Ocean planet
Encyclopedia
An ocean planet is a hypothetical type of planet
whose surface is completely covered with an ocean
of water.
Planetary objects that form in the outer solar system
begin as a comet
-like mixture of roughly half water and half rock by mass. Simulations of solar system formation have shown that planets are likely to migrate inward or outward as they form, presenting the possibility that icy planets
could move to orbits where their ice melts into liquid form, turning them into ocean planets. This possibility was first discussed in the professional astronomical literature by Marc Kuchner
and Alain Léger in 2003. Such planets could therefore theoretically support life which would be aquatic.
The oceans on such planets would be hundreds of kilometers deep, much deeper than the oceans of Earth
. The immense pressures in the lower regions of these oceans could lead to the formation of a mantle of exotic forms of ice. This ice would not necessarily be as cold as conventional ice. If the planet is close enough to its sun that the water's temperature reaches the boiling point, the water will become supercritical
and lack a well-defined surface. Even on cooler water-dominated planets, the atmosphere can be much thicker than that of Earth, and composed largely of water vapor, producing a very strong greenhouse effect
.
The extrasolar planet
GJ 1214 b is the most likely known candidate for an ocean planet. Many more such objects are expected to be discovered by the ongoing Kepler spacecraft mission
.
Smaller ocean planets would have less dense atmospheres and lower gravity; thus, liquid could evaporate much more easily than on more massive ocean planets. Theoretically, such planets could have higher waves than their more massive counterparts due to their lower gravity.
lake
s on Titan
. The possibility of seas of nitrogen
on Triton
was also considered but ruled out. Underneath the thick atmospheres of Uranus
and Neptune
it is expected that these planets are composed of oceans of hot high-density fluid mixtures of water, ammonia and other volatiles. The gaseous outer layers of Jupiter
and Saturn
transition smoothly into oceans of liquid hydrogen
. There is evidence that the icy surfaces of the moons Ganymede
, Callisto
, Europa
, Titan and Enceladus
are shells floating on oceans of very dense liquid water or water-ammonia. Our own planet Earth is often called the ocean planet since it is 70% covered in water. The atmosphere of Venus
is 96.5% carbon dioxide
and at the surface the pressure makes the CO2 a supercritical fluid
. Extrasolar terrestrial planet
s that are extremely close to their parent star will be tidally-locked and so one half of the planet will be a magma ocean. It is also possible that terrestrial planets had magma oceans at some point during their formation as a result of giant impacts. Where there are suitable temperatures and pressures, volatile chemicals which might exist as liquids in abundant quantities on planets include: Ammonia
, Argon
, Carbon disulfide
, Ethane
, Hydrazine
, Hydrogen
, Hydrogen cyanide, Hydrogen sulfide
, Methane
, Neon
, Nitrogen
, Nitric oxide
, Phosphine
, Silane
, Sulfuric acid
, and Water
. Hot Neptune
s close to their star could lose their atmospheres via hydrodynamic escape
, leaving behind their cores with various liquids on the surface.
Terrestrial planets will acquire water during their accretion, some of which will be buried in the magma ocean but most of it will go into a steam atmosphere, and when the atmosphere cools it will collapse on to the surface forming an ocean, and there will also be outgassing of water from the mantle as the magma solidifies - this will happen even for planets with a low percentage of their mass composed of water so "super-Earth exoplanets may be expected to commonly produce water oceans within tens to hundreds of millions of years of their last major accretionary impact."
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
whose surface is completely covered with an ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
of water.
Planetary objects that form in the outer solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
begin as a comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
-like mixture of roughly half water and half rock by mass. Simulations of solar system formation have shown that planets are likely to migrate inward or outward as they form, presenting the possibility that icy planets
Ice Planet
Ice Planet is a science fiction film released in 2003. It was produced as a pilot movie for an intended TV series. The film was directed by Winrich Kolbe and its cast included Wes Studi as Commander Trager.-Plot:...
could move to orbits where their ice melts into liquid form, turning them into ocean planets. This possibility was first discussed in the professional astronomical literature by Marc Kuchner
Marc Kuchner
Marc Kuchner is an American astrophysicist, a staff member at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Together with Wesley Traub, he invented the band-limited coronagraph, a design for the proposed Terrestrial Planet Finder telescope, also to be used on the James Webb Space Telescope...
and Alain Léger in 2003. Such planets could therefore theoretically support life which would be aquatic.
