5 Oceans of the World
- Pacific Ocean for more details click here
- Atlantic Ocean for more details click here
- Indian Ocean for more details click here
- Southern Ocean for more details click here
- Arctic Ocean for more details click here
5 Oceans of the World
Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean The
Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific
Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the recently delimited Southern
Ocean). The Northwest Passage (US and Canada) and Northern Sea Route (Norway
and Russia) are two important seasonal waterways. A sparse network of air,
ocean, river, and land routes circumscribes the Arctic Ocean.
Area:
Total: 14.056 million sq. kmnote: includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies.
Natural
resources:
Sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, poly-metallic
nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales).
Natural
hazards:
ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere
Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme
northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually ice locked from October
to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May
Environment
- current issues:
Endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile
ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage;
thinning polar ice-pack
Ports
and terminals:
Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US)
Climate:
polar climate characterized by persistent cold and relatively
narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness,
cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by
continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or
snow
Terrain:
central surface covered by a
perennial drifting polar ice-pack that, on average, is about 3 meters thick,
although pressure ridges may be three times that thickness; clockwise drift
pattern in the Beaufort gyral- Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from
the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and
Iceland); the ice-pack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more
than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling
landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage
of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine
ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge)
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Farm Basin -4,665 m
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Farm Basin -4,665 m
Environment
- current issues:
Endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile
ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage;
thinning polar icepack
Geography
- note:
major choke-point is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to
the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North
America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and
western Russia; floating research stations operated by the US and Russia;
maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen
ocean; snow cover lasts about 10 months.Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean The
Southern Ocean as the fourth-largest of the five oceans.
Area:
Total: 20.327 million sq. km note: includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water.
Natural resources:
Probable large and possible giant oil and gas fields on the
continental margin; manganese nodules, possible placer deposits, sand and
gravel, fresh water as icebergs; squid, whales, and seals - none exploited;
krill, fish.
Environment - current
issues:
increased solar ultraviolet radiation resulting from the
Antarctic ozone hole in recent years, reducing marine primary productivity
(phytoplankton) by as much as 15% and damaging the DNA of some fish; illegal,
unreported, and unregulated fishing in recent years, especially the landing of
an estimated five to six times more Patagonian tooth fish than the regulated
fishery, which is likely to affect the sustainability of the stock; large
amount of incidental mortality of seabirds resulting from long-line fishing for
tooth fish.
note: the now-protected fur seal population is making a strong comeback after severe overexploitation in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Ports and terminals:
Mc-Murdo, Palmer, and offshore anchorages in Antarctica
Note: few ports or harbors exist on southern side of Southern Ocean; ice conditions limit use of most to short periods in midsummer; even then some cannot be entered without icebreaker escort; most Antarctic ports are operated by government research stations and, except in an emergency, are not open to commercial or private vessels; vessels in any port south of 60 degrees south are subject to inspection by observers under Article 7 of the Antarctic Treaty; The Hydrographic Committee on Antarctica (HCA), a special hydrographic commission of International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), is responsible for hydrographic surveying and nautical charting matters in Antarctic Treaty area; it coordinates and facilitates provision of accurate and appropriate charts and other aids to navigation in support of safety of navigation in region; membership of HCA is open to any IHO Member State whose government has acceded to the Antarctic Treaty and which contributes resources and/or data to IHO Chart coverage of the area; members of HCA are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, NZ, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, UK, and US (2007).
Note: few ports or harbors exist on southern side of Southern Ocean; ice conditions limit use of most to short periods in midsummer; even then some cannot be entered without icebreaker escort; most Antarctic ports are operated by government research stations and, except in an emergency, are not open to commercial or private vessels; vessels in any port south of 60 degrees south are subject to inspection by observers under Article 7 of the Antarctic Treaty; The Hydrographic Committee on Antarctica (HCA), a special hydrographic commission of International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), is responsible for hydrographic surveying and nautical charting matters in Antarctic Treaty area; it coordinates and facilitates provision of accurate and appropriate charts and other aids to navigation in support of safety of navigation in region; membership of HCA is open to any IHO Member State whose government has acceded to the Antarctic Treaty and which contributes resources and/or data to IHO Chart coverage of the area; members of HCA are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, NZ, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, UK, and US (2007).
