Our Earth looks like a blue planet from space. This is because ¾ of the surface of the globe is occupied by the World Ocean. It is one, though very divided.
The surface area of the entire World Ocean is 361 million square meters. km.
Oceans of our planet
The ocean is the water shell of the earth, the most important component of the hydrosphere. Continents divide the oceans into parts.
Currently, it is customary to distinguish five oceans:
. - the largest and oldest on our planet. Its surface area is 178.6 million square meters. km. It occupies 1/3 of the Earth and makes up almost half of the oceans. To imagine this value, it is enough to say that all the continents and islands together can easily be placed in the Pacific Ocean. This is probably why it is often called the Great Ocean.
The Pacific Ocean owes its name to F. Magellan, who, during his round-the-world trip, crossed the ocean under favorable conditions.
The ocean has an oval shape, its widest part is located near the equator.
The southern part of the ocean is an area of calm, light winds and a stable atmosphere. To the west of the Tuamotu Islands, the picture changes dramatically - here is a region of storms and heavy winds, turning into ferocious hurricanes.
In the tropics, the waters of the Pacific Ocean are clear, transparent and have a deep blue color. A favorable climate formed near the equator. The air temperature here is +25ºC and practically does not change throughout the year. Winds of moderate strength, often calm.
The northern part of the ocean is similar to the southern, as if in mirror image: in the west, unstable weather with frequent storms and typhoons, in the east - peace and quiet.
The Pacific Ocean is the richest in terms of the number of animal and plant species. Over 100 thousand species of animals live in its waters. Almost half of the world's fish catch is caught here. The most important sea routes connecting 4 continents at once.
. covers an area of 92 million square meters. km. This ocean, like a huge strait, connects the two poles of our planet. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, famous for its instability, runs through the center of the ocean. earth's crust. Separate peaks of this ridge rise above the water and form islands, the largest of which is Iceland.
The southern part of the ocean is under the influence of the trade winds. There are no cyclones here, so the water here is calm, clean and transparent. Closer to the equator, the Atlantic changes completely. The waters here are muddy, especially along the coast. This is due to the fact that large rivers flow into the ocean in this part.
The northern tropical zone of the Atlantic is famous for its hurricanes. Two major currents meet here - the warm Gulf Stream and the cold Labrador.
The northern latitudes of the Atlantic are the most picturesque area with huge icebergs and powerful ice tongues protruding from the waters. This area of the ocean is dangerous for navigation.
. (76 million sq. km) - district ancient civilizations. Navigation here began to develop much earlier than in other oceans. The average depth of the ocean is 3700 meters. The coastline is slightly indented, with the exception of the northern part, where most of the seas and bays are located.
Water indian ocean more saline than in others, since much fewer rivers flow into it. But, thanks to this, they are famous for their amazing transparency and rich azure and blue color.
The northern part of the ocean is a monsoon region, and typhoons often form in autumn and spring. Further south, the water temperature is lower due to the influence of Antarctica.
. (15 million sq. km) is located in the Arctic and occupies vast areas around the north pole. The maximum depth is 5527m.
The central part of the bottom is a continuous intersection of mountain ranges, between which there is a huge basin. The coastline is heavily indented by seas and bays, and in terms of the number of islands and archipelagos, the Arctic takes second place after such a giant as the Pacific Ocean.
The most characteristic part of this ocean is the presence of ice. The Arctic Ocean remains by far the least explored, as research is hampered by the fact that most of the ocean is hidden under the ice cover.
. . The waters surrounding Antarctica combine signs. Allowing them to be separated into a separate ocean. But there are still disputes about what to consider borders. If from the south the borders are marked by the mainland, then the northern borders are most often drawn along 40-50º south latitude. Within such limits, the ocean area is 86 million square meters. km.
The bottom relief is cut by underwater canyons, ridges and basins. The fauna of the Southern Ocean is rich, here is the most a large number of animals and endemic plants.
Characteristics of the oceans
The oceans are several billion years old. Its prototype is the ancient Panthalassa ocean, which existed when all the continents were still a single whole. Until recently, the bottom of the oceans was assumed to be flat. But it turned out that the bottom, like the land, has a complex relief, with its mountains and plains.
Properties of the waters of the oceans
The Russian scientist A. Voyekov called the World Ocean "a huge heating battery" of our planet. The fact is that the average water temperature in the oceans is +17ºC, and the average air temperature is +14ºC. Water heats up much longer, but it also consumes heat more slowly than air, while possessing high rates heat capacity.
But not all the water column in the oceans has the same temperature. Under the sun, only surface waters heat up, and with depth, the temperature drops. It is known that at the bottom of the oceans the average temperature is only +3ºC. And it remains so because of the high density of water.
It should be remembered that the water in the oceans is salty, and therefore it freezes not at 0ºC, but at -2ºC.
The degree of salinity of the waters varies depending on the geographic latitude: in temperate latitudes, the waters are less saline than, for example, in the tropics. In the north, the waters are also less saline due to the melting of glaciers, which greatly desalinate the water.
The waters of the ocean are also different in terms of transparency. At the equator, the water is clearer. As the distance from the equator increases, the water becomes saturated with oxygen faster, which means that more microorganisms appear. But near the poles, due to low temperatures, the waters become more transparent again. So, the waters of the Weddell Sea near Antarctica are considered the most transparent. The second place belongs to the waters of the Sargasso Sea.
The difference between the ocean and the sea
The main difference between the sea and the ocean is in size. The oceans are much larger, and the seas are often only part of the oceans. The seas also differ from the ocean, to which they belong, by their unique hydrological regime (water temperature, salinity, transparency, distinctive composition of flora and fauna).
The climate of the oceans
Climate of the Pacific infinitely diverse, as the ocean is located in almost all climatic zones: from equatorial to subarctic in the north and Antarctic in the south. There are 5 warm currents and 4 cold currents in the Pacific Ocean.
Most of the precipitation falls in equatorial belt. The amount of precipitation exceeds the proportion of water evaporation, so the water in the Pacific Ocean is less salty than in others.
Climate Atlantic Ocean determined by its large extent from north to south. The equator zone is the narrowest part of the ocean, so the water temperature here is lower than in the Pacific or Indian.
