The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering

70,560,000 km2 (27,240,000 sq mi) or 19.8% of the water on the Earth's surface.[4] It is bounded
by Asia to the north, Africa to the west, and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by
the Southern Ocean or Antarctica, depending on the definition in use.[5]

Contents

 1Etymology
 2Geography
o 2.1Extent and data
o 2.2Coasts and shelves
 2.2.1Rivers
o 2.3Marginal seas
 3Climate
 4Oceanography
 5Marine life
 6Biodiversity
 7Geology
 8History
o 8.1First settlements
o 8.2Antiquity
o 8.3Age of Discovery
o 8.4Modern era
 9Trade
 10See also
 11References
o 11.1Notes
o 11.2Sources
 12External links

Etymology

A 1747 map of Africa with the Indian Ocean referred to as the Eastern Ocean
A 1658 naval map by Janssonius depicting the Indian Ocean, India and Arabia.

The Indian Ocean is named after India (Oceanus Orientalis Indicus) since at least 1515. India,
then, is the Greek/Roman name for the "region of the Indus River".[6]
Called the Sindhu Mahasagara or the great sea of the Sindhu by the Ancient Indians, this ocean
has been variously called Hindu Ocean, Indic Ocean, etc. in various languages. The Indian
Ocean was also known earlier as the Eastern Ocean, a term was still in use during the mid-18th
century (see map).[6] Conversely, when China explored the Indian Ocean in the 15th century they
called it the "Western Oceans".[7]
In Ancient Greek geography the region of the Indian Ocean known to the Greeks was called
the Erythraean Sea.[8]
A relatively new concept of an "Indian Ocean World" and attempts to rewrite its history has
resulted in new proposed names, such as 'Asian Sea' and 'Afrasian Sea'.[9]

Geography

Extent of the Indian Ocean according to International Hydrographic Organization

Extent and data

The borders of the Indian Ocean, as delineated by the International Hydrographic Organization in
1953 included the Southern Ocean but not the marginal seas along the northern rim, but in 2000
the IHO delimited the Southern Ocean separately, which removed waters south of 60°S from the
Indian Ocean, but included the northern marginal seas. [10][11] Meridionally, the Indian Ocean is
delimited from the Atlantic Ocean by the 20° east meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas,
and from the Pacific Ocean by the meridian of 146°49'E, running south from the southernmost
point of Tasmania. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean (including marginal seas) is
approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf.[11]
The Indian Ocean covers 70,560,000 km2 (27,240,000 sq mi), including the Red Sea and the
Persian Gulf but excluding the Southern Ocean, or 19.5% of the world's oceans; its volume is
264,000,000 km3 (63,000,000 cu mi) or 19.8% of the world's oceans' volume; it has an average
depth of 3,741 m (12,274 ft) and a maximum depth of 7,906 m (25,938 ft).[4]
All of the Indian Ocean is in the Eastern Hemisphere and the centre of the Eastern Hemisphere,
the 90th meridian east, passes through the Ninety East Ridge.

Coasts and shelves

In contrast to the Atlantic and Pacific, the Indian Ocean is enclosed by major landmasses and an
archipelago on three sides and does not stretch from pole to pole and can be likened to an
embayed ocean. It is centred on the Indian Peninsula and although this subcontinent has played
a major role in its history the Indian Ocean has foremostly been a cosmopolitan stage interlinking
diverse regions by innovations, trade, and religion since early in human history.[9]
The active margins of the Indian Ocean have an average depth (land to shelf break) of
19 ± 0.61 km (11.81 ± 0.38 mi) with a maximum depth of 175 km (109 mi). The passive
margins have an average depth of 47.6 ± 0.8 km (29.58 ± 0.50 mi).[12] The average width of
the slopes of the continental shelves are 50.4–52.4 km (31.3–32.6 mi) for active and passive
margins respectively, with a maximum depth of 205.3–255.2 km (127.6–158.6 mi).[13]
Australia, Indonesia, and India are the three countries with the longest shorelines and exclusive
economic zones. The continental shelf makes up 15% of the Indian Ocean. More than two billion
people live in countries bordering the Indian Ocean, compared to 1.7 billion for the Atlantic and
2.7 billion for the Pacific (some countries border more than one ocean).[2]
Rivers
The Indian Ocean drainage basin covers 21,100,000 km2 (8,100,000 sq mi), virtually identical to
that of the Pacific Ocean and half that of the Atlantic basin, or 30% of its ocean surface
(compared to 15% for the Pacific). The Indian Ocean drainage basin is divided into roughly 800
individual basins, half that of the Pacific, of which 50% are located in Asia, 30% in Africa, and
20% in Australasia. The rivers of the Indian Ocean are shorter in average (740 km (460 mi)) than
those the other major oceans. The largest rivers are (order 5) the Zambezi, Ganges-
Brahmaputra, Indus, Jubba, and Murray rivers and (order 4) the Shatt al-Arab, Wadi Ad
Dawasir (a dried out river system on the Arabian Peninsula) and Limpopo rivers.[14]

