rivers.
Dig Deeper: Study the distribution of Fresh Water on Earth