The oceans on such planets would be hundreds of kilometers deep, much deeper than the oceans of Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. The immense pressures in the lower regions of these oceans could lead to the formation of a mantle of exotic forms of ice. This ice would not necessarily be as cold as conventional ice. If the planet is close enough to its sun that the water's temperature reaches the boiling point, the water will become supercritical
Supercritical fluid
A supercritical fluid is any substance at a temperature and pressure above its critical point, where distinct liquid and gas phases do not exist. It can effuse through solids like a gas, and dissolve materials like a liquid...
and lack a well-defined surface. Even on cooler water-dominated planets, the atmosphere can be much thicker than that of Earth, and composed largely of water vapor, producing a very strong greenhouse effect
Greenhouse effect
The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. Since part of this re-radiation is back towards the surface, energy is transferred to the surface and the lower atmosphere...
.
The extrasolar planet
Extrasolar planet
An extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is a planet outside the Solar System. A total of such planets have been identified as of . It is now known that a substantial fraction of stars have planets, including perhaps half of all Sun-like stars...
GJ 1214 b is the most likely known candidate for an ocean planet. Many more such objects are expected to be discovered by the ongoing Kepler spacecraft mission
Kepler Mission
The Kepler spacecraft is an American space observatory, the space-based portion of NASA's Kepler Mission to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. The spacecraft is named in honor of the 17th-century German astronomer Johannes Kepler...
.
Smaller ocean planets would have less dense atmospheres and lower gravity; thus, liquid could evaporate much more easily than on more massive ocean planets. Theoretically, such planets could have higher waves than their more massive counterparts due to their lower gravity.
Other types of ocean
Oceans, seas, lakes, etc., can be composed of liquids other than water: e.g. the hydrocarbonHydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls....
lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s on Titan
Titan (moon)
Titan , or Saturn VI, is the largest moon of Saturn, the only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found....
. The possibility of seas of nitrogen
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
on Triton
Triton (moon)
Triton is the largest moon of the planet Neptune, discovered on October 10, 1846, by English astronomer William Lassell. It is the only large moon in the Solar System with a retrograde orbit, which is an orbit in the opposite direction to its planet's rotation. At 2,700 km in diameter, it is...
was also considered but ruled out. Underneath the thick atmospheres of Uranus
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
and Neptune
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
it is expected that these planets are composed of oceans of hot high-density fluid mixtures of water, ammonia and other volatiles. The gaseous outer layers of Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
and Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
transition smoothly into oceans of liquid hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
. There is evidence that the icy surfaces of the moons Ganymede
Ganymede (moon)
Ganymede is a satellite of Jupiter and the largest moon in the Solar System. It is the seventh moon and third Galilean satellite outward from Jupiter. Completing an orbit in roughly seven days, Ganymede participates in a 1:2:4 orbital resonance with the moons Europa and Io, respectively...
, Callisto
Callisto (moon)
Callisto named after the Greek mythological figure of Callisto) is a moon of the planet Jupiter. It was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei. It is the third-largest moon in the Solar System and the second largest in the Jovian system, after Ganymede. Callisto has about 99% the diameter of the...
, Europa
Europa (moon)
Europa Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and probably has an iron core. It has a tenuous atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Its surface is composed of ice and is one of the smoothest in the Solar System. This surface is striated by cracks and...
, Titan and Enceladus
Enceladus (moon)
Enceladus is the sixth-largest of the moons of Saturn. It was discovered in 1789 by William Herschel. Until the two Voyager spacecraft passed near it in the early 1980s very little was known about this small moon besides the identification of water ice on its surface...
are shells floating on oceans of very dense liquid water or water-ammonia. Our own planet Earth is often called the ocean planet since it is 70% covered in water. The atmosphere of Venus
Atmosphere of Venus
The atmosphere of Venus is much denser and hotter than that of Earth. The temperature at the surface is 740 K , while the pressure is 93 bar. The Venusian atmosphere supports opaque clouds made of sulfuric acid, making optical Earth-based and orbital observation of the surface impossible...
is 96.5% carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
and at the surface the pressure makes the CO2 a supercritical fluid
Supercritical fluid
A supercritical fluid is any substance at a temperature and pressure above its critical point, where distinct liquid and gas phases do not exist. It can effuse through solids like a gas, and dissolve materials like a liquid...
. Extrasolar terrestrial planet
Terrestrial planet
A terrestrial planet, telluric planet or rocky planet is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals. Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets are the inner planets closest to the Sun...
s that are extremely close to their parent star will be tidally-locked and so one half of the planet will be a magma ocean. It is also possible that terrestrial planets had magma oceans at some point during their formation as a result of giant impacts. Where there are suitable temperatures and pressures, volatile chemicals which might exist as liquids in abundant quantities on planets include: Ammonia
Ammonia
Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
, Argon
Argon
Argon is a chemical element represented by the symbol Ar. Argon has atomic number 18 and is the third element in group 18 of the periodic table . Argon is the third most common gas in the Earth's atmosphere, at 0.93%, making it more common than carbon dioxide...