Marginal seas
Marginal seas, gulfs, bays and straits of the Indian Ocean include:[11]
Along the east coast of Africa the Mozambique Channel separates Madagascar from mainland
Africa, while the Sea of Zanj is located north of Madagascar.
On the northern coast of the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden is connected to the Red Sea by the strait
of Bab-el-Mandeb. In the Gulf of Aden the Gulf of Tadjoura is located in Djibouti and
the Guardafui Channel separates Socotra island from the Horn of Africa. The northern end of the
Red Sea terminates in the Gulf of Aqaba and Gulf of Suez. The Indian Ocean is artificially
connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, which is accessible via the Red
Sea. The Arabian Sea is connected to the Persian Gulf by the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of
Hormuz. In the Persian Gulf the Gulf of Bahrain separates Qatar from the Arabic Peninsula.
Along the west coast of India, the Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambat are located in Gujarat in the
northern end while the Laccadive Sea separates the Maldives from the southern tip of India.
The Bay of Bengal is off the eastcoast of India. The Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait separates
Sri Lanka from India, while the Adam's Bridge separates the two. The Andaman Sea is located
between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Islands.
In Indonesia, the so-called Indonesian Seaway is composed of the Malacca, Sunda and Torres
Straits. The Gulf of Carpentaria of located on the Australian north coast while the Great
Australian Bight constitutes a large part of its southern coast.

Climate

During summer, warm continental masses draw moist air from the Indian Ocean hence producing heavy
rainfall. The process is reversed during winter, resulting in dry conditions.

Several features make the Indian Ocean unique. It constitutes the core of the large-
scale Tropical Warm Pool which, when interacting with the atmosphere, affects the climate both
regionally and globally. Asia blocks heat export and prevents the ventilation of the Indian
Ocean thermocline. That continent also drives the Indian Ocean monsoon, the strongest on
Earth, which causes large-scale seasonal variations in ocean currents, including the reversal of
the Somali Current and Indian Monsoon Current. Because of the Indian Ocean Walker
circulation there is no continuous equatorial easterlies. Upwelling occurs near the Horn of
Africa and the Arabian Peninsula in the Northern Hemisphere and north of the trade winds in the
Southern Hemisphere. The Indonesian Throughflow is a unique Equatorial connection to the
Pacific.[15]
The climate north of the equator is affected by a monsoon climate. Strong north-east winds blow
from October until April; from May until October south and west winds prevail. In the Arabian Sea
the violent Monsoon brings rain to the Indian subcontinent. In the southern hemisphere, the
winds are generally milder, but summer storms near Mauritius can be severe. When the
monsoon winds change, cyclones sometimes strike the shores of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of
Bengal.[16] Some 80% of the total annual rainfall in India occurs during summer and the region is
so dependent of this rainfall that many civilisations perished when the Monsoon failed in the past.
Huge variability in the Indian Summer Monsoon has also occurred pre-historically, with a strong,
wet phase 33,500–32,500 BP; a weak, dry phase 26,000–23,500 BC; and a very weak phase
17,000–15,000 BP, corresponding to a series of dramatic global events: Bølling-
Allerød, Heinrich, and Younger Dryas.[17]

Air pollution in South Asia spread over the Bay of Bengal and beyond.

The Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean in the world.[18] Long-term ocean temperature records
show a rapid, continuous warming in the Indian Ocean, at about 1.2 °C (34.2 °F) (compared to
0.7 °C (33.3 °F) for the warm pool region) during 1901–2012.[19] Research indicates that human
induced greenhouse warming, and changes in the frequency and magnitude of El Niño (or
the Indian Ocean Dipole), events are a trigger to this strong warming in the Indian Ocean.[19]
South of the Equator (20-5°S) the Indian Ocean is gaining heat from June to October, during the
austral winter, while it is losing heat from November to March, during the austral summer.[20]
In 1999, the Indian Ocean Experiment showed that fossil fuel and biomass burning in South and
Southeast Asia caused air pollution (also known as the Asian brown cloud) that reach as far as
the Intertropical Convergence Zone at 60°S. This pollution has implications on both a local and
global scale.[21]