Terrain:
the Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 m over most of its
extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental
shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400
to 800 m (the global mean is 133 m); the Antarctic icepack grows from an
average minimum of 2.6 million sq. km in March to about 18.8 million sq. km in
September, better than a six fold increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar
Current (21,000 km in length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest
ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100
times the flow of all the world's rivers.
lowest point: -7,235 m at the southern end of the South Sandwich
Trench.
Natural hazards:
huge icebergs with drafts up to several hundred meters; smaller
bergs and iceberg fragments; sea
ice (generally 0.5 to 1 m thick) with sometimes dynamic
short-term variations and with large annual and inter annual variations; deep
continental shelf floored by glacial deposits varying widely over short
distances; high winds and large waves much of the year; ship icing, especially
May-October; most of region is remote from sources of search and rescue
Geography - note:
the major chokepoint is the Drake Passage between South America and
Antarctica; the Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) is the best natural
definition of the northern extent of the Southern Ocean; it is a distinct
region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that separates the
cold polar surface waters to the south from the warmer waters to the north; the
Front and the Current extend entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60
degrees south near New Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South
Atlantic coinciding with the path of the maximum westerly winds.Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's five oceans.
Area:
Total: 68.556 million sq. km note: includes Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Flores Sea, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Java Sea, Mozambique Channel, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Savu-Sea, Strait of Malacca, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies.
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean). Four critically important access waterways are the Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen), Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia). The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Indian Ocean south of 60 degrees south latitude.
The Indian Ocean northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon (June to October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June and October/November in the northern Indian Ocean and January/February in the southern Indian Ocean.
The Indian Ocean surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the southern Indian Ocean; unique reversal of surface currents in the northern Indian Ocean; low atmospheric pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents, while high pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest winds and currents; ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge and subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninety east Ridge
The Indian Ocean lowest point: Java Trench -7,258 m.
Environment
- current issues:
The Indian Ocean endangered marine species include the dugong,
seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and
Red Sea.
Natural
resources:
The Indian Ocean oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and
gravel aggregates, placer deposits, poly-metallic nodules
Ports
and terminals:
Chennai (Madras; India), Colombo (Sri-Lanka), Durban (South
Africa), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kolkata (Calcutta; India) Melbourne (Australia),
Mumbai (Bombay; India), Richards Bay (South Africa).
Natural
hazards:
The Indian Ocean occasional icebergs pose navigational hazard in
southern reaches
Environment
- current issues:
The Indian Ocean endangered marine species include the dugong,
seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and
Red Sea
Geography
- note:
Major choke-points in Indian Ocean include Ba-bel-mandeb, Strait
of Hormuz, Strait of Malacca, southern access to the Suez Canal, and the Colombo Strai
Economy
- overview:
The Indian Ocean
provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia
with Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of
petroleum and petroleum products from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and
Indonesia. Its fish are of great and growing importance to the bordering
countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from Russia,
Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for shrimp
and tuna. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas
of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and Western Australia. An estimated 40% of the
world's off shore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean. Beach
sands rich in heavy minerals and offshore placer deposits are actively
exploited by bordering countries, particularly India, South Africa, Indonesia,
Srilanka, and Thailand.Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceans.
Area:
Total: 76.762 million sq. km note: includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, part of the Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Labrador Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, almost all of the Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies.
