Ocean Worlds: The Story of Seas on Earth and Other Planets
Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams
Oxford Univ., $29.95
The oceans of other worlds might look nothing like Earth’s tranquil blue seas. Under the right high-pressure conditions, the water could exist in a weird supercritical state that is neither liquid nor steam. And yet the key to understanding such alien landscapes may lie close to home, around submarine volcanoes right here on Earth.
Ocean Worlds looks at the inner workings of Earth’s oceans — and of other worlds’ seas as well. Drawing on the latest research, Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams trace the history of our planet’s water. The authors begin the story not long after the Big Bang, with water vapor swirling around a black hole. From there, the authors follow the comets and asteroids that may have delivered water to Earth, trace water’s motion through deep ocean currents and recount water’s role in the origin of life.