What percentage of the *known* water in the solar system is on the
Earth? Please do not take into account *speculation* about water on
other planets or moons (unless there are *known* quantities there),
but do consider reasonably well-known water quantities (such as in
comets for example).  Thanks!

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Clarification of Question by bobenyart-ga on 06 Apr 2006 13:33 PDT

I'll simply the question in hopes of increasing the chances of getting
an answer. Let's ignore all water in the solar system other than that
on the earth and in comets. What is a good estimate of the amount of
water in our solar system's comets as a percentage of the Earth's
surface waters (such as oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, atmosphere,
aquifers)?

I'll wager it's as close to all as statistically significant.

incorrect, nowhere near all. the planets beyond saturn are made of a
great deal of ice.  neptune has more ice in mass than the entire mass
of earth.

I'm the one asking this question, and it hasn't been answered by any
of Google's experts yet. I've asked this question in person to a
handful of scientists, and last summer asked around at Lowell
Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ, and was told I'd get an answer via
email, but no answer came.

As for frozen Nepture, I don't know what percentage of "ice" on
Neptune is frozen methane or ammonia as compared to frozen water,
which is what I'm asking about. Thanks for the idea. -Bob Enyart,
KGOV.com

Bob --

I think that the problem is estimating water accurately elsewhere. 
The recent Cassini images of Saturn's moon Enceladus dramatically
changed the understanding of water's existence on that body:
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=20162

Note that there has been recent discussion of regarding water both on
the Earth's moon (because of proposals to build a base there) and Mars
-- but little is known about actual deposits, especially in the
sub-soil.

Google search strategy:
water moon Enceladus

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

All. No other planet in our galaxy has water. Water isn't ice. Ice is
a solid; water is a liquid. That's basic Physical Science.