The Atlantic is conditionally divided into northern and southern, drawing the border along the equator, and the southern part is much colder due to its proximity to Antarctica. Many areas of this ocean are characterized by thick fogs and powerful cyclones. They are strongest near the southern tip. North America and in the Caribbean.
On formation Indian Ocean climate the proximity of two continents - Eurasia and Antarctica - has a huge impact. Eurasia actively participates in the annual change of seasons, bringing dry air in winter and filling the atmosphere with excess moisture in summer.
The proximity of Antarctica causes a decrease in water temperature in the southern part of the ocean. Hurricanes and storms are frequent north and south of the equator.
Formation climate of the Arctic Ocean conditioned by it geographic location. Arctic air masses dominate here. Average air temperature: from -20 ºC to -40 ºC, even in summer the temperature rarely rises above 0ºC. But the waters of the ocean are warmer due to constant contact with the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Therefore, the Arctic Ocean warms a significant part of the land.
Strong winds are rare, but fogs are frequent in summer. Precipitation falls mainly in the form of snow.
It is influenced by the proximity of Antarctica, the presence of ice and the absence of warm currents. The Antarctic climate dominates here with low temperatures, cloudy weather and mild winds. Snow falls throughout the year. A distinctive feature of the climate of the Southern Ocean is the high activity of cyclones.
The influence of the ocean on the Earth's climate
The ocean has a tremendous influence on the formation of climate. It accumulates huge reserves of heat. Thanks to the oceans, the climate on our planet is becoming milder and warmer, since the temperature of the waters in the oceans does not change as sharply and quickly as the temperature of the air over land.
Oceans contribute to better circulation of air masses. And this is the most important a natural phenomenon, like the water cycle, provides the land with sufficient moisture.
World Ocean- this is a salty, watery shell of the Earth that surrounds islands and continents. The totality of all the largest bodies of water on Earth. Something we just couldn't live without. The composition of the World includes all four oceans of our planet.
World Ocean
Most of the world is covered by seas and oceans. , which means that the water world is simply obliged to surprise us with interesting and extraordinary facts, which, by the way, it does. The world ocean is the totality of all the seas and oceans on Earth. This name comes from
- Greek Okeanos - the great river flowing around the Earth,
- English world Ocean,
- German . weltmeer,
- French Ocean, Ocean Mondial,
- Spanish Oceano, Oceano mundial)
Here it is important to answer correctly the question of how many oceans are there in the world? The French scientist de Florier introduced the term for the components of the World Ocean. This term is "the world's oceans". The names of these oceans are
In total, on the map you will find five oceans, which, together with the seas, represent a large organism with its own life and its own stories. The oceans directly affect a huge number of natural processes, which is why it is a close object of various studies. So the nature of the currents determines the climate of the regions, and in the salty water unsuitable, at first glance, for life, there is a whole undersea world, with its large and very small representatives. oceans of the world rich in various fossils, in addition, they are a source of energy and food. The inhabitants of a large number of coastal areas are engaged in fishing, which is very often their main source of income. In this article, I will answer the most popular questions about the oceans.
The volume of the world ocean
The oceans are constantly exchanging with environment energy, warmth. He is an inexhaustible source for mankind. How big is this source? Let's find out. The ocean is an accumulation of water, the first to measure its amount was John Murray. And in 1983, Leningrad scientists Shiklomanov and Sokolov carried out their measurements. The data they published states that the volume of the world's oceans is 1.338 billion km 3 of water. Murray's measurements were corrected by only 1%.
World Ocean Map
Sea level rise
Many scientists are concerned sea level rise. This is due to an anomaly in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. An increase in the overall temperature leads to an increase in the melting of the ice mass. Gradually, over the course of three years, the archipelago loses its snow cover, and the volume of water increases by 60 km 3 when the temperature rises by only 1 0 .
World ocean - video
The video film "Secrets of the World Ocean" is its history and impact on our survival and on the planet.
film "Secrets of the deep sea. The Unknown World is a popular science film made by oceanologists about what can be seen if the oceans are drained.
I hope that these two videos made the same impression on you as they did on me.
Which ocean is the largest in the world
The largest ocean in the world- Quiet, occupying a third of the World. This ocean is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful, amazing and beautiful, with a unique and diverse fauna. He also holds the record for the number of islands, which are 10 thousand. You can talk about this ocean endlessly. It is full of secrets, mysteries and mystical stories. It owes its name to the journey of Magellan, who sailed on its waters for three months. For all the time, the captain and his team have never struggled with bad weather. This ocean includes such seas as the Yellow, Japan, Bering, Tasman, Coral, Java, and East China seas. Also, very important international air and sea routes pass through the Pacific Ocean.
What is the smallest ocean in the world
The smallest ocean in the world- Arctic. Located between North America and Eurasia, it occupied only 4% of the area of the entire World Ocean. It is also ten times smaller than the largest Pacific Ocean. Despite its rather modest size, this representative of the aquatic world has a unique fauna and is rich in stories.
What is the saltiest ocean in the world
List of oceans of the world complements and the saltiest ocean in the world, which is Atlantic. Despite the fact that it collects a large amount of fresh water, the percentage of salt here is 35.4%. The Atlantic Ocean is very interesting. In almost every place, the percentage of salt is the same. This feature is unique to him. The Indian Ocean, for example, does not fit this rule at all, since in some of its sections the salt saturation is several times higher than the salinity of the Atlantic Ocean.
Which ocean is the warmest in the world
The Pacific Ocean will appear several times in the lists of the most-most. This time he became the first, as he received the title of "C warmest ocean in the world". Despite the fact that there has always been a lot of controversy and doubt about this fact, just think a little logically, and it will become clear that this ocean deserves the title of the warmest. So the ice cover and the proximity to Antarctica of such oceans as the Arctic Ocean and the Atlantic definitely exclude them from possible contenders for this title. Only the Indian Ocean is in doubt, because it includes the warmest seas and currents. However, it also neighbors Antarctica, which deprives it of the opportunity to be called the warmest ocean. The coldest ocean is the Arctic Ocean. He is also the smallest.
The oceans and its parts: what else is worth knowing
- Scientists note that the moon has been studied much better than the oceans. We know only about 3% of the information about him.