Oceanography
40% of the sediment of the Indian Ocean is found in the Indus and Ganges fans. The oceanic
basins adjacent to the continental slopes mostly contain terrigenous sediments. The ocean south
of the polar front (roughly 50° south latitude) is high in biologic productivity and dominated by
non-stratified sediment composed mostly of siliceous oozes. Near the three major mid-ocean
ridges the ocean floor is relatively young and therefore bare of sediment, except for
the Southwest Indian Ridge due to its ultra-slow spreading rate.[22]
The ocean's currents are mainly controlled by the monsoon. Two large gyres, one in the northern
hemisphere flowing clockwise and one south of the equator moving anticlockwise (including
the Agulhas Current and Agulhas Return Current), constitute the dominant flow pattern. During
the winter monsoon (November–February), however, circulation is reversed north of 30°S and
winds are weakened during winter and the transitional periods between the monsoons.[23]
The Indian Ocean contains the largest submarine fans of the world, the Bengal Fan and Indus
Fan, and the largest areas of slope terraces and rift valleys. [24]
The inflow of deep water into the Indian Ocean is 11 Sv, most of which comes from
the Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW). The CDW enters the Indian Ocean through
the Crozet and Madagascar basins and crosses the Southwest Indian Ridge at 30°S. In
the Mascarene Basin the CDW becomes a deep western boundary current before it is met by a
re-circulated branch of itself, the North Indian Deep Water. This mixed water partly flows north
into the Somali Basin whilst most of it flows clockwise in the Mascarene Basin where an
oscillating flow is produced by Rossby waves.[25]
Water circulation in the Indian Ocean is dominated by the Subtropical Anticyclonic Gyre, the
eastern extension of which is blocked by the Southeast Indian Ridge and the 90°E Ridge.
Madagascar and the Southwest Indian Ridge separates three cells south of Madagascar and off
South Africa. North Atlantic Deep Water reaches into the Indian Ocean south of Africa at a depth
of 2,000–3,000 m (6,600–9,800 ft) and flows north along the eastern continental slope of Africa.
Deeper than NADW, Antarctic Bottom Water flows from Enderby Basin to Agulhas Basin across
deep channels (<4,000 m (13,000 ft)) in the Southwest Indian Ridge, from where it continues into
the Mozambique Channel and Prince Edward Fracture Zone.[26]
North of 20° south latitude the minimum surface temperature is 22 °C (72 °F), exceeding 28 °C
(82 °F) to the east. Southward of 40° south latitude, temperatures drop quickly.[16]
The Bay of Bengal contributes more than half (2,950 km3 (710 cu mi)) of the runoff water to the
Indian Ocean. Mainly in summer, this runoff flows into the Arabian Sea but also south across the
Equator where it mixes with fresher sea water from the Indonesian Throughflow. This mixed
freshwater joins the South Equatorial Current in the southern tropical Indian Ocean.[27] Sea
surface salinity is highest (more than 36 PSU) in the Arabian Sea because evaporation exceeds
precipitation there. In the Southeast Arabian Sea salinity drops to less than 34 PSU. It is lowest
(c. 33 PSU) in the Bay of Bengal because of river runoff and precipitation. The Indonesian
Throughflow and precipitation results in lower salinity (34 PSU) along the Sumatran westcoast.
Monsoonal variation results in eastward transportation of saltier water from the Arabian Sea to
the Bay of Bengal from June to September and in westerly transport by the East India Coastal
Current to the Arabian Sea from January to April.[28]
An Indian Ocean garbage patch was discovered in 2010 covering at least 5 million square
kilometres (1.9 million square miles). Riding the southern Indian Ocean Gyre, this vortex
of plastic garbage constantly circulates the ocean from Australia to Africa, down the Mozambique
Channel, and back to Australia in a period of six years, except for debris that get indefinitely
stuck in the centre of the gyre.[29] The garbage patch in the Indian Ocean will, according to a 2012
study, decrease in size after several decades to vanish completely over centuries. Over several
millennia, however, the global system of garbage patches will accumulate in the North Pacific.[30]
There are two amphidromes of opposite rotation in the Indian Ocean, probably caused
by Rossby wave propagation.[31]
Icebergs drift as far north as 55° south latitude, similar to the Pacific but less than in the Atlantic
where icebergs reach up to 45°S. The volume of iceberg loss in the Indian Ocean between 2004
and 2012 was 24 Gt.[32]
Since the 1960s, anthropogenic warming of the global ocean combined with contributions of
freshwater from retreating land ice causes a global rise in sea level. Sea level increases in the
Indian Ocean too, except in the south tropical Indian Ocean where it decreases, a pattern most
likely caused by rising levels of greenhouse gases.[33]

Marine life