Natural resources:
Oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales),
sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, poly-metallic nodules, precious
stones.The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, but larger than the Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). The Kiel Canal (Germany), Oresund (Denmark-Sweden), Bosporus (Turkey), Strait of Gibraltar (Morocco-Spain), and the Saint Lawrence Seaway (Canada-US) are important strategic access waterways. The decision by the International Hydro-graphic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth world ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Atlantic Ocean south of 60 degrees south latitude.
Tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December but are most frequent from August to November.
The surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and coastal portions of the Baltic Sea from October to June; clockwise warm-water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the northern Atlantic, counterclockwise warm-water gyre in the southern Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south center line for the entire Atlantic basin
The lowest point: Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench -8,605 m
Environment
- current issues:
endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions,
turtles, and whales; drift net fishing is hastening the decline of fish stocks
and contributing to international disputes; municipal sludge pollution off
eastern US, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in Caribbean
Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea;
industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in Baltic Sea, North Sea, and
Mediterranean Sea.
Ports and
terminals:
Alexandria (Egypt), Algiers (Algeria), Antwerp (Belgium),
Barcelona (Spain), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Casablanca (Morocco), Colon
(Panama), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dakar (Senegal), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg
(Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre
(France), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Montevideo
(Uruguay), Montreal (Canada), Naples (Italy), New Orleans (US), New York (US),
Oran (Algeria), Oslo (Norway), Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece), Rio de Janeiro
(Brazil), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Stockholm
(Sweden).
Natural
hazards:
icebergs common in
Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from February
to August and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira
Islands; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme northern Atlantic
from October to May; persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to
September; hurricanes (May to December)
Geography -
note:
major chokepoints include the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar,
access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic straits include the Strait of
Dover, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage, The Sound (Oresund), and Windward
Passage; the Equator divides the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean
and South Atlantic Ocean
Economy
- overview:
The Atlantic Ocean provides some of the world's most heavily
trafficked sea routes, between and within the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
Other economic activity includes the exploitation of natural resources, e.g.,
fishing, dredging of aragonite sands (The Bahamas), and production of crude oil
and natural gas (Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and North Sea).
South
Atlantic Flash
The Vela Incident (sometimes referred to as the South Atlantic
Flash) was an unidentified "double flash" of light that was detected
by an American Vela Hotel satellite on September 22, 1979. Some specialists who examined the data speculated that the double flash, characteristic of a nuclear explosion, may have been the result of a nuclear weapons test: "The conclusions of the Presidential panel (the Ad Hoc Panel) were reassuring, as they suggested that the most likely explanation of the Vela detection was a meteoroid hitting the satellite — in part because of the discrepancy in bhang meter readings. Others who examined the data, including Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the national laboratories, and defense contractors reached a very different conclusion — that the data supported the conclusion that on 22 September 1979, Vela 6911 had detected a nuclear detonation.
Pacific Ocean
Area:
Total: 155.557 million sq. km
note: includes Bali Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Ton-kin Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, South China Sea, Tasman Sea, and other tributary water bodies.
note: includes Bali Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Ton-kin Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, South China Sea, Tasman Sea, and other tributary water bodies.
Environment - current
issues:
endangered marine species include the dudgeon sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South china sea.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world's five oceans (followed by the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). Strategically important access waterways include the La-Perouse, Tsugaru, Tsushima, Taiwan, Singapore, and Torres Straits. The decision by the International Hydro-graphic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of 60 degrees south.
Mariana Trench, depression in the floor of the Pacific Ocean, the deepest seafloor depression in the world. It is located just east of the Mariana Islands in the western part of the ocean basin. The Mariana Trench is an arc-shaped valley extending generally northeast to southwest for 2,550 km (1,580 mi); its average width is 70 km (40 mi). The Mariana is one of many deep water ocean trenches formed by the geologic process of seduction.
