List of largest lakes and seas in the Solar System facts for kids

Our Solar System is full of amazing places, and some of the most exciting are the oceans, lakes, and seas! While we often think of Earth as the only watery world, scientists have discovered many other places with liquids, even if they are hidden. This article explores the biggest known or predicted bodies of liquid in our Solar System and beyond.

On Earth, we have vast oceans of liquid water right on the surface. But in other parts of the Solar System, most liquids are found under thick layers of ice. For example, Saturn's moon Titan has lakes of liquid hydrocarbons on its surface, which are like natural gas and oil.

Many moons of Jupiter and Saturn are thought to hide huge oceans of water deep beneath their icy crusts. Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, might have more water than all of Earth's oceans combined! Another Jupiter moon, Europa, also has a massive underground ocean. Scientists are very interested in these hidden oceans because they could potentially support life. Recent studies, using data from the James Webb Space Telescope, suggest that the carbon dioxide on Europa's surface might come from its subsurface ocean, making it a possible place for life to exist.

Other icy worlds like Callisto (another moon of Jupiter), Enceladus (a moon of Saturn), and even the dwarf planet Pluto are believed to have hidden oceans. These oceans are often kept liquid by heat from inside the moon or planet.

Besides water, some places have lakes of other liquids. For instance, Jupiter's moon Io has active volcanoes and lakes made of molten lava. Scientists are also looking for oceans on planets outside our Solar System, called exoplanets. It's possible that many exoplanets have hidden oceans too!

Largest Oceans, Lakes, and Seas in the Solar System

This table lists the largest known or predicted bodies of liquid. They are grouped by the celestial body they are found on.

Largest known or predicted oceans, lakes and seas

Body	Type of object	Volume (zettaliters)	Ocean/Lake/Sea	Composition	Location	Area (km2)	Average depth (km)	Image	Notes
Earth	planet	1.362	World Ocean	Salt water	Surface, global	361,300,000	3.68 (max 11.02)		Covers 71% of Earth's surface.
			Caspian Sea	Salt water	Surface, Central Asia	389,000	0.21 (max 1.02)		Earth's largest inland body of water.
			Lake Michigan–Huron	Fresh water	Surface, North America	117,400	0.07 (max 0.28)		The largest freshwater lake on Earth.
Mars	planet	?	South polar lakes?	Salt water or brine?	Under ice, south pole	c. 200	(shallow)		Scientists think there might be lakes under the ice at the south pole.
Io	moon of Jupiter	?	Gish Bar Patera	Lava	Surface	9,600	?		One of Io's many active lava lakes.
			Loki Patera	Lava	Surface	< 32,000	?		The largest volcanic depression on Io.
Europa	moon of Jupiter	2.6	Global Ocean	Water	Subsurface, global	c. 30,000,000	est. 50–100		A huge ocean under 10 to 30 km of ice, possibly twice the volume of Earth's oceans.
Ganymede	moon of Jupiter	35.4	Global Ocean	Salt water	Subsurface, global	c. 80,000,000	100		This ocean is under 150 km of ice and could be six times larger than Earth's oceans. It might even have several layers of oceans!
Callisto	moon of Jupiter	5.3	Global Ocean	Water	Subsurface, global	c. 65,000,000	10		An ocean under 135 to 150 km of ice.
Enceladus	moon of Saturn	0.01	Global Ocean	Salt water	Subsurface, global	c. 650,000	26–31 or 38 ± 4		A global ocean under 21–26 km of ice.
Titan	moon of Saturn	18.6	Kraken Mare	Hydrocarbons	Surface, north pole	≈ 400,000	0.85 (max)		The largest known body of surface liquid outside Earth's oceans.
			Ligeia Mare	Methane, ethane, nitrogen	Surface, north pole	126,000	~0.2		The second largest lake on Titan.
			Punga Mare	Hydrocarbons	Surface, north pole	61,000	~0.11		A large lake of hydrocarbons.
			Global Ocean	Water	Subsurface, global	c. 80,000,000	< 300		A global ocean of water under less than 100 km of ice.
Triton	moon of Neptune	0.03	Global Ocean	Water	Subsurface, global	c. 20,000,000	c. 150–200		A likely global ocean under 150–200 km of ice.
Pluto	dwarf planet	1	Global Ocean	Water	Subsurface, global	c. 10,000,000–15,000,000	c. 100–180		A possible global ocean under 150–230 km of ice.

See also

• List of Solar System extremes
• Hydrosphere
• List of lakes by area
• Tidal heating