Characteristics and names of the oceans. Map of the oceans

Almost 95% of all water on the Earth is salty and unfit for consumption. It consists of seas, oceans and salt lakes. In the aggregate, all this is called the World Ocean. Its area is three-fourths of the total area of the planet.

The World Ocean - what is it?

The names of the oceans are familiar to us from a younger school. It is the Quiet, otherwise called the Great, Atlantic, Indian and Northern Arctic. They are collectively called the World Ocean. Its area is more than 350 million km ² . This is a huge territory even on a global scale.

The continents dismember the World Ocean into four known oceans. Each of them has its own characteristics, its unique underwater world, changing depending on the climatic zone, temperature of currents and the bottom relief. The map of the oceans shows that they are all connected. None of them is surrounded by land on all sides.

The science that studies the oceans is oceanology

How do we know that there are seas and oceans? Geography is a school subject, which for the first time acquaints us with these concepts. But more deeply studying of the oceans is engaged in special science - oceanology. It considers the water expanses as an integral natural object, studies the biological processes occurring within it, and its connection with other constituent elements of the biosphere.

This science ocean depths are studied for the sake of achieving such goals:

• Increase of efficiency and safety of underwater and surface navigation;
• Optimization of the use of minerals in the ocean floor;
• Maintaining the biological balance of the ocean environment;
• Improvement of meteorological forecasts.

How did the modern names of the oceans come about?

The name of each geographical object is given for a reason. Any name has certain historical prerequisites or is associated with the characteristics of a particular territory. Let's find out when and how the names of the oceans originated and who invented them.

• Atlantic Ocean. The works of the ancient Greek historian and geographer Strabo described this ocean, calling it the West. Later, some scientists called it the Hesperid Sea. This is confirmed by a document dating back to 90 BC. Already in the 9th century AD Arab geographers have been called the "sea of Darkness", or "the sea of Darkness". Such a strange name the Atlantic Ocean received from the clouds of sand and dust that raised wind above it, constantly blowing from the African continent. For the first time the modern name sounded in 1507, after Columbus reached the shores of America. Officially, this name was fixed in geography in 1650 in the scientific works of Bernhard Waren.
• The Pacific Ocean was named so by the Spanish navigator Fernand Magellan. Despite the fact that it is quite stormy and often there are storms and tornadoes, during the Magellan expedition, which lasted a year, there was always good weather, there was a calm, and this was the reason to think that the ocean is really quiet and calm. When the truth opened, no one changed the name of the Pacific Ocean. In 1756, the famous traveler and explorer Bajush suggested calling him Great, since it is the largest ocean of all. Until now, both of these names are used.
• The reason for giving the name to the Arctic Ocean was a lot of ice floes drifting in its waters, and, of course, a geographical position. His second name, the Arctic, comes from the Greek word arcticos, which means "northern".
• With the name of the Indian Ocean everything is extremely simple. India is one of the first countries known to the Ancient World. The waters that wash its banks were named in her honor.

Four Oceans

How many oceans on the planet? This question seems to be the simplest, but for many years it has sparked discussions and disputes among oceanologists. The standard list of oceans looks like this:

1. Quiet.

2. Indian.

3. The Atlantic.

4. The Arctic.

But since ancient times, there is another opinion, according to which the fifth ocean is allocated - Antarctic, or Southern. Argumenting this decision, oceanologists point to the fact that the waters that wash the coast of Antarctica are very peculiar and the system of currents in this ocean differs from the rest of the water spaces. Not everyone agrees with this decision, therefore the problem of the division of the World Ocean remains relevant.

The characteristics of the oceans vary depending on many factors, although it may seem that they are all the same. Let's get acquainted with each of them and learn about the most important information about everyone.

Pacific Ocean

It is also called Great, because it has the largest area among all. The Pacific basin occupies slightly less than half the area of all the world's water areas and is equal to 179.7 million km2.

The composition includes 30 seas: Japanese, Tasman, Yavan, South China, Okhotsk, Filipino, Novogguin, Sea of Sava, Sea of Halmaher, Sea of Corot, Sea of Mindanao, Yellow, Sea of Visayan, Sea of Aki, Solomon, Sea of Bali, Sea of Samaira, Coral, Banda, Sulu, Sulawesi, Fiji, Molucco, Comotes, Sea of Seram, Sea Flores, Sea of Sibuyan, East China, Bering, Amudesens Sea. All of them occupy 18% of the total area of the Pacific Ocean.

By the number of islands, he is also a leader. They number about 10 thousand. The largest islands of the Pacific Ocean are New Guinea and Kalimantan.