- Despite the thickness of the water at the bottom, in some places there are underwater waterfalls. Currently, 7 such natural phenomena are known.
- Underwater rivers are located at the bottom - areas in which methane, hydrogen sulfide, seeps through cracks and mixes with water.
- The deepest point of the World Ocean is called the Mariana Trench. The maximum depth is over 11 km.
- Nearly 2.2 million different species of organisms live in the depths of the waters.
- The whale shark is one of the largest fish on earth. Its mass reaches 21.5 tons.
- The average depth of the world ocean is 3.984 km.
- At a depth of 1 km, you can find organisms that are amazing in appearance. They often look very intimidating.
The most beautiful ocean in the world
It is difficult to say which is the most beautiful ocean in the world, since each part of the World Ocean has its own charms and its own unique beauty. That is why you need to visit all the oceans and determine the favorite for yourself. Well, I'll help you a little - look at the photos of the ocean.
Oceans of the world - photo
Despite the fact that humanity has been paying close attention to the World Ocean for many millennia, many mysteries of the ocean remain unsolved. It is believed that today it has been studied only by ten percent. It is not surprising that the most incredible stories and myths, and legends about the legendary Atlantis at the bottom of the ocean still excite the minds.
The world ocean is a continuous, but not continuous, water shell of the planet, which includes dissolved salts and minerals carried by rivers flowing into them from the depths of our planet. The world ocean occupies 71% earth's surface(approximately 361 million m2), and therefore the areas of the oceans are located on 95% of the planet's hydrosphere. The oceans are extremely tightly connected with the land, there is an exchange between them all the time. various substances, energy (for example, heat / cold), and an important role in this interaction is given to the water cycle in nature.
Prototype modern ocean, according to the generally accepted theory, is Panthalassa, which was formed on our planet about 444 million years ago and was divided into parts about 252 million years ago, when the lithospheric plates located under the Pangea mainland gradually began to move away from each other, breaking the mainland into several parts.
Interestingly, many oceanographers have not yet finally decided how many oceans actually exist. First, scientists identified two, then three. In the middle of the last century, it was agreed that the World Ocean consists of four parts, but at the beginning of the XXI century. The International Hydrogeographic Bureau has singled out the fifth, Southern, with the presence of which not everyone agrees at the moment.
What is the hydrosphere made of?
Thus, the oceans known to us are parts of the World Ocean located between continents and archipelagos. They constantly exchange water masses among themselves, and some currents cover as many as three oceans in a row. For example, cold flow West Winds, carrying its waters near Antarctica, obeying the winds that blow from west to east, does not meet large land areas on its way, and therefore completely goes around the planet, connecting the waters of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Oceanographers distinguish the following oceans (they are also parts of the World Ocean):
- Quiet. The largest ocean covers an area of 178.68 million km2, while the average depth of the ocean reaches almost four kilometers, and water surface has the highest average ocean temperature - plus 19.4 ° C. Interestingly, it is here that the deepest point of the Earth is located - the Mariana Trench, the depth of which exceeds 11 km. Here is the highest seamount in the world - the Mauna Kea volcano: despite the fact that it rises 4 thousand meters above the ocean, its height from the ocean floor exceeds 10 km, being almost 2 km higher than Everest.
- Atlantic. It has an elongated shape, stretches from north to south, its area is 91.66 million km2, the average ocean depth is 3.5 km, and the deepest point is the Puerto Rico Trench with a depth of more than 8.7 km. This is where the most powerful warm current of the world, the Gulf Stream, as well as one of the most mysterious and mysterious places on the planet, the Bermuda Triangle.
- Indian. The area is 76.17 million km2, and the average depth exceeds 3.7 km (its deepest point is the Yavan depression with a depth of more than 7.2 km).
- Arctic. The area is 14.75 million km2, and the average depth is about 1.2 km, while the deepest ocean was recorded in the Greenland Sea and slightly exceeds 5.5 km. As for the average water temperature on the surface, it is +1°C.
- 5. Southern (Antarctic). In the spring of 2000, a decision was made to allocate a separate ocean in the region of Antarctica between 35° S. sh. (based on signs of water and atmospheric circulation) to 60 ° S. sh. (based on the shape of the bottom topography). Officially, its dimensions are 20.327 million km2 - it is this area that must be taken away in the above data of the three oceans, the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian. As for the average depth of the South, it is about 3.5 km, and the deepest place is the Yuzhno-Sandvichev trench - its depth is about 8.5 km.
Seas, bays and straits
The world's oceans near the coast are divided into seas, bays, straits. Direct communication with them has a bay - a part of the ocean that does not deeply flow into the land, and always has water in common with it.
But the seas can be at a distance of several thousand kilometers, be surrounded on three sides by land, but one side of them is always open and connected to the ocean by straits, bays, and other seas. Seas and oceans are always interconnected, if there is no such message, no matter how huge the body of water is and no matter how saline it is, it is considered a lake.
ocean floor
The bottom of the World Ocean is the surface of the lithospheric plate, on which the waters of the World Ocean are located. The underwater relief of the bottom is extremely diverse: there are high mountain ranges, hills, deep gorges, troughs, valleys, and plateaus. At the same time, the ocean floor consists of several parts, connecting the deepest parts of the world's oceans with land.
The area separating the coast of the ocean from the water is called a shoal (shelf), the relief of which is characterized by a common geological structure with land. The length of the bottom shelf is about 150 meters, after which it begins a sharp descent to the continental slope, the depth of which is mainly from 100 to 200 m, but sometimes can reach 1.5 km, as near the coast of New Zealand.
According to its relief and geological structure, the continental slope, the length of the bottom of which is from three to four kilometers, is a continuation of the land. It is interesting that there are many underwater gorges and trenches on it, the average depth of which is about eight kilometers, and in places where the oceanic plate goes under the mainland, it can exceed ten.
Between the continental slope and the bed there is a continental foot (although not everywhere: the largest ocean of the Earth, the Pacific, does not have it in some of its sections). The continental base is characterized by a hilly relief, and its length is about 3.5 km.
