OCEAN of The Earth and Water of The OCEAN

Download as docx, pdf, or txt
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 4

RYAN U.

PESITO BSBA
OCEAN of the earth and water of the OCEAN


Surface of the Atlantic ocean meeting the Earth'splanetary
boundary layer and troposphere.


Waves on an ocean coast.


This animation uses Earth science data from a variety of
sensors on NASA Earth observing satellites to measure
physical oceanography parameters such as ocean currents,
ocean winds, sea surface height and sea surface temperature.
An ocean (from Ancient Greek (Okeanos); the World
Ocean of classical antiquity
[1]
) is a body of saline water that
composes a large part of a planet'shydrosphere.
[2]
In the
context of Earth, it refers to one or all of the major divisions
of the planet's World Ocean they are, in descending order of
area, the Pacific,Atlantic, Indian, Southern (Antarctic),
and Arctic Oceans.
[3][4]
The word "sea" is often used
interchangeably with "ocean" but, strictly speaking, a sea is a
body of saline water (possibly a division of the World Ocean)
partly or fully enclosed by land.
[5]

Earth is the only known planet to have an ocean (or any large
amounts of open liquid water). Approximately 72% of the
planet's surface (~3.6x10
8
km
2
) is covered by saline water that
is customarily divided into several principal oceans and
smaller seas, with the ocean covering approximately 71% of
the Earth's surface.
[6]
In terms of the hydrosphere of the Earth,
the ocean contains 97% of the Earth's
RYAN U. PESITO BSBA
water.Oceanographers have stated that out of 97%, only 5% of
the ocean as a whole on Earth has been explored.
[6]
Because it
is the principal component of Earth's hydrosphere, the world
ocean is integral to all known life, forms part of the carbon
cycle, and influences climate and weather patterns. The total
volume is approximately 1.3 billion cubic kilometres (310
million cu mi)
[7]
with an average depth of 3,682 metres
(12,080 ft).
[8]
It is the habitat of 230,000 known species,
although much of the ocean's depths remain unexplored and it
is estimated that over two million marine species
exist.
[9]
The origin of Earth's oceans is still unknown, but
oceans are believed to have formed in the Hadean period and
may have been the impetus for the emergence of life.
Extraterrestrial oceans may be composed of a wide range
of elements andcompounds. The only confirmed large stable
bodies of extraterrestrial surface liquids are the lakes of Titan,
although there is evidence for the existence of oceans
elsewhere in the Solar System. Early in their geologic
histories, Mars andVenus are theorized to have had large
water oceans. The Mars ocean hypothesissuggests that nearly
a third of the surface of Mars was once covered by water,
though the water on Mars is no longer oceanic, and
a runaway greenhouse effectmay have boiled away the global
ocean of Venus. Compounds such
as salts andammonia dissolved in water lower its freezing
point, so that water might exist in large quantities in
extraterrestrial environments as brine or convecting ice.
Unconfirmed oceans are speculated beneath the surface of
many dwarf planets and natural satellites; notably, the ocean
of Europa is believed to have over twice the water volume of
Earth. The Solar System's gas giant planets are also believed to
possess liquid atmospheric layers of yet to be confirmed
compositions.
RYAN U. PESITO BSBA
Divisions
Various ways to divide the World Ocean
Though generally described as several separate oceans, these waters comprise
one global, interconnected body of salt water sometimes referred to as
the World Ocean or global ocean This concept of a continuous body of water
with relatively free interchange among its parts is of fundamental importance
to oceanography.
[

The major oceanic divisions are defined in part by the continents,
various archipelagos, and other criteria. See the table below for more
information; note that the table is in descending order in terms of size.
[11][14]

Rank Ocean Notes
1
Pacific
Ocean
Separates Asia and Oceania from the Americas
[14]

2
Atlantic
Ocean
Separates the Americas from Eurasia and Africa
3
Indian
Ocean
Washes upon southern Asia and separates Africa
andAustralia
[14][15][16]

4
Southern
Ocean
Sometimes considered an extension of the Pacific, Atlantic
and Indian Oceans,
[11][17]
which encircles Antarctica
5
Arctic
Ocean
Sometimes considered a sea of the Atlantic, which covers
much of theArctic and washes upon northern North
America and Eurasia

The Pacific and Atlantic may be further subdivided by the equator into
northern and southern portions. A smaller region of the ocean can be called
other names, such as sea, gulf, bay, and strait.
RYAN U. PESITO BSBA

You might also like