Oceans cover about 72% of the Earth’s surface and contain 97% of all water. There are 5 oceans: Arctic, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Southern oceans. Today, we offer you to broaden your horizons and learn interesting facts about Oceans in the world.
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Interesting facts about the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest body of water on Earth. Its area of almost 30 million square kilometres exceeds the size of all continents, islands and other land areas on the planet.
Through this ocean runs the date line, that is, it is here that today ends and tomorrow begins.
The first man to cross the Pacific Ocean was Fernand Magellan. The journey took him almost four months. During Magellan’s expedition, the weather was beautiful, which is why he called the open ocean the Pacific Ocean. In fact, this ocean is the most turbulent on the planet.
This ocean contains more than half of all the water on Earth.
The Pacific Ocean contains the deepest point on the planet’s surface, the Challenger Abyss. According to the latest measurements, the depth of this section of the Mariana Trench is almost 11,000 metres. The lowest point of this abyss is further from sea level than the summit of Mount Everest.
There are over 25,000 islands scattered throughout the ocean, mostly resulting from volcanic eruptions. In terms of their number and total area, the Pacific Ocean is the leader among the oceans in the world.
At the bottom of the Pacific Ocean there are their own mountains – about 10 thousand underwater peaks. Most of them are extinct volcanoes whose peaks are thousands of metres below the surface of the water.
The Pacific Ocean has become home to more than half of all marine animals on Earth – their species diversity is 3-4 times richer than in any other body of water on the planet. In addition, the ocean is home to some of the oldest fish found anywhere else in the world.
Algae up to 200 metres long grow in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
The Pacific Ocean is home to 95 per cent of all salmonid fish species.
The northern ocean is home to the largest bivalve in the world, the tridacna, which can weigh up to 300kg.
The depths of the Pacific Ocean are inhabited by holothurians, which pass through a colossal amount of soil to feed themselves – there is simply no other food there.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the first telegraph cable over 12.5 thousand kilometres long was stretched across the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
On average, the depth of the Pacific Ocean is about 4.3 kilometres.
In its shape, the ocean resembles a triangle, narrowing to the north and widening to the south.
The largest piece of land in the Pacific Ocean is the New Guinea island.
The Pacific Great Barrier Reef is the world’s longest ridge of coral islands.
Due to seismic activity in the ocean, giant tsunamis sometimes occur, which sweep across the surface of the water at speeds of up to 800 kilometres per hour.
In the centre of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of kilometres in diameter are created due to people’s carelessness.
This ocean has the strongest tides on the planet – the difference in water level can reach 9 metres.
Interesting facts about the Atlantic Ocean
Its area is more than 5 times the area of Russia, the largest country in the world.
The deepest point of the Atlantic Ocean lies at a depth of over 8.7 kilometres.
The Atlantic Ocean is second only to the Pacific Ocean in size.
It owes its modern name to the titan Atlas, one of the characters of Greek mythology.
Earlier in different countries, the Atlantic Ocean, or rather, some of its known parts, was called the Western Ocean or the Outer Sea.
Its average depth exceeds 3.7 kilometres.
The legendary continent of Atlantis, which later sank, was located, if legends are to be believed, somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.
The waters of this ocean are saltier than those of any other ocean.
The first European to cross the Atlantic Ocean was the famous Christopher Columbus.
The Atlantic Ocean passes through every climate belt on Earth, from the Arctic to Antarctica.
In terms of the amount of fish caught in it each year, the Atlantic Ocean is not even inferior to the Pacific Ocean, the largest of the oceans of our planet.
The first aeroplane flight across the Atlantic was made by an American pilot in 1927.
In the 20th century, many companies competed for the Atlantic Blue Ribbon, an honour awarded to ships that could cross the Atlantic Ocean particularly fast, faster than most other ships.
The volume of all ice in Antarctica is approximately equal to the volume of water in the Atlantic Ocean.
It is here that the famous Bermuda Triangle is located, which is still considered one of the mysteries of our world.
The opposite shores of the Atlantic Ocean are annually moving away from each other by about one and a half to two centimetres.
The laying of the telegraph cable on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean began in 1847, and with all the repairs it dragged on for a decade and a half.
The world’s most distant island, Bouvet, in the Atlantic Ocean.
Five times daredevils have attempted to cross the Atlantic on a bunch of balloons, but all of them died.
The Atlantic Ocean occupies about 17 per cent of the Earth’s surface.
It contains a quarter of the world’s water.
In the Atlantic Ocean there is the only sea in the world that has no shores – the Sargasso Sea.
It is in the Atlantic Ocean that tides are the highest in the world. Their height in the Canadian Bay of Fundy sometimes reaches 18 metres.
The Gulf Stream, the world’s longest current, runs through it.
The Atlantic Ocean and its connected seas wash the shores of almost a hundred countries.
Interesting facts about the Indian Ocean
It accounts for about 20 per cent of the Earth’s total surface area occupied by water.
In terms of volume, the Indian Ocean is almost 12,000 times larger than Baikal, the largest freshwater lake on our planet.
Its waters lap 4 continents – all but North and South America.
Between the southern points of Australia and Africa, the width of the Indian Ocean reaches about 10 thousand kilometres.
In terms of water surface area, it ranks third among all the oceans of the Earth, behind the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
The Indian Ocean covers 8 times the area of China.
The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama held the title of ‘Admiral of the Indian Ocean’ granted to him by the king.
The deepest point of the Indian Ocean exceeds 7,200 metres.
About 15% of its area is covered by the seas, gulfs and straits that make up its water area.