The ocean floor is located at a depth of 3.5 to 6 km. The bottom relief is characterized by deep gorges, mid-ocean ridges, uplands and underwater plateaus. Most of the bottom relief consists of abyssal plains located at a depth of about five kilometers, where there is a huge number of active or extinct volcanoes.
The relief of the bottom of all the World Oceans is characterized by the fact that in its central part, at the junction of lithospheric plates, mid-ocean ridges are located. The longest underwater mountain range is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge with a length of 20 thousand km (it starts near the coast of Iceland and ends near Bouvet Island, which is located in the middle of Africa and Antarctica).
Since these mountains are young, constant earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded in the region of the ridge, and in some places, forming islands, its peaks rise above the surface of the water.
Since the mountains have a fairly large weight, the ocean floor bends under them, and the relief gradually begins to drop from three to six thousand meters, turning into a deep-water basin, the bottom of which consists of basalt and sedimentary rocks.
Flora and fauna
The nature of the ocean is amazing: about seventy forms from all existing life forms on our planet live in its water area, and scientists are constantly discovering new species of not only small, but also large sizes. Vegetable world presented various types algae, some of them are able to live only at the surface of the water, some - at a fairly great depth.
As for the representatives of the fauna, the majority live in tropical and subtropical latitudes, and one of the most populated places is the Great Barrier Reef, located off the coast of Australia. Among the inhabitants of the ocean there are such representatives of the animal world as fish, plankton, corals, sea worms, crustaceans, cetaceans, cephalopods (squid, octopus), and many birds live on the coast.
The nature of the Arctic Ocean and the Arctic is the poorest - severe climatic conditions are to blame for this.
In the cold waters of our planet, there are more than a hundred commercial species of fish, and there are also mammals adapted to live in harsh conditions: seals, walruses, whales, and penguins living on the coast have ideally adapted to the conditions of the South.
Ecology
Scientists have calculated that the annual weight of garbage dumped into the oceans of the planet is three times the amount of fish caught. Ocean pollution has reached the point that a real garbage continent floats in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, consisting of several hundred million tons of waste, most of which relates to plastic products. Plastic is dangerous because it breaks into pieces under the influence of sunlight, retaining the polymer structure, and resembling zooplankton in shape - as a result, deceived fish and jellyfish confuse it with food, swallow it, and then die.
Ocean pollution is facilitated by sewage contaminated with various impurities, as well as rivers that carry pollutants such as oil, fertilizers (among them insecticides and herbicides), which negatively affect the nature of the ocean and contribute to its death. Increasing accidents of tankers carrying oil, toxic and even radioactive waste cause ecological disasters, the elimination of the consequences of which takes more than one year.
Despite the fact that various environmental organizations are trying to remedy the situation, making rather incredible efforts for this, their successes are only local: ocean pollution continues exponentially, and the active growth of industry suggests that in the near future the amount of harmful substances.
iron dissolved in water.
There is a hypothesis that, starting from the Silurian period of the Paleozoic and up to the Mesozoic, the supercontinent Pangea surrounded ancient ocean Panthalassa, which covered about half of the globe.
Research History
The first explorers of the ocean were seafarers. During the Age of Discovery, the outlines of continents, oceans and islands were studied. The journey of Ferdinand Magellan (1519-1522) and the subsequent expeditions of James Cook (1768-1780) allowed Europeans to get an idea of the vast expanses of water surrounding the continents of our planet, and in general terms to determine the outlines of the continents. The first maps of the world were created. In the XVII and XVIII centuries the outlines of the coastline have been detailed, and the world map has acquired modern look. However, the depths of the ocean have been studied very poorly. In the middle of the 17th century, the Dutch geographer Bernhard Waren suggested using the term "World Ocean" in relation to the water spaces of the Earth.
On December 22, 1872, the sailing and steam corvette Challenger left the English port of Portsmouth, specially equipped to participate in the first oceanographic expedition.
Modern concept The world ocean was compiled at the beginning of the 20th century by the Russian and Soviet geographer, oceanographer and cartographer Yuli Mikhailovich Shokalsky (1856-1940). He first introduced the concept of "World Ocean" into science, considering all the oceans - the Indian, Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific - as parts of the World Ocean.
In the second half of the 20th century began intensive study ocean depths. Detailed maps of the depths of the ocean were compiled using the echolocation method, and the main landforms of the ocean floor were discovered. These data, combined with the results of geophysical and geological research, led in the late 1960s to the creation of the theory of plate tectonics - a modern geological theory about the movement of the lithosphere. To study the structure of the oceanic crust, an international program was organized to drill the ocean floor. One of the main results of the program was the confirmation of the theory.
Research methods
Scientific organizations
- Scripps Oceanographic Institution of California.
Museums and Aquariums
There are several oceanariums in Russia: Vladivostok Oceanarium, Murmansk Oceanarium, St. Petersburg Oceanarium, Gelendzhik Oceanarium, " Starfish"in Lazarevsky, "Shark Reef" in Yeysk, Sochi Oceanarium, Voronezh Oceanarium, Moscow Oceanarium on Dmitrovskoye Highway, Krasnodar Oceanarium, Kazan Oceanarium.
Division of the oceans
| oceans | Square one surface, million km² |
Volume, million km³ |
Medium depth, m |
The largest depth, m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic | 91,66 | 329,66 | 3597 | gutter of Puerto Rico (8742) |
| Indian | 76,17 | 282,65 | 3711 | Java Trench (7209) |
| Arctic | 14,75 | 18,07 | 1225 | Greenland Sea (5527) |
| Quiet | 178,68 | 710,36 | 3976 | Mariana Trench (11 022 ) |
| World | 361,26 | 1340,74 | 3711 | 11 022 |
To date, there are several views on the division of the World Ocean, taking into account hydrophysical and climatic features, water characteristics, biological and other factors. Already in the XVIII-XIX centuries there were several such versions. Malte-Brun, Konrad Malte-Brun and Fleurier, Charles de Fleurier identified two oceans. The division into three parts was proposed, among others, by Philippe Buache and Heinrich Stenffens. The Italian geographer Adriano Balbi (1782-1848) singled out four regions in the World Ocean: the Atlantic Ocean, the North and South Arctic Seas and the Great Ocean, of which the modern Indian became a part (such a division was a consequence of the impossibility of determining the exact boundary between the Indian and Pacific oceans and the similarity of zoogeographic conditions of these regions). Today they often talk about the Indo-Pacific region - a zoogeographic zone located in the tropical sphere, which includes the tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Red Sea. The border of the region runs along the coast of Africa to Cape Agulhas, later - from the Yellow Sea to the northern shores of New Zealand, and from Southern California to the Southern Tropic.