, Carbon disulfide
Carbon disulfide
Carbon disulfide is a colorless volatile liquid with the formula CS2. The compound is used frequently as a building block in organic chemistry as well as an industrial and chemical non-polar solvent...
, Ethane
Ethane
Ethane is a chemical compound with chemical formula C2H6. It is the only two-carbon alkane that is an aliphatic hydrocarbon. At standard temperature and pressure, ethane is a colorless, odorless gas....
, Hydrazine
Hydrazine
Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the formula N2H4. It is a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odor. Hydrazine is highly toxic and dangerously unstable unless handled in solution. Approximately 260,000 tons are manufactured annually...
, Hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
, Hydrogen cyanide, Hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
, Methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
, Neon
Neon
Neon is the chemical element that has the symbol Ne and an atomic number of 10. Although a very common element in the universe, it is rare on Earth. A colorless, inert noble gas under standard conditions, neon gives a distinct reddish-orange glow when used in either low-voltage neon glow lamps or...
, Nitrogen
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
, Nitric oxide
Nitric oxide
Nitric oxide, also known as nitrogen monoxide, is a diatomic molecule with chemical formula NO. It is a free radical and is an important intermediate in the chemical industry...
, Phosphine
Phosphine
Phosphine is the compound with the chemical formula PH3. It is a colorless, flammable, toxic gas. Pure phosphine is odourless, but technical grade samples have a highly unpleasant odor like garlic or rotting fish, due to the presence of substituted phosphine and diphosphine...
, Silane
Silane
Silane is a toxic, extremely flammable chemical compound with chemical formula SiH4. In 1857, the German chemists and Friedrich Woehler discovered silane among the products formed by the action of hydrochloric acid on aluminum silicide, which they had previously prepared...
, Sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid is a strong mineral acid with the molecular formula . Its historical name is oil of vitriol. Pure sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive, colorless, viscous liquid. The salts of sulfuric acid are called sulfates...
, and Water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
. Hot Neptune
Hot Neptune
A hot Neptune is an extrasolar planet in an orbit close to its star , with a mass similar to that of Uranus or Neptune. Recent observations have revealed a larger potential population of hot Neptunes than previously thought...
s close to their star could lose their atmospheres via hydrodynamic escape
Hydrodynamic escape
Hydrodynamic escape refers to a thermal atmospheric escape mechanism that can lead to the escape of heavier atoms of a planetary atmosphere through numerous collisions with lighter atoms....
, leaving behind their cores with various liquids on the surface.
Terrestrial planets will acquire water during their accretion, some of which will be buried in the magma ocean but most of it will go into a steam atmosphere, and when the atmosphere cools it will collapse on to the surface forming an ocean, and there will also be outgassing of water from the mantle as the magma solidifies - this will happen even for planets with a low percentage of their mass composed of water so "super-Earth exoplanets may be expected to commonly produce water oceans within tens to hundreds of millions of years of their last major accretionary impact."
Fictional ocean planets
Fictional ocean planets have been used as story motifs, usually with clement surface temperatures and shallow oceans - unlike the very deep oceans expected on real extrasolar planets.- C. S. LewisC. S. LewisClive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
' novel PerelandraPerelandraPerelandra is the second book in the Space Trilogy of C. S. Lewis, set in the Field of Arbol...
takes place on a water covered world of the same name, representing a concept of VenusVenusVenus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
not uncommon in fiction of the time. - Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
's Lucky Starr and the Oceans of VenusLucky Starr and the Oceans of VenusLucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus is the third novel in the Lucky Starr series, six juvenile science fiction novels by Isaac Asimov that originally appeared under the pseudonym Paul French. The novel was first published by Doubleday & Company in 1954...
takes place on VenusVenusVenus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
depicted as a temperate ocean planet. - The novel SolarisSolaris (novel)Solaris is a 1961 Polish science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem. It is about the ultimate inadequacy of communication between human and non-human species....
(1961) by Stanisław Lem revolves around an apparent ocean planet. - CaladanCaladanCaladan is a fictional planet in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert, first mentioned in the 1965 novel Dune.-Overview:Caladan, the third planet of Delta Pavonis, is the ancestral fiefdom of House Atreides, who have ruled it for twenty-six generations, from the ancient Castle Caladan...
is an ocean planet in the Dune universeDune universeDune is a science fiction franchise which originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history...
created by Frank HerbertFrank HerbertFranklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...
