The Colour of Water

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The Beginning

1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

The First Day: Light

3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

The Second Day: Firmament

6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

The Third Day: Dry Ground

9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. ...

[The Bible, Genesis 1 1-10, Translation: KJV]

According to The Torah, it is Allah who separated the waters, such that the water above forms the sky, and the water below form the seas. The waters of the sky are above a firmament, a barrier that prevents them from falling upon the Earth. 

أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ سَخَّرَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَالْفُلْكَ تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِأَمْرِهِ وَيُمْسِكُ السَّمَاءَ أَن تَقَعَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِالنَّاسِ لَرَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Hast thou not considered that God caused to be subservient to you what is in and on the earth? And the boats run through the sea by His command. And He holds back the heaven so that it not fall on the earth, but by His permission. Truly, to humanity God is Gentle, Compassionate.

[Al-Quran 22:65, Translator: Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar] 

According to The Quran, it is Allah who is holding up the sky, so that it doesn't fall upon the Earth. 

There is a space between Earth and Sky, the lowest of which is our atmosphere containing gases and clouds, then the Sun, Moon and planets and stars, and then beyond that galaxies, etc. till the firmament, which the scriptures inform us are impassable for humans, without permission (Q55:33).  

The colour of the sky during the day appears blue, and the colour of the sea is also blue. 

Scientists explain that the sky appears blue due to polarisation of light, while the sea appears blue because water is actually a faint blue, which appears colourless when in small quantities, but the colour darkens when seen in larger, deeper quantities. 

The deep blue sea at the Marshall Islands

Attribution: By Christopher Michel - the deep blue sea, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24811686

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Glacial rock flour makes New Zealand's Lake Pukaki a lighter turquoise than its neighbors.

Attribution: By Lake_Pukaki_-_STS088-721-15.JPG: Johnson Space Centerderivative work: Avenue (talk) - Lake_Pukaki_-_STS088-721-15.JPG, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9458252

Clouds appear white, and icebergs appear white, but the strongly compressed icebergs are a shade of blue. 

Iceberg on Jökulsárlón, Iceland

Attribution: By Andreas Tille - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2466265

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Icebergs in Disko Bay in Baffin Bay, off the coast of the city of Ilulissat, Greenland

Attribution:By Buiobuione - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113977830

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During twilight Blue Hour, the sky and water are shades of blue: 

Praia da Ursa, Cabo da Roca, Portugal. A wide-angle view of the seascape during the blue hour

Attribution: By Rnbc, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3621257

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Zug, Switzerland during the blue hour

Attribution: By Roy Egloff - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113399927

So, until the darkness of the night doesn't completely veil the light of the sun, the sky and the sea appear in shades of blue. 

Links to posts about Water in this blog: https://signsandscience.blogspot.com/p/water.html

External Links: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_ice_(glacial) 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_of_water 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue 

From Art to Science: The Anatomy of Glaciers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5mgFnMx4_M 

For more spectacular photos: https://www.rogerfishman.com 

 

Last updated on: September 13, 2024