Is there a general word for both the land and water surfaces of the Earth?

Question

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).

Glorfindel · Accepted 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 :)

Weather Vane · Answer

I suggest

The aircraft is amphibious.

Lexico has

amphibious
ADJECTIVE
1 Relating to, living in, or suited for both land and water.

Also in Wikipedia

An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft that can take off and land on both land and water.

Malady · Answer

"Anywhere that can support (its / the plane's) weight", perhaps?
"Land anywhere on Earth" likely has the size and stability requirements built into the context of a plane landing...

Rephrasing the first to be less object dependant, like "Anywhere you could stay for an hour" might work.
Land and sea don't share enough qualities to make this easy.

Ian · Answer

Consider changing the verb instead. An amphibious aircraft can touch down on any surface, wet or dry. You're correct that "surface of the Earth" often colloquially implies only dry land, possibly because of that word "Earth" which also means "dirt" and "ground" in so many contexts. Also, it does sound a bit paradoxical to land on water.

Jamie Marshall · Answer

Terra Firma literally means "firm land".
You could use, Terra Omnis - meaning "land all".
Could be a nice creative solution to get at what you're after.

Is there a general word for both the land and water surfaces of the Earth?

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