Nouns – Is There a General Word for Both the Land and Water Surfaces of the Earth?

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Air & space vehicles can come down to the Earth and "land" on either land or water (surfaces of oceans, lakes, etc.). Is there a general word or term that represents all of these surfaces (but is more specific than just "surface")?

Example sentence: The airplane can land on any [term needed], whether land or water.

"Earth's surface", "planetary surface", and "terrain" seemed like promising options, but my research indicates that these terms represent only the solid portion of the planet (dry land or below water).

Best Answer

'surface' works fine, Merriam-Webster explicitly includes water when it comes to the Earth's surface:

1: the exterior or upper boundary of an object or body
// on the surface of the water
// the earth's surface

You could alternatively rephrase your sentence as follows:

The airplane can land anywhere, whether land or water.

Nobody will think it can land mid-air, or on a steep mountain :)

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