See full version: 10 Largest Oceans in the World
The sunny climate and warm waters of the Mediterranean are home to a wide variety of birds and around 400 different species of fish. This sizeable body of water would be landlocked if it weren’t for the Strait of Gibraltar, which flows between Morocco and Spain to the Atlantic Ocean. Its geographical location and abundant natural resources have made the Mediterranean Sea an important trading center and source of political conflicts throughout history. here
The coastline of the Mediterranean Sea stretches for 28,600 miles! here
Covering approximately an entire fifth of the world’s surface, the Atlantic Ocean has the largest drainage area in the world. The northern portion, named the Northern Atlantic, drives the “global ocean conveyor” which is responsible for carrying cool waters across the surface of the planet and maintaining a sustainable global temperature.
This huge sea flows through the Bering Strait to connect with the Arctic Ocean, passing through the oceanic territory of both Russia and the United States. Sadly, the fur seal population of the Bering Sea was aggressively hunted for their pelts, resulting in the Bering Sea Fur-Seal Controversy of 1886.
By now, you’re probably wondering just how huge the Earth’s oceans can get. Today we’ll look at 10 of the largest oceans and seas in the world and learn about what sets them apart.
The bustling South China Sea is the center of various territorial disputes resulting from several Asian countries making overlapping territorial claims. [links]
A wind stream known as the African Easterly Jet is a primary force in stirring up and driving hurricanes across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States. here
While it hosts over 7,000 different islands belonging to more than 28 different nations, the Caribbean Sea is possibly even more renowned for containing one of the deepest points on Earth: the Cayman Trench. Located between Cuba and Jamaica, the Cayman Trench or “Bartlett Deep” reaches a staggering depth of 25,216 feet below sea level. here
The sunny climate and warm waters of the Mediterranean are home to a wide variety of birds and around 400 different species of fish. This sizeable body of water would be landlocked if it weren’t for the Strait of Gibraltar, which flows between Morocco and Spain to the Atlantic Ocean. Its geographical location and abundant natural resources have made the Mediterranean Sea an important trading center and source of political conflicts throughout history.
The Pacific is the oldest of the existing ocean basins. Its oldest rocks have been dated at about 200 million years. The Pacific basin is referred to as the “Ring of Fire” due to intense earthquake and volcanic activity occurring near areas of tectonic plate subduction (where one tectonic plate is forced under another). [links]
The 'Ring of Fire' is defined by a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches, island arcs, and volcanic mountain ranges and/or boundaries of several plates. It encircles the periphery of the Pacific Ocean Basin. (image courtesy of COMET® program) here
The Atlantic basin is the second largest basin, followed by the Indian Ocean basin, the Southern Ocean, and finally the Arctic Ocean basin. here
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world’s oceans. It stretches from the west coast of North and South America to the east coast of the Asia and Australia continent. Keeping in mind the world is a sphere, this map shows the Pacific Ocean on both the left and right sides. That is because they are actually connected with the top left of North America almost touching the top right corner of the Asia Continent. The Pacific Ocean represents nearly half of the world’s water surface. It is actually larger than all the land surface area on earth. The Pacific Ocean is also home to the deepest point in the ocean, called the Mariana Trench.
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world’s oceans. It is located across the northern part of the globe above the North American, European, and Asian continents. It happens to be the most shallow of all oceans on earth. The Arctic Ocean is unique due mostly to the extremely cold climate it is located in. It is covered by sea ice, at least partially, year round. Though it is a salt water body of water, it has the lowest salt content of any of the worlds oceans. more
The Indian Ocean covers a 28,400,130 sq mile (73,556,000 km²) area between the eastern coast of Africa, the shores of the Middle East and India to its north, and is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by Southeast Asia and Australia/Oceania. Home to a great variety of humankind throughout history, the Indian Ocean is also rich in exotic plant and animal species, and still supplies the world with spices such as black pepper, nutmeg, and ginger. While these spices are now used primarily to flavor the world’s cuisines, they were used from earliest times to preserve foods, and were thought to have great medicinal properties. Indeed, during the terrible plagues of the 13th through 17th Centuries, Europeans were so convinced of their curative powers that their countries fought repeated wars and gambled untold fortunes to gain control of the Spice Islands, and the number of explorers and sailors willing to risk their lives charting new maps to reach them is difficult to imagine. Learn more about the Indian Ocean. [links]