In Old Russian sources, the Indian Ocean is mentioned under the name of the Red Sea. The ancient Greeks called it the Eritrean Sea.
Destructive storms and tempests are especially frequent here, though not as frequent as in the Pacific Ocean, which is more than twice the size of the Indian Ocean.
In 2004, the largest earthquake in recorded history occurred in the Indian Ocean. The resulting tsunami devastated nearby shores and killed more than 300,000 people.
In the southern Indian Ocean, near Antarctica, there are fewer sunny days over its surface than cloudy days.
In some parts of it, the tide height reaches 7-8 metres, although on average it is 2-3 metres.
The Red Sea, into which no rivers flow, would dry up if it were not replenished by the waters of the Indian Ocean.
The salinity of the waters of the Indian Ocean decreases from north to south. In its southern part, salt water is diluted with fresh water due to melting ice.
It is heavily polluted by the many routes of oil tankers and other commercial ships.
The Indian Ocean washes the shores of 35 independent countries, as well as British overseas possessions and Antarctica.
It was not until the mid 00s of the 21st century that huge underwater mountain ranges were discovered at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
Interesting facts about the Southern Ocean
Despite the fact that its waters are very cold, there are many living creatures. According to scientists, the total mass of small crustaceans and krill in the Southern Ocean alone reaches 2.2 billion tonnes.
Its coastal waters, directly washing the shores of Antarctica, freeze in winter.
From 100 to 200 thousand icebergs drift simultaneously in the Southern Ocean. There is no way to count them all, it would require very significant resources.
The Southern Ocean appeared on Russian geographical maps and atlases only at the end of the 20th century, as Soviet cartographers rejected the very fact of its existence, adhering to a conservative point of view.
In 1559 the conditional border of the Southern Ocean was first crossed by people. The first was the Dutch captain Geeritz. Later, the famous James Cook also crossed the boundary, but between the first and second visits of people to these edges passed more than 100 years.
Hydrologists include in the Southern Ocean thirteen coastal seas lining the shores of Antarctica.
The length of the coastline of the Southern Ocean consists almost entirely of the length of the coastline of Antarctica, and exceeds 18 thousand kilometres.
The boundary of the Southern Ocean was previously taken as the boundary of the South Polar Circle, but this was later revised.
It was first mapped as a separate ocean in the 17th century.
At the bottom of the deepest point of the Southern Ocean (as much as 8264 metres) it would be possible to hide most of the highest mountains on Earth.
By geological standards, the Southern Ocean cannot be called old. Scientists have determined that it was formed about 30 million years ago, after Antarctica and South America broke away from each other as a result of continental drift.
To this day, there is still no clear definition of the boundaries of the Southern Ocean. Even among those scientists who recognise it as a separate ocean, there is fierce debate on the subject.
Interesting facts about the Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the coldest, smallest and shallowest of the planet’s oceans. It makes up about 4% of the total area of the Earth’s waters.
The ocean floor consists of 70% of the margins of the Earth’s continents underwater.
In the centre of the ocean is ice; although it drifts from place to place, it never melts.
Shipping in the Arctic Ocean has been mastered by the Russian Federation, the United States and Canada. Sea navigation in these latitudes, despite the harsh natural conditions, is possible most of the year.
In the West, this ocean was originally called the Hyperborean Sea, in Russia – the Breathing Sea or the Sea-Ocean.
The name ‘Arctic Ocean’ was approved by a decree of the USSR authorities in 1935.
The area of the ocean’s bays, straits and seas is almost 10.3 million square kilometres, or 70% of its total area.
The Northern Ocean ranks 2nd in the world in the number of islands after the Pacific Ocean, the largest ocean on the planet.
This cold ocean is home to the largest island on Earth, with Greenland covering almost 2,176,000 square kilometres. It is also home to the second largest archipelago on the planet, the Canadian Archipelago.
On the territory of Iceland, another large piece of land in this ocean, there are more than three dozen volcanoes, and all of them are active.
The deepest place in the Arctic Ocean researchers have found in the Greenland Sea – its depth is 5527 metres.
Because of the polar night, the surface of the Arctic Ocean cools continuously 50-150 days a year. Winter in this region lasts about 6.5 months, and summers are sunny but cold, so the Arctic ice practically does not decrease in size.
In the centre of the ocean, ice 3-5 metres thick drifts even in summer.
There are also many warm underwater currents in the Northern Ocean – their speed exceeds 25 centimetres per second.
The waters of this ocean are conventionally divided into three layers: surface (the most fresh and temperature below one and a half degrees), subsurface (more salty and cold – up to -1.8 degrees) and deep (almost as salty, but warmer – about -0.9 degrees).
The water mass at the bottom of the ocean is so sedentary that its circulation period is 700 years.
Scientists have calculated that due to global warming, the summer ice in the Arctic may completely melt by the middle of the 21st century.
In 2012, the minimum amount of ice was recorded in the ocean – 3.61 million square kilometres.
About 150 species of fish live in the Arctic Ocean, in addition, about 30 species of birds live here permanently.
Most of the animals and birds living in the waters of the Northern Ocean have white skin or feathers.
The inhabitants of the northern seas are famous for their exceptional size – there are giant mussels, jellyfish (up to 2 metres across), corals and sea spiders (leg span up to 30 cm).
Another peculiarity of the Northern Ocean inhabitants is a high life expectancy. Cod in icy waters live up to two decades, halibut – 20 years longer, mussels – up to 25 years (although in the southern seas not more than 6 years).
