Almost 3 percent of the ice in the Antarctic glaciers is penguin urine.
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BS
The glacier outflow into the Amundsen Sea alone is around 250 cubic km/year [British Antarctic Survey 2005]. This equals 250,000,000,000 cubic metres, so 3% of this would be 7,500,000,000 cu.m/y. The global population of all penguins is less than 4 million, so rounding up to this figure would need each penguin to contribute 1,875 cu.m/y, or over 5 cu.m per day. That's more than 5 tons of urine per penguin per day, to supply the Amundsen Sea alone.
[edit] Oh, and penguins don't even live on glaciers.
[edit again] Nor do birds separate urine from other excreta - bird urine does not exist!
Gareth
Level 7
Oct 20, 2018
2
Not that I disbelieve what you're saying, but the current population of penguins is irrelevant. Glaciers exist today that have been in solid form for centuries, so the content of penguin excrement can have built up over millennia. Just saying...
@GinaMaria I like your thinking. However, glaciers move at a typical rate of around 1m/day, so even the longest glaciers, which may be in the order of 100km or more will typically be totally replenished every few hundred years. Of course, some move much, much slower, but since we are looking at global aggregated figures we have to approximate with global averages. So unless, almost right up to the time Antarctica was discovered (about 250 years ago) it was populated by billions of gigantic penguins, living predominantly on glaciers and using an execretory mechanism unknown in any extant bird and who became extinct without leaving any surviving trace I will stand by my conclusion. 
I was wondering when the "but birds don't pee" thing would come up.
It is a know fact that water on the Earth is constantly being recycled. The water in your bodies and food has gone through countless animals in various forms. Think about that the next time you take a drink!!
JackPedigo
Level 9
Oct 20, 2018
0
I probably could have gone my whole life without knowing that. LOL!
sewchick57
Level 7
Oct 20, 2018
0
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