, first mentioned in the 1965 novel DuneDune (novel)Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert, published in 1965. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel...
. Caladan is the ancestral fiefdom of House AtreidesHouse AtreidesHouse Atreides is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. One of the Great Houses of the feudal interstellar empire known as the Imperium, its members play a role in every novel in the series. It is suggested within the series that the root of the Atreides line...
. - Fhloston Paradise, in the 1997 film, The Fifth ElementThe Fifth ElementThe Fifth Element is a 1997 French science fiction film directed, co-written, and based on a story by Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich...
- CachalotCachalot (novel)Cachalot is a science fiction novel written by Alan Dean Foster.-Plot summary:Cachalot is an ocean planet where humans have begun building floating cities. It is also the same planet where all of Earth’s cetaceans were transplanted six hundred years ago after the Covenant of Peace was enacted with...
is an Ocean Planet in Alan Dean FosterAlan Dean FosterAlan Dean Foster is an American author of fantasy and science fiction. He currently resides in Prescott, Arizona, with his wife, and is also known for his novelizations of film scripts...
's HumanxHumanx CommonwealthThe Humanx Commonwealth is a fictional interstellar ethical/political entity featured in the science fiction novels of Alan Dean Foster. The Commonwealth takes its name from its two major sapient species, who jointly inhabit Commonwealth planets and administer both the political and...
setting - In the 1995 film WaterworldWaterworldWaterworld is a 1995 post-apocalyptic science fiction film. The film was directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It is based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it. It was distributed by Universal Pictures...
, set in 2500 A.D., the Earth's polar ice caps have melted, resulting in catastrophic floods that turn Earth into an ocean planet. - KaminoKaminoKamino is an ocean planet, in the fictional Star Wars universe, similar to Mon Calamari and Manaan. It was here that the Army of the Republic was generated. It is inhabited by a race of tall, elegant, long-necked creatures, called Kaminoans, who keep to themselves and are known for their cloning...
, in the film Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the ClonesStar Wars Episode II: Attack of the ClonesStar Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. It is the fifth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the second in terms of the series' internal chronology...
. - Mare Infinitus, an ocean world reached through teleportation devices called “farcasters” in the book EndymionEndymion (Hyperion Cantos)Endymion is the third science fiction novel by Dan Simmons in his Hyperion Cantos fictional universe. Centered around the new characters Aenea and Endymion, it has been well received like Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion - within a year of its release, the paperback edition had gone through five...
from the Hyperion SeriesHyperion CantosThe Hyperion Cantos is a series of science fiction novels by Dan Simmons. Set in the far future, and focusing more on plot and story development than technical detail, it falls into the soft science fiction category...
written by Dan SimmonsDan SimmonsDan Simmons is an American author most widely known for his Hugo Award-winning science fiction series, known as the Hyperion Cantos, and for his Locus-winning Ilium/Olympos cycle....
. - Manaan, in the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old RepublicStar Wars: Knights of the Old RepublicStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by LucasArts. It was released for the Xbox on July 15, 2003, for Microsoft Windows on November 19, 2003, and on September 7, 2004 for Mac OS X. The Xbox version is playable on Xbox 360 with its...
. - Kahje, Proteus and Yamm in the Mass EffectMass EffectMass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows by Demiurge Studios. The Xbox 360 version was released worldwide in November 2007 published by Microsoft Game Studios...
series. - Big Blue, in the F-ZeroF-Zerois a futuristic racing video game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System . The game was released in Japan on November 21, 1990, in North America on August 23, 1991, and in Europe on June 4, 1992...
series. - The ocean world Kainui, which, along with its twin uninhabited ocean planet, Kaihapa, circles a binary star system, in the novel Noise by Hal ClementHal ClementHarry Clement Stubbs better known by the pen name Hal Clement, was an American science fiction writer and a leader of the hard science fiction subgenre.-Biography:...
. Kainui's Maori-descended colonists live a nomadic existence, traveling about by boat or on one of the planet's anchorless floating cities. This is an example of a realistically deep and cold ocean. - An ocean planet is the setting for the novel The Blue WorldThe Blue WorldThe Blue World is a science fiction adventure novel written by Jack Vance. The novel is based on Vance’s earlier novella "The Kragen", which appeared in the July 1964 edition of Fantastic Stories of Imagination.-Plot summary:...
by Jack VanceJack VanceJohn Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
. - Aquas, in the Star FoxStar Fox seriesis a video game series published by Nintendo. The original game was a forward-scrolling 3D Sci-Fi rail shooter. Later sequels added more directional freedom as the series progressed. The game concept was inspired by a shrine to a fox god who could fly, which Shigeru Miyamoto visited regularly...
series, is usually portrayed as an ocean planet, with the majority of its surface as water. - The territory of Cloral in the Pendragon novels.