The International Hydrogeographic Bureau in 1953 developed a new division of the World Ocean: it was then that the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans were finally distinguished.
Geography of the oceans
General physical and geographical information:
The deepest point in the ocean is the Mariana Trench, located in the Pacific Ocean near the Northern Mariana Islands. Its maximum depth is 11,022 . It was explored in 1951 by the British submarine Challenger II, after which the deepest part of the depression was named Challenger Abyss.
Waters of the World Ocean
The waters of the oceans make up the main part of the Earth's hydrosphere - the oceanosphere. The ocean waters account for more than 96% (1338 million km³) [ ] Earth's water. The volume of fresh water entering the ocean with river runoff and precipitation does not exceed 0.5 million cubic kilometers, which corresponds to a water layer on the ocean surface with a thickness of about 1.25 m. This causes the stability of the salt composition of ocean waters and slight changes in their density. The unity of the ocean as a water mass is ensured by its continuous movement in both horizontal and vertical directions. In the ocean, as in the atmosphere, there are no sharp natural boundaries, they are all more or less gradual. Here, a global mechanism of energy transformation and metabolism is carried out, which is supported by uneven heating. solar radiation surface water and atmosphere.
Bottom relief
The systematic study of the ocean floor began with the advent of the echo sounder. Most of the ocean floor is flat surfaces, the so-called abyssal plains. Their average depth is 5 km. In the central parts of all oceans there are linear uplifts of 1-2 km - mid-ocean ridges, which are connected into a single network. The ridges are divided by transform faults into segments, which appear in the relief as low elevations perpendicular to the ridges.
On the abyssal plains there are many single mountains, some of which protrude above the surface of the water in the form of islands. Most of these mountains are extinct or active volcanoes. under the weight of the mountain oceanic crust bends and the mountain slowly sinks into the water. A coral reef forms on it, which builds on the top, as a result, a ring-shaped coral island is formed - an atoll.
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Notes
Literature
Expeditions and discoveries- Behind the secrets of Neptune / Nauch. ed. and after. A. A. Aksenova. - M .: Thought, 1976. - 399 p. - (XX century: Travel. Discoveries. Research).
- Wegener A. Origin of continents and oceans / Per. with him. P. G. Kaminsky, ed. P. N. Kropotkin. - L.: Nauka, 1984. - 285 p.
- Stepanov V. N. Oceanosphere. - M .: Thought, 1983. - 270 p.
- Shamraev Yu. I., Shishkina L. A. Oceanology. - L.: Gidrometeoizdat, 1980. - 382 p.
- Gusev A. M. Fundamentals of Oceanology. - M .: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1983. - 246 p.
- Gusev A. M. Antarctica. Ocean and atmosphere. - M .: Education, 1983. - 151 p.
- Perrin J., Cloiseau J. Oceans / Per. from fr. - M.: Summer Garden, 2011. - 320 p., ill., 400 copies, ISBN 978-5-98856-126-2
- Moiseev P. A. Biological resources of the World Ocean. - 2nd ed. - M .: Agropromizdat, 1989. - 366 p. - ISBN 5-10-000265-4.
- Zakharov L. A. Introduction to commercial oceanology. - Kaliningrad, 1998. - 83 p.
- Geographical encyclopedic Dictionary/ Ch. ed. A. F. Treshnikov. - 2nd ed., add. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1989. - 591 p.
Links
- (English)
- with the origin of the names of the details of the relief of the ocean floor
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An excerpt characterizing the oceans
- To judge me for g "azboy - oh! Give me more water - let them judge, but I will, I will always beat the scoundrels, and I will tell the sovereign." Give me some ice, he said.The regimental doctor who came said that it was necessary to bleed. A deep plate of black blood came out of Denisov's hairy hand, and then only he was able to tell everything that had happened to him.
“I’m coming,” Denisov said. “Well, where is your boss here?” Showed. Wouldn't you like to wait. “I have a service, I arrived 30 miles away, I have no time to wait, report back.” Well, this chief thief comes out: he also took it into his head to teach me: This is robbery! “Robbery, I say, is not done by the one who takes food to feed his soldiers, but by the one who takes it to put it in his pocket!” So you don't want to be silent. "Fine". Sign, he says, with the commission agent, and your case will be handed over on command. I go to the commissioner. I enter - at the table ... Who is it ?! No, you think! ... Who is starving us, - Denisov shouted, hitting the table with his fist of his sore hand so hard that the table almost fell and the glasses jumped on it, - Telyanin !! “How are you starving us?!” Once, once in the face, deftly it had to be ... “Ah ... rasprotakoy and ... began to roll. On the other hand, I am amused, I can say, - Denisov shouted, joyfully and angrily baring his white teeth from under his black mustache. “I would have killed him if they hadn’t taken him away.”
“But why are you screaming, calm down,” said Rostov: “here again the blood has gone. Wait, you need to bandage it. Denisov was bandaged and put to bed. The next day he woke up cheerful and calm. But at noon the adjutant of the regiment, with a serious and sad face, came to the common dugout of Denisov and Rostov and regretfully showed the uniform paper to Major Denisov from the regimental commander, in which inquiries were made about yesterday's incident. The adjutant said that the matter was about to take a very bad turn, that a military judicial commission had been appointed, and that with real severity regarding looting and self-will of the troops, in a happy case, the case could end in a dismissal.
The case was presented by the offended in such a way that, after repulsing the transport, Major Denisov, without any call, appeared in a drunken state to the chief provisions master, called him a thief, threatened to beat him, and when he was taken out, he rushed to the office, beat two officials and dislocated one arm.
Denisov, to Rostov's new questions, laughingly said that it seemed that some other one had turned up here, but that all this was nonsense, trifles, that he did not even think to be afraid of any courts, and that if these scoundrels dare to bully him, he will answer them so that they will remember.