In the bowels of the seabed, more than a third of the world's natural gas and oil reserves are found, the active extraction of which occurs mainly in the shelf areas of China, the United States of America and Australia.

There are many transport routes connecting the countries of Asia with South and North America along the Pacific Ocean.

Atlantic Ocean

It is the second largest in the world, and this is clearly demonstrated by the map of the oceans. Its area is 93 360 thousand km ² . The Atlantic Ocean basin contains 13 seas. All of them have a coastline.

Interesting is the fact that in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean there is the fourteenth sea - Sargasovo, called the sea without shores. Its boundaries are ocean currents. It is considered to be the largest sea by sea in the whole world.

Another feature of this ocean is the maximum influx of fresh water provided by the large rivers of North and South America, Africa and Europe.

By the number of islands this ocean is the complete opposite of the Pacific. There are very few of them here. But it is in the Atlantic Ocean is the largest island of the planet - Greenland - and the most remote island - Bouvet. Although sometimes Greenland is ranked among the islands of the Arctic Ocean.

Indian Ocean

Interesting facts about the third largest ocean area will make us wonder even more. The Indian Ocean was the first known and explored. He is the keeper of the largest complex of coral reefs.

The waters of this ocean store the mystery of a mysterious phenomenon, which has not yet been properly investigated. The fact is that on the surface periodically appear glowing circles of regular shape. According to one version, this is a glow of plankton rising from the depths, but their ideal spherical shape is still a mystery.

Near the island of Madagascar, you can observe a unique in its kind of natural phenomenon - an underwater waterfall.

Now a few facts about the Indian Ocean. Its area is 79 917 thousand km ² . The average depth is 3711 m. It is washed by 4 continents and has 7 seas in the composition. Vasco da Gama is the first researcher who crossed the Indian Ocean.

Interesting facts and characteristics of the Arctic Ocean

It is the smallest and coldest of all the oceans. The area is 13 100 thousand km ² . It is also the shallowest, the average depth of the Arctic Ocean is only 1225 m. It has 10 seas. By the number of islands, this ocean ranks second after the Pacific.

The central part of the ocean is covered with ice. Floating ice floes and icebergs are observed in the southern regions. Sometimes you can meet whole ice floating islands with a thickness of 30-35 m. It is here that the notorious "Titanic" crashed, colliding with one of them.

Despite the harsh climate, the Arctic Ocean is a habitat for many species of animals: walruses, seals, whales, seagulls, jellyfishes and plankton.

Depth of the oceans

We already know the names of the oceans and their features. But which ocean is the deepest? Let's figure this out.

The contour map of the oceans and the ocean floor shows that the bottom relief is as diverse as the relief of the continents. Under the thickness of the sea water are hidden depressions, depressions and elevations like mountains.

The average depth of the four oceans combined is 3700 m. The deepest is the Pacific Ocean, whose average depth is 3980 m, followed by the Atlantic - 3600 m, followed by the Indian - 3710 m. The last in this list, as already mentioned, Is the Arctic Ocean, the average depth of which is only 1225 m.

Salt is the main sign of ocean waters

Everyone knows the difference between the water of the seas and oceans from fresh river water. Now we will be interested in such characteristics of the oceans as the amount of salt. If you think that the water is everywhere equally salty, you are very much mistaken. The concentration of salt in ocean waters can differ significantly even within a few kilometers.

Average salinity of oceanic waters is 35 . If we consider this indicator separately for each ocean, then the Arctic is the least salty of all: 32 ‰. The Pacific Ocean is 34.5 . The salt content in the water is reduced here due to the high amount of precipitation, especially in the equatorial zone. The Indian Ocean is 34.8 . Atlantic - 35,4 . It is important to note that bottom waters have a lower salt concentration than surface waters.

The most salty seas of the World Ocean are Red (41 ‰), the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf (up to 39 ‰).

World Ocean Records

• The deepest place in the World Ocean is the Mariinsky hollow, its depth is 11,035 m from the surface water level.
• If we consider the depth of the seas, then the deepest sea is the Philippines. Its depth reaches 10 540 m. The Coral Sea with the maximum depth of 9140 m is in second place in this indicator.
• The largest ocean is the Quiet. Its area is larger than the area of the entire terrestrial land.
• The most salty sea is the Red Sea. It is located in the Indian Ocean. Salt water well supports all objects falling into it, and to drown in this sea, you need to try very hard.
• The most mysterious place is in the Atlantic Ocean, and the name is Bermuda Triangle. Many legends and mysteries are associated with it.
• The most poisonous sea creature is the blue-ringed octopus. It lives in the Indian Ocean.
• The largest scale of coral accumulation in the world is the Great Barrier Reef, located in the Pacific Ocean.