- The novel FloodFlood (Baxter novel)Published in 2008, Flood is the work of hard science fiction by English author Stephen Baxter. It describes a near future world where deep submarine seismic activity leads to seabed fragmentation, and the opening of deep subterranean reservoirs of water. Human civilization is almost destroyed by...
and sequel ArkArk (Baxter novel)Ark is a hard science fiction novel by UK author Stephen Baxter. It comes as the sequel to Baxter's acclaimed 2008 novel Flood. Ark deals with the journey of Ark One, which Baxter has revealed to be a long-range spaceship, and the continuing human struggle for survival on Earth after the...
by Stephen BaxterStephen BaxterStephen Baxter is a prolific British hard science fiction author. He has degrees in mathematics and engineering.- Writing style :...
take place on Earth covered by the leak of subterranean ocean. - Hydros, from the novel The Face of the WatersThe Face of the WatersThe Face of the Waters is a science fiction novel by Robert Silverberg, first published in 1991.- Plot introduction :The Face of the Waters takes place in the far future, on a penal colony, inhabited by convicts and their progeny...
by Robert SilverbergRobert SilverbergRobert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
. - Thalassa, from the novel The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. ClarkeArthur C. ClarkeSir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
. - Sea Heaven, from the animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
Magical PlayMagical Playis an original net animation featuring character designs by Kiyohiko Azuma. It was webcast from November 16, 2001 to May 3, 2002, totaling twenty-two episodes. The magical girl satire was later compiled into four half hour episodes and released on four DVDs. A 3D OVA episode was released on...
. - Oleana from the game MeteosMeteosis an action puzzle video game for the Nintendo DS portable gaming system. The name of the game comes from the English word meteor, transliterated to "meteo". Meteos was developed by Q Entertainment and published by Nintendo and Bandai. The producer for the game was Tetsuya Mizuguchi and lead...
. - Turquoise from the Alastair ReynoldsAlastair ReynoldsAlastair Preston Reynolds is a British science fiction author. He specialises in dark hard science fiction and space opera. He spent his early years in Cornwall, moved back to Wales before going to Newcastle, where he read physics and astronomy. Afterwards, he earned a PhD from St Andrews, Scotland...
Novella Turquoise Days. - Aqua, a terraformed version of MarsMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
resembling VeniceVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
in the manga series AriaARIA (manga)is a utopian science fantasy manga by Kozue Amano. The series was originally titled when it was published by Enix in the magazine Monthly Stencil, being retitled when it moved to Mag Garden's magazine Comic Blade. Aqua was serialized in Stencil from 2001 to 2002 and collected in two tankōbon volumes...
. - Bathyos, from the television series Buzz Lightyear of Star CommandBuzz Lightyear of Star CommandBuzz Lightyear of Star Command is an American animated science fiction/adventure/comedy series produced by Walt Disney Television. The character is from the planet Zurtron. The series originally aired on UPN and ABC from October 2000 to January 2001 as part of Disney's One Saturday Morning...
. - Aqua Magna, from the 2009 BIONICLEBionicleBionicle is a line of toys by the LEGO Group marketed primarily for 5- to 16-year-olds. The line was launched on December 30, 2000 in Europe and June/July 2001 in Canada and the United States. "Bionicle" is a portmanteau constructed from the words "biological" and "chronicle"...
story. - Levo, from the game Escape velocity
- Earth, in the game Submarine TITANSSubmarine TITANSSubmarine TITANS is a real time strategy video game for Microsoft Windows rendered in 2D isometric perspective graphics. It was developed by Ellipse Studios, published by Strategy First, and released in North America on August 9, 2000. The game takes place in the 22nd century in which a comet has...
. - Aquitar, from the TV series Power RangersPower RangersPower Rangers is a long-running American entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live action children's television series featuring teams of costumed heroes...
. - Droplet from the Star Trek Titan novel Over a Torrent Sea.
- Pisciss from the Ben 10 Ultimate Alien episode Deep
- An unnamed ocean planet with a rocky core appears in the video game Super Mario Galaxy 2Super Mario Galaxy 2is a platforming video game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It was first announced at E3 2009 and is the sequel to Super Mario Galaxy. It was released in North America on May 23, 2010, in Japan on May 27, 2010, in Europe on June 11, 2010, and in Australia on July 1,...
. - In the Red Dwarf episode 'Dimension Jump' the crew crash land on an unnamed ocean planet where they'd planned to go fishing.