The World’s Oceans

What are the oceans of the world?

A body of water that is mostly salt water is called an ocean. It covers nearly 70% of the surface of the Earth. Seas comprise of somewhat more than 95% of the world’s all’s water. Although a sea is a part of an ocean, land typically surrounds it in part. Additionally, oceans are much deeper and larger than seas.

The five oceans that make up the surface of our globe are the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean.

The Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean, which accounts up more than 30%, or one-third, of the planet’s surface, is the largest ocean in the world.

 Oceans cover almost half of the earth’s surface, and the Pacific Ocean’s size is greater than the sum of the areas of all the continents. It touches North America’s west coast. Challenger Deep is the name of the lowest known place on earth.

 It is situated at the end of the Mariana Trench in the Philippine Sea in the Pacific Ocean, close to Guam. At a depth of 36,037 feet, it is deeper than Mount Everest.The trench’s extraordinary depth is caused by its location at the intersection of two tectonic plates. Earthquakes frequently occur near the ocean’s coastline in Japan and North America.

The ocean was given its name by intrepid traveller Ferdinand Magellan. He described a “calm sea” by using the word “pacific.”As a result, Pacific Ocean is an ocean of peace. But, the Pacific is not entirely calm and serene.

The Pacific Ocean is the location of the “ring of fire”. The Ring of Fire, a chain of 450 volcanoes in a U – shape, is located in the Pacific Ocean. They stretch from South America through New Zealand, along the coast of Japan, and the western United States, all the way down to the equator.

Since the Pacific basin is home to a number of still-active volcanoes, it frequently experiences large earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The Great Barrier Reef, which sits off the coast of Australia, is the biggest coral reef in the world.

The Atlantic Ocean

Between the continents of America, Europe, and Africa is the second-largest ocean in the world, the Atlantic.

20% of the Earth’s surface is covered by the Atlantic Ocean, which is about half as large as the Pacific Ocean. Yet, as it moves along the Mid-Atlantic Coasts, it is expanding in size.

Is believed to have developed during the Jurassic Era. Moreover, it has connections to the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, and Southern Oceans. The Northern Atlantic and the Southern Atlantic are separated by the equator.

The majority of the geological activity in the Atlantic Ocean, which is regarded as a passive margin ocean, is concentrated in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The vast majority of its coastline areas are low and geologically unactive.

The Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, Hudson Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea are some of the major marginal seas of the Atlantic. The Atlantic is 82 million square kilometres in size (32 million square miles). It is 3,600 metres deep on average (11,812 feet). Its deepest point is 8,605 metres in the Puerto Rico Trench (28,231 feet).

The seas of the Atlantic are home to sharks, like this Thresher Shark swimming in the Gulf Stream. The ocean is home to a diverse variety of marine life, including organisms that live more than 3,000 feet below the surface and turtles and dolphins. The largest island in the world, Greenland, is oddly situated between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.

The Indian Ocean

Third large ocean in the globe is the Indian Ocean. It includes a number of tropical islands and occupies around 1/5 of the surface of the planet. Africa forms the ocean’s northwest border, followed by Antarctica, India, and Asia in the north, and Australia in the east. The Arabian and Laccadive Seas are part of it.

The world’s warmest ocean is the Indian Ocean. This implies that a wide range of marine organisms cannot survive in its warmer waters. Surprisingly, some of the most significant ports in the world, such those in Mumbai and Kolkata, can be found on the sea.

The Indian Ocean is the smallest of the three major oceans, with a surface area of 73 million square kilometres (28 million square miles), or about 20 percent of the total ocean surface area. 3,890 metres is the average depth of the Indian Ocean (12,762 feet). The Java trench is its deepest point, measuring 7,725 metres.

The Indian Ocean’s waters serve as the largest humpback whale breeding grounds in the entire planet. A fish that was believed to be extinct was also found in the Indian Ocean. Between Mozambique and Madagascar, in the warm seas off the Comoro islands, the coelacanth can be found.

Because to its connection between Asia and the Middle East’s oil-rich nations, the Northern Indian Ocean is also crucial for the transportation of oil. On its waterways, tankers transport 17 million barrels of crude oil daily from the Persian Gulf.

The Southern Ocean

In the Southern Hemisphere, off Antarctica, the Southern Ocean is situated near the South Pole across from the Antarctic Circle.

The Southern Ocean is currently the fourth-largest ocean in the planet (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean). 24,390 feet, or 7,434 metres, is the depth at which the ocean is deepest. Climate change has caused its ecosystem to shift significantly in recent years. Animals like seals, penguins, and orcas live in the waters.

Wandering albatrosses and Emperor Penguins both reside in the Southern Ocean.

The Arctic Ocean

5.427 million square miles (14,055,865 square kilometers)

Around the North Pole, beyond the Arctic Circle, is where you’ll find the Arctic Ocean.More than five times smaller than the Indian and Atlantic oceans, the Arctic Ocean is the world’s tiniest ocean and is recognized as the coldest of all the oceans with the lowest salinity. Compared to other oceans, sealife is considerably more difficult to observe.

Polar bears can be found in large numbers on the Arctic ice.

A jellyfish known as the ‘Lion’s Mane Jellyfish’ can also be found in the Arctic Ocean. It can grow to be 2.4m (8 ft) broad and feeds on plankton and fish. Through a narrow, shallow waterway known as the Bering Strait, it is connected to the Pacific Ocean.