Denisov spoke dismissively about the whole affair; but Rostov knew him too well not to notice that in his heart (hiding this from others) he was afraid of the court and was tormented by this affair, which, obviously, was supposed to have bad consequences. Every day, paper requests began to arrive, demands for the court, and on the first of May Denisov was ordered to hand over the squadron to the senior officer and report to the headquarters of the division for explanations on the case of the riot in the provisions commission. On the eve of this day, Platov made reconnaissance of the enemy with two Cossack regiments and two squadrons of hussars. Denisov, as always, rode ahead of the chain, flaunting his courage. One of the bullets fired by the French riflemen hit him in the flesh of the upper leg. Maybe at another time Denisov would not have left the regiment with such a light wound, but now he took advantage of this opportunity, refused to appear in the division and went to the hospital.
In June, the Battle of Friedland took place, in which the Pavlogradites did not participate, and after it a truce was announced. Rostov, who felt hard the absence of his friend, having had no news of him since his departure and worrying about the course of his case and wounds, took advantage of the truce and asked to go to the hospital to visit Denisov.
The hospital was located in a small Prussian town, twice ruined by Russian and French troops. Precisely because it was summer, when the field was so good, this place, with its broken roofs and fences and its filthy streets, ragged inhabitants and drunken and sick soldiers wandering around it, presented a particularly gloomy spectacle.
In a stone house, in the yard with the remains of a dismantled fence, frames and glass broken in part, there was a hospital. Several bandaged, pale and swollen soldiers walked and sat in the yard in the sun.
As soon as Rostov entered the door of the house, he was overwhelmed by the smell of a rotting body and a hospital. On the stairs he met a Russian military doctor with a cigar in his mouth. A Russian paramedic followed the doctor.
“I can’t burst,” said the doctor; - come to Makar Alekseevich in the evening, I'll be there. The paramedic asked him something else.
- E! do as you know! Isn't it all the same? The doctor saw Rostov going up the stairs.
“Why are you, your honor?” the doctor said. - Why are you? Or the bullet did not take you, so you want to get typhus? Here, father, is the house of the lepers.
- From what? Rostov asked.
- Typhoid, father. Whoever ascends - death. Only the two of us with Makeev (he pointed to the paramedic) are chatting here. At this point, five of our brother doctors died. As soon as the new one arrives, he’ll be ready in a week,” the doctor said with visible pleasure. - Prussian doctors were called, so our allies do not like it.
Rostov explained to him that he wished to see the hussar major Denisov lying here.
“I don’t know, I don’t know, father. After all, you think, I have three hospitals for one, 400 patients too! It’s also good, the Prussian ladies of the benefactor send us coffee and lint at two pounds a month, otherwise they would be lost. He laughed. - 400, father; and they keep sending me new ones. After all, there are 400? A? He turned to the paramedic.
The paramedic looked exhausted. He evidently waited with annoyance to see if the chattering doctor would leave soon.
“Major Denisov,” repeated Rostov; - he was wounded near Moliten.
- Looks like he's dead. What about Makeev? the doctor asked the paramedic indifferently.
The paramedic, however, did not confirm the words of the doctor.
- Why is he so long, reddish? the doctor asked.
Rostov described Denisov's appearance.
“There was, there was such a person,” the doctor said as if joyfully, “this one must have died, but I can handle it, I had lists. Do you have it, Makeev?
“Makar Alekseich has the lists,” said the paramedic. “But come to the officers’ chambers, you’ll see for yourself there,” he added, turning to Rostov.
“Oh, it’s better not to go, father,” said the doctor, “otherwise you don’t stay here yourself.” - But Rostov bowed to the doctor and asked the paramedic to accompany him.
"Don't blame me," the doctor shouted from under the stairs.
Rostov with the paramedic entered the corridor. The hospital smell was so strong in this dark corridor that Rostov grabbed his nose and had to stop in order to gather his strength and move on. A door opened to the right, and a thin man leaned out on crutches, yellow man, barefoot and in the same underwear.
Leaning against the lintel, he looked at the passers-by with shining, envious eyes. Glancing through the door, Rostov saw that the sick and wounded were lying there on the floor, on straw and overcoats.
- Can I come in and have a look? Rostov asked.
- What to watch? the paramedic said. But precisely because the paramedic obviously did not want to let him in, Rostov entered the soldiers' chambers. The smell he had already smelled in the hallway was even stronger here. This smell has changed somewhat here; it was sharper, and it was sensitive that it was precisely from here that he came.
In a long room, brightly lit by the sun through large windows, in two rows, with their heads to the walls and leaving a passage in the middle, lay the sick and the wounded. Most of them were in oblivion and did not pay attention to those who entered. Those that were in the memory all rose or raised their thin, yellow faces, and all with the same expression of hope for help, reproach and envy for someone else's health, without taking their eyes off Rostov. Rostov went to the middle of the room, looked into the neighboring doors of the rooms with the doors open, and saw the same thing on both sides. He stopped, silently looking around him. He never expected to see this. In front of him lay almost across the middle aisle, on the bare floor, a sick man, probably a Cossack, because his hair was cut in a bracket. This Cossack was lying on his back, his huge arms and legs spread out. His face was crimson red, his eyes were completely rolled up, so that only the whites were visible, and on his bare feet and on his hands, still red, the veins tensed like ropes. He hit the back of his head on the floor and said something hoarsely and began to repeat this word. Rostov listened to what he was saying and made out the word he repeated. The word was: drink - drink - drink! Rostov looked around, looking for someone who could put this patient in his place and give him water.
- Who's here for the sick? he asked the paramedic. At this time, a Furstadt soldier, a hospital attendant, came out of the next room, and stretched out in front of Rostov, beating a step.
- I wish you good health, your highness! - shouted this soldier, rolling his eyes at Rostov and, obviously, mistaking him for the hospital authorities.
“Take him away, give him water,” said Rostov, pointing to the Cossack.
“I’m listening, your honor,” the soldier said with pleasure, rolling his eyes even more diligently and stretching himself, but not moving.
