Saturday 19 January 2013

Oceans of the World

planet earth 
Surface Area of the Planet (510,066,000 sq km)
Land Area of the Planet (148,647,000 sq km) 29.1%
Ocean Area (335,258,000 sq km)
Total Water Area (361,419,000 sq km) 70.9%
Type of Water (97% salt), (3% fresh)

To convert sq km (kilometers) to sq miles,
multiply kilometers by: 0.386102

 # 1 Pacific (155,557,000 sq km)
 # 2 Atlantic (76,762,000 sq km)
 # 3 Indian (68,556,000 sq km)
 # 4 Southern (20,327,000 sq km)
 # 5 Arctic (14,056,000 sq km)


Pacific Ocean Details... 
dotThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceans. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.
At 165.2 million square kilometres (63.8 million square miles) in area, it covers about 46% of the Earth's water surface and about one-third of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth's land area combined.
Extending approximately 15,500 kilometres (9,600 mi) from theBering Sea in the Arctic to the northern extent of the circumpolar Southern Ocean at 60° S, the Pacific reaches its greatest east-west width at about 5°N latitude, where it stretches approximately 19,800 kilometres (12,300 mi) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia and Peru – halfway across the world, and more than five times the diameter of the Moon.
The Pacific Ocean's lowest known point, and the lowest on earth, is the Mariana Trench to the east of the Mariana Island. It is 10,911 metres (35,797 ft) below sea level. The Pacific Ocean's average depth is 4,188metres (14,000 ft).
The Pacific Ocean is currently shrinking due to plate tectonics, while the Atlantic Ocean is increasing in size, by roughly an inch per year (2–3 cm/yr) on 3 sides, roughly averaging 0.2 square miles (0.5 km2) a year. 


Atlantic Ocean Details... 
dotThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106,400,000 square kilometres (41,100,000 sq mi), it covers approximately 22% percent of the Earth's surface and about twenty-six percent of its water surface area.
The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between the Americas to the west, andEurope and Africa to the east. As one component of the interconnected global ocean, it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean (which is sometimes considered a sea of the Atlantic), to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and the Southern Ocean in the far-south.
The decision by the International Hydrographic 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.
The average depth of the Atlantic, with its adjacent seas, is 3,339 metres (10,955 ft); without them it is 3,926 metres (12,881 ft). The greatest depth, Milwaukee Deep with 8,605 metres (28,232 ft), is in the Puerto Rico Trench.
The Atlantic's width varies from 2,848 kilometres (1,770 mi) between Brazil and Sierra Leone to over 6,400 km (4,000 mi) in the far-south. 


Indian Ocean Details... 
dotThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceans, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface.
It is bounded on the north by the Indian subcontinent; on the west by East Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and in the far-south by the Southern Ocean.
The Indian Ocean is nearly 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) wide at the southern tips of Africa and Australia; its area is 73,556,000 square kilometres (28,350,000 sq mi), which includes the Red Seaand the Persian Gulf.
The ocean's volume is estimated to be 292,131,000 cubic kilometres. Island nations within the ocean are Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island; Reunion Island; Comoros; Seychelles;Maldives Mauritius; and Sri Lanka. The archipelago of Indonesia borders the ocean in the east.
The average depth of the Indian Ocean is measured at 3,890 m (12,762 ft). Its deepest point is the Diamantina Deep in Diamantina Trench, at 8,047 m (26,401 ft) deep. 




Southern Ocean Details... 
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The Southern Ocean, is also known as the Great Southern Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean and the South Polar Ocean. It comprises the southernmost waters on the planet, and is generally accepted to be south of 60°S latitude, and encircling the continent of Antarctica.
The Southern Ocean has typical depths of between 4,000 and 5,000 meters (13,000 to 16,000 ft) with only limited areas of shallow water. Its greatest depth is measured at 7,236 meters (23,737 ft) at the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench, at 60°00'S, 024°W.
It is considered the fourth-largest of the planet's five principal oceans. This ocean zone is where cold, northward flowing waters from the Antarctic mix with warmer sub-Antarctic waters.
Large icebergs are very common in its waters, as well as countless iceberg fragments and sea ice of varied depths. High winds and large waves in its northern reaches are the norm. 


Arctic Ocean Details... 
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The Arctic Ocean is the smallest, and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It occupies a roughly circular basin and covers an area of about 14,056,000 km2 (5,427,000 sq mi), almost the size of Russia. The coastline is estimated to be 45,390 km (28,200 mi) long.
In general terms it includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea Beauford SeaChukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, White Sea and other tributary bodies of water. It is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Bering Strait and to the Atlantic Ocean through the Greenland Sea and Labrador Sea.
Surrounded by the land masses of Europe, North America, Greenland, and by several islands, it is partly covered by sea ice throughout the year, and almost completely in the winter months.
The ocean is virtually icelocked from October to June, and ships are subject to superstructure icing from October to May. Before the advent of modern icebreakers, ships sailing the Arctic Ocean risked being trapped or crushed by sea ice. 



Source: WorldAtlas.Com

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