Natural
resources:
The Pacific Ocean has oil and gas fields, poly-metallic nodules,
sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, fish
Natural
hazards:
The Pacific Ocean is surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic
and earthquake activity sometimes referred to as the "Pacific Ring of
Fire"; subject to tropical cyclones (typhoons) in southeast and east Asia
from May to December (most frequent from July to October); tropical cyclones
(hurricanes) may form south of Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico
from June to October (most common in August and September); cyclical El Nino/La
Nina phenomenon occurs in the equatorial Pacific, influencing weather in the
Western Hemisphere and the western Pacific; ships subject to superstructure
icing in extreme north from October to May; persistent fog in the northern
Pacific can be a maritime hazard from June to December
Ports and
terminals:
Bangkok (Thailand), Hong Kong (China), Kao-suing (Taiwan), Los- Angeles (US), Manila (Philippines), Pusan (South Korea), San Francisco (US),
Seattle (US), Shanghai (China), Singapore, Sydney (Australia), Vladivostok
(Russia), Wellington (NZ), Yokohama (Japan)
The Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world economy and particularly to those nations its waters directly touch. It provides low-cost sea transportation between East and West, extensive fishing grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals, and sand and gravel for the construction industry. In 1996, over 60% of the world's fish catch came from the Pacific Ocean. Exploitation of offshore oil and gas reserves is playing an ever-increasing role in the energy supplies of the US, Australia, NZ, China, and Peru. The high cost of recovering offshore oil and gas, combined with the wide swings in world prices for oil since 1985, has led to fluctuations in new drillings.
Geography
- note:
The Pacific Ocean
has major chokepoints are the Bering Strait, Panama Canal, Luzon Strait,
and the Singapore Strait; the Equator divides the Pacific Ocean into the North
Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean; dotted with low coral islands and
rugged volcanic islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean
endangered marine species include the dudgeon sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South china sea.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world's five oceans (followed by the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). Strategically important access waterways include the La-Perouse, Tsugaru, Tsushima, Taiwan, Singapore, and Torres Straits. The decision by the International Hydro-graphic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of 60 degrees south.
Mariana Trench, depression in the floor of the Pacific Ocean, the deepest seafloor depression in the world. It is located just east of the Mariana Islands in the western part of the ocean basin. The Mariana Trench is an arc-shaped valley extending generally northeast to southwest for 2,550 km (1,580 mi); its average width is 70 km (40 mi). The Mariana is one of many deep water ocean trenches formed by the geologic process of seduction.
Natural
resources:
The Pacific Ocean has oil and gas fields, poly-metallic nodules,
sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, fish
Natural
hazards:
The Pacific Ocean is surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic
and earthquake activity sometimes referred to as the "Pacific Ring of
Fire"; subject to tropical cyclones (typhoons) in southeast and east Asia
from May to December (most frequent from July to October); tropical cyclones
(hurricanes) may form south of Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico
from June to October (most common in August and September); cyclical El Nino/La
Nina phenomenon occurs in the equatorial Pacific, influencing weather in the
Western Hemisphere and the western Pacific; ships subject to superstructure
icing in extreme north from October to May; persistent fog in the northern
Pacific can be a maritime hazard from June to December
Ports and
terminals:
Bangkok (Thailand), Hong Kong (China), Kao-suing (Taiwan), Los- Angeles (US), Manila (Philippines), Pusan (South Korea), San Francisco (US),
Seattle (US), Shanghai (China), Singapore, Sydney (Australia), Vladivostok
(Russia), Wellington (NZ), Yokohama (Japan)Environment - current issues:
Pacific Ocean endangered marine species include the dugong, sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South China SeaThe Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world economy and particularly to those nations its waters directly touch. It provides low-cost sea transportation between East and West, extensive fishing grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals, and sand and gravel for the construction industry. In 1996, over 60% of the world's fish catch came from the Pacific Ocean. Exploitation of offshore oil and gas reserves is playing an ever-increasing role in the energy supplies of the US, Australia, NZ, China, and Peru. The high cost of recovering offshore oil and gas, combined with the wide swings in world prices for oil since 1985, has led to fluctuations in new drillings.