“No, you can’t do anything here,” thought Rostov, lowering his eyes, and was about to go out, but on the right side he felt a significant look fixed on himself and looked back at him. Almost in the very corner, on an overcoat, with a skeleton-yellow, thin, stern face and an unshaven gray beard, an old soldier was sitting and staring stubbornly at Rostov. On the one hand, the neighbor of the old soldier was whispering something to him, pointing to Rostov. Rostov realized that the old man intended to ask him for something. He came closer and saw that the old man had only one leg bent, and the other was not at all above the knee. Another neighbor of the old man, who lay motionless with his head thrown back, quite far from him, was a young soldier with a waxy pallor on a snub-nosed face, still covered with freckles, and with eyes rolled under the eyelids. Rostov looked at the snub-nosed soldier, and a frost ran down his back.
“But this one, it seems ...” he turned to the paramedic.
“As requested, your honor,” said the old soldier with a tremor in his lower jaw. - Finished in the morning. After all, they are also people, not dogs ...
“I’ll send it right now, they’ll take it away, they’ll take it away,” the paramedic said hastily. “Please, your honor.
“Let’s go, let’s go,” Rostov said hurriedly, and lowering his eyes and shrinking, trying to pass unnoticed through the array of those reproachful and envious eyes fixed on him, he left the room.
Having passed the corridor, the paramedic led Rostov into the officers' chambers, which consisted of three rooms with open doors. These rooms had beds; wounded and sick officers lay and sat on them. Some walked around the rooms in hospital gowns. The first person that Rostov met in the officers' wards was a small, thin man without an arm, in a cap and a hospital gown with a bitten pipe, walking in the first room. Rostov, peering at him, tried to remember where he had seen him.
“This is where God brought me to meet,” said the little man. - Tushin, Tushin, do you remember taking you near Shengraben? And they cut off a piece for me, here ... - he said, smiling, pointing to the empty sleeve of his dressing gown. - Are you looking for Vasily Dmitrievich Denisov? - roommate! - he said, having learned who Rostov needed. - Here, here, Tushin led him to another room, from which the laughter of several voices was heard.
“And how can they not only laugh, but live here”? thought Rostov, still hearing that smell of a dead body, which he picked up while still in the soldier's hospital, and still seeing around him those envious glances that followed him from both sides, and the face of this young soldier with rolling eyes.
Denisov, covering himself with a blanket, slept on the bed, despite the fact that it was 12 o'clock in the afternoon.
“Ah, G” skeleton? 3do “ovo, hello” ovo, ”he shouted in the same voice as he used to in the regiment; but Rostov sadly noticed how, behind this habitual swagger and liveliness, some new, bad, hidden feeling peeped through in the facial expression, in the intonations and words of Denisov.
His wound, in spite of its insignificance, still did not heal, although six weeks had already passed since he had been wounded. His face had the same pale swelling that was on all hospital faces. But this was not what struck Rostov; he was struck by the fact that Denisov seemed not to be pleased with him and smiled unnaturally at him. Denisov did not ask about the regiment, nor about the general course of affairs. When Rostov talked about this, Denisov did not listen.
Rostov even noticed that it was unpleasant for Denisov when he was reminded of the regiment and, in general, of that other, free life that went on outside the hospital. He seemed to be trying to forget that former life and was only interested in his business with the provision officials. When asked by Rostov what the situation was, he immediately took out from under the pillow the paper received from the commission, and his rough answer to it. He perked up, beginning to read his paper, and especially let Rostov notice the barbs that he spoke to his enemies in this paper. The hospital comrades of Denisov, who had surrounded Rostov - a person newly arrived from the free world - began to gradually disperse as soon as Denisov began to read his paper. From their faces, Rostov realized that all these gentlemen had already heard this whole story that had managed to get bored of them more than once. Only the neighbor on the bed, a fat lancer, was sitting on his bunk, frowning gloomily and smoking a pipe, and little Tushin, without an arm, continued to listen, shaking his head disapprovingly. In the middle of the reading, the lancer interrupted Denisov.
“But for me,” he said, turning to Rostov, “you just need to ask the sovereign for mercy.” Now, they say, the rewards will be great, and they will surely forgive ...
- I ask the sovereign! - Denisov said in a voice to which he wanted to give the former energy and ardor, but which sounded like useless irritability. - About what? If I were a robber, I would ask for mercy, otherwise I am suing for bringing out robbers. Let them judge, I'm not afraid of anyone: I honestly served the king, the fatherland and did not steal! And to demote me, and ... Listen, I write to them directly, so I write: “if I were an embezzler ...
- Deftly written, what to say, - said Tushin. But that’s not the point, Vasily Dmitritch,” he also turned to Rostov, “it’s necessary to submit, but Vasily Dmitritch does not want to. After all, the auditor told you that your business is bad.
“Well, let it be bad,” said Denisov. - The auditor wrote a request to you, - Tushin continued, - and you need to sign it, but send it with them. They have it right (he pointed to Rostov) and they have a hand in the headquarters. You won't find a better case.
“Why, I said that I wouldn’t be mean,” Denisov interrupted and again continued reading his paper.
Rostov did not dare to persuade Denisov, although he instinctively felt that the path offered by Tushin and other officers was the most correct, and although he would consider himself happy if he could help Denisov: he knew the inflexibility of Denisov's will and his truthful ardor.
When the reading of Denisov's poisonous papers, which lasted more than an hour, ended, Rostov said nothing, and in the saddest frame of mind, in the company of Denisov's hospital comrades again gathered around him, spent the rest of the day talking about what he knew and listening to the stories of others. . Denisov was gloomy silent throughout the whole evening.
Late in the evening, Rostov was about to leave and asked Denisov if there would be any instructions?
“Yes, wait,” said Denisov, looked back at the officers, and, taking his papers from under the pillow, went to the window, on which he had an inkwell, and sat down to write.
“You can’t see the butt with a whip,” he said, moving away from the window and giving Rostov a large envelope. “It was a request addressed to the sovereign, drawn up by an auditor, in which Denisov, without mentioning anything about the wines of the food department, asked only for pardon.
“Pass it on, I see…” He didn’t finish and smiled a painfully fake smile.
Returning to the regiment and conveying to the commander the state of affairs of Denisov, Rostov went to Tilsit with a letter to the sovereign.
