2006-06-25 11:26:47 · 7 answers · asked by Allison 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Just a guess, but, maybe a tenth of a centimeter? The Earth is constatly being bombarded by ice crystals from space, that increase our water volume on Earth. So, we might NEED to remove all the sponges from the Deep, in another million years or so.
2006-07-02 08:15:40 · answer #1 · answered by thewordofgodisjesus 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
chslaw's answer should be your pick and get ten points. While indeed, the Porifera consist mostly of water, they do have cells, and thus cell membranes, flagella (on their choanocytes to drive water into the interior of the animal, etc. Their skeleton is composed of protein collagen and spicules, which are wither calcareous of silicieous, depending on the group of sponges one is looking at. In other words, while the body of a sponge consits to an enormous amount of water, it nonetheless will displace some ambient sea water. Taken all sponges in the oceans together will certainly amount to something in terms of "non-watery parts (primarily the skeleton, which we have in our bathtubs), but not a whole lot. It seems reasonable to suggest that while the sea level would be slightly lower, it would probably be hardly perceptible. Of course, what you would have to know is how many sponges there are in the oceans, a number rather difficult to get...
So, give chslaw ten points!
2006-06-25 22:07:57 · answer #2 · answered by oputz 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If all sponges were removed from the ocean and all the water was extracted from them and put back in the ocean, I think the ocean would actually be more shallow. Sponges displace water.
2006-06-25 18:30:40 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Although the different would not be significant, I think oceans would be shallower. The mass and volume of the water would not change just because it has been stored in a sponge.
2006-06-25 18:47:59 · answer #4 · answered by Carl 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The oceans would still be the same depth. The sponges absorb water, but their bodies are the same density.
2006-06-25 18:30:27 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not one millimeter. the mass of the sponges take up the room that the water would have taken up in the first place.
2006-06-25 18:30:15 · answer #6 · answered by Stuart 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
By about the same amount as you've got brain cells. In other words, not a lot if at all.
2006-06-25 18:30:37 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