GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Antarctic ice sheet holds about 90 percent of the fresh water that exists on the Earth’s surface.

Detailed explanation-2: -And, of the total freshwater, over 68 percent is locked up in ice and glaciers. Another 30 percent of freshwater is in the ground. Fresh surface-water sources, such as rivers and lakes, only constitute about 22, 300 cubic miles (93, 100 cubic kilometers), which is about 1/150th of one percent of total water.

Detailed explanation-3: -Most of Earth’s fresh water is locked in ice Two ice sheets, the Antarctica Ice Sheet and the Greenland Ice Sheet, contain more than 99% of the ice on Earth’s surface.

Detailed explanation-4: -About three-quarters of Earth’s freshwater is stored in glaciers. Therefore, glacier ice is the second largest reservoir of water on Earth and the largest reservoir of freshwater on Earth!

Detailed explanation-5: -Ice caps and global water distribution As these charts and the data table show, the amount of water locked up in ice and snow is only about 1.7 percent of all water on Earth, but the majority of total freshwater on Earth, about 68.7 percent, is held in ice caps and glaciers.