On June 13, the French and Russian emperors gathered in Tilsit. Boris Drubetskoy asked the important person under whom he belonged to be included in the retinue appointed to be in Tilsit.
“Je voudrais voir le grand homme, [I would like to see a great man,” he said, speaking of Napoleon, whom he still always, like everyone else, called Buonaparte.
– Vous parlez de Buonaparte? [Are you talking about Buonaparte?] – the general told him smiling.
Boris looked inquiringly at his general and immediately realized that this was a mock test.
- Mon prince, je parle de l "empereur Napoleon, [Prince, I'm talking about Emperor Napoleon,] - he answered. The general patted him on the shoulder with a smile.
“You will go far,” he said to him, and took him with him.
Boris was among the few on the Neman on the day of the meeting of the emperors; he saw rafts with monograms, Napoleon's passage along the other bank, past the French guards, he saw the pensive face of Emperor Alexander, while he silently sat in a tavern on the banks of the Neman, waiting for Napoleon's arrival; I saw how both emperors got into the boats and how Napoleon, having first landed on the raft, went forward with quick steps and, meeting Alexander, gave him his hand, and how both disappeared into the pavilion. Since its entry into higher worlds, Boris made it a habit to carefully observe what was happening around him and write it down. During a meeting in Tilsit, he asked about the names of those people who came with Napoleon, about the uniforms that they were wearing, and listened carefully to the words that were spoken by important people. At the same time as the emperors entered the pavilion, he looked at his watch and did not forget to look again at the time when Alexander left the pavilion. The meeting lasted an hour and fifty-three minutes: he wrote it down that evening, among other facts that, he believed, had historical meaning. Since the emperor’s retinue was very small, it was very important for a person who valued success in his service to be in Tilsit during the meeting of the emperors, and Boris, having got to Tilsit, felt that from that time on his position was completely established. He was not only known, but they got accustomed to him and got used to him. Twice he carried out assignments for the sovereign himself, so that the sovereign knew him by sight, and all those close to him not only did not be ashamed of him, as before, considering him a new face, but would be surprised if he were not there.
Name the oceans of the globe and show them on a globe and a map of the hemispheres.
1. World Ocean. If you look at the globe, you will see that most of the globe is occupied by water. This is the oceans. The World Ocean accounts for 3/4 of the entire surface of the Earth, or 361 million km2 (Fig. 68).
Rice. 68. The ratio of the areas of ocean and land.
The world's oceans are made up of separate oceans with their own names, but they are all connected to each other. From any point of the World Ocean, you can get to any other point without crossing the land. (Check this on a map of the hemispheres.)
Large areas of land surrounded by oceans and seas are called continents or continents. On the globe there are 6 continents. This Eurasia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia And Antarctica.
Small areas of land, surrounded on all sides by water, are called islands. (Find on the map the islands Greenland, Madagascar, Iceland.)
The part of the land that goes deep into the body of water is called a peninsula. (Find on the map of the peninsula Apennine And Labrador.)
The world ocean consists of 4 parts.
The Pacific Ocean (180 million km2) is the largest and deepest of all the oceans on the globe. According to the occupied area, it corresponds to the remaining three, taken together. In 1520-1521, F. Magellan first crossed this ocean during a trip around the world. The Pacific Ocean starts from the western coast of the North and South America and extends to Australia and Antarctica.
Here is the deepest place in the oceans - the Mariana Trench (depth - 11,022 m).
The Atlantic Ocean (92 million km2) is half the size of the Pacific Ocean. It starts from the east coast of North and South America and stretches to the west coast of Eurasia, Africa and Antarctica. It stretches from the Arctic Circle to the South Polar Circle. Particularly important sea routes pass through the Atlantic Ocean, connecting countries located on the continents of the western and eastern hemispheres. The ocean is fully developed for maritime transport.
The Indian Ocean (75 million km2) occupies most of southern hemisphere. It is the warmest ocean. (Determine from the map of the hemispheres between which continents it is located.) The Indian Ocean has cleaner water than others. This is due to the fact that almost no rivers flow into its southern part.
The Arctic Ocean (14 million km2) is the smallest among all oceans. Its borders begin from the coast of North America and end off the coast of Eurasia. Most of it is covered with ice during the year.
The next feature of the Arctic Ocean is its shallow depth. At the transition points of the underwater continental margins to the ocean floor, the depth is only 200 m. There are quite a lot of such places on the coast of Eurasia. There are many large islands in the ocean.
2.Parts of the oceans. The parts of the oceans include seas, bays, straits.
The sea is part of the ocean and differs from it in the properties of water and wildlife. In most cases, the seas are located off the coast of land, but sometimes they are also found in the open ocean (for example, Sargasso zhore). An ordinary sea is separated from the ocean by peninsulas, islands or underwater ridges.
The seas that extend far into the mainland are called inland seas. (For example, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea. Parts of which ocean are they?) The seas located on the outskirts of the continents are called marginal seas. These include the seas located on the coast of Eurasia - Barents, Kara, Laptev, Japanese, Okhotsk, East China and others.
Bay - a small part of the ocean or sea, deeply protruding into the land. For example, Hudson and Mexico bays are parts of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North America, and Persian Gulf - part of the Indian Ocean in southern Eurasia.
Parts of the oceans are connected to each other by straits. A strait is a narrow body of water bounded on both sides by the shores of continents or islands. The width of the straits is very different. The widest (up to 950 km) and deepest (up to 5840 m) - drake Passage, and the longest (about 1670 km) - Mozambique Channel.
1. How can you determine the integrity of the oceans?
2. Does the territory of Kazakhstan have access to the World Ocean? How can you access the World Ocean from the territory of Kazakhstan?
3. How far is the nearest sea from your area? Measure this distance on the map.
4. Mentally, starting from the Black Sea, make a sea trip around the world. What are the oceans, seas, bays, straits, channels through which or next to which this path runs?
5. Name the internal and marginal seas on the coast of the Eurasian continent.
6. What strait connects two seas with two oceans, two continents with two states?
7. Mark on the contour map the named seas, bays and straits.
8. Fill in the table "Oceans" using the information from the text.