Arctic OceanAtlantic OceanIndian OceanPacific OceanSouthern Ocean

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Value of Oceans

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5 Oceans, Value of oceansKnowledge Bank Integrator : Sanjay Moreshwar Bapat

Arctic Ocean

Arctic Ocean MapWith most of its waters lying in the Arctic north polar region, the Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world’s five oceans. Some scientists call the Arctic Ocean the North Mediterranean Sea or the Arctic Sea. Covering approximately 5,427,000 square miles, the body of water is approximately the size of Russia. Continents that border the Arctic include Europe, Asia, and North America. The U.S. and Russia maintain floating research stations in the region.

Arctic Ocean FactsŸ Polar bears, the largest land predators in the world, can only be found in the Arctic! A fully

grown male polar bear can weigh up to 1000 lbs.Ÿ You can find polar bears in the Arctic Ocean, but not penguins. They do not exist there. If

you want penguins, you need to head south- to the Antarctic.Ÿ Due to global warming, scientists predict that the Arctic Ocean will soon be ice-free around

the year 2030-2040.Ÿ It might be the smallest ocean in the world, but the Arctic Ocean is still big! It has a total area

of 14 million square kilometers.Ÿ Some oceanographers dispute the status of the Arctic Ocean as an “ocean.” These

scientists sometimes classify it as a “Mediterranean sea,” or simply just an estuary of the larger Atlantic Ocean.

Ÿ A huge part of the Arctic Ocean is covered by sea ice. However, this ice pack has been constantly decreasing at a rate of three percent per decade since the 1980s.

Ÿ The icebergs that break away from the areas that surround the Arctic Ocean pose a huge risk to the ships that pass through the area. The most notable nautical accident that happened in the Arctic was the RMS Titanic disaster in 1912.

Ÿ Every year, from the months of October to June, the Arctic Ocean becomes virtually ice-locked. Ships can’t pass through it because of the thick ice.

Ÿ Not only is the Arctic Ocean the world’s smallest ocean, it is also the shallowest.

Ÿ The earliest record of the existence of the Arctic Ocean was made in 325 BC, when Pytheas of Massilia made an account of a journey to a land where the sun sets for only three hours a day, and the water is replaced by a substance (loose sea ice) that you can’t walk or sail on. He called this land “Eschate Thule.”

Interesting

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Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean MapCovering 20% of the Earth’s entire surface, the Atlantic Ocean is the world’s second-largest ocean. It covers 29% of all of the Earth’s water surface making it second only to the Pacific Ocean. At its deepest point, the Milwaukee Deep off the coast of Puerto Rico, the Atlantic Ocean is 27,500 feet deep – that would fit a stack of almost 19 Empire State Buildings!

The western shores of the Atlantic Ocean are the coasts of North, Central, and South America. The North American countries include Canada and the United States. All of the Central and South American countries on the Caribbean Sea including Cuba, Jamaica, Panama, Columbia, Venezuela, and many others have an Atlantic coast, as well as the South American countries of Argentina and Brazil. The warm, moist air of the southern Atlantic ocean often brings rain, hurricanes and other turbulent weather to Central America and the southern United States before heading north and bringing turbulent weather to the east coast of the United States, including the notorious Nor’easter, and heavy fog off the coast of eastern Canada.

Facts About the Atlantic OceanŸ With its rich waters, the Atlantic Ocean is home to the world’s most fertile fishing grounds.

Some of the major species of fish that are caught here include mackerel, cod, haddock, and herring.

Ÿ The lowest point on the Atlantic is the Puerto Rico Trench, which measures eight and a half thousand meters deep. It is located near the boundary of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Ÿ Among the world’s oceans, the Atlantic is considered to be the youngest. It is estimated to have been formed during the Jurassic Period.

Ÿ The Atlantic Ocean formed around 130 million years ago when the Americas, Africa, and Europe- then all part of the ancestral super continent Pangaea– started to drift away from each other.

Ÿ The Equator subdivides the Atlantic Ocean into two parts, called the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic.

Ÿ The North Atlantic Ocean separates Europe and the Americas, the “Old World” and the “New World”.

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Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world’s five oceans, making up about 20% of Earth’s water. Named after the country of India, it is bordered by Asia to the north, Antarctica to the south, Australia to the east, and Africa to the west. The Indian Ocean boasts an area of approximately 28,360,000 square miles (73,440,000 sq km), including the Persian Gulf, Red Sea , Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Flores Sea, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Java Sea, Mozambique Channel, Savu Sea, Strait of Malacca, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies. The Indian Ocean is the youngest of the world’s major oceans.

Geography: Above and Below the SurfaceThere are a number of islands that line the continental edges of the Indian Ocean. Some of these major island nations include Madagascar, Comoros, Seychelles, Maldives, Mauritius, and Sri Lanka. In addition, there are several large rivers that flow into the Indian Ocean. These include the Indus, Ganges, Zambezi, Shatt al-Arab, Narmada, Brahmaputra, Jubba, and Irrawaddy rivers.

Beneath the surface, the Indian Ocean has active spreading ridges that are part of the worldwide system of mid-ocean ridges. The ocean floor is most heavily occupied by the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge. It is further divided by both the Southeast and Southwest Indian Ocean Ridges and the Ninety East Ridge.

ClimateThe Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean in the world. It is affected by a monsoon climate, which accounts for a characteristic reversal of surface currents. The northeast monsoon occurs between the months of December and April when high-pressure systems from cold, winter air cause strong, north-east winds to blow. Inversely, the southwest monsoon occurs from June to October. Its strong southwest winds are a direct result of low atmospheric pressure from hot, summer air. This unique reversal of surface currents often causes tropical cyclones from May to June and October to November.

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Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the biggest ocean on Earth, with an area of 63.8 square miles. It is also bigger than all the land on the planet put together. It borders four continents: North America, South America, Australia, and Asia. The ocean is split into two parts that are divided by the equator. The two parts are the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. The deepest part of the ocean and the whole world is the Mariana Trench, and it is 35,797 feet deep.

History of the Pacific OceanIn the early 16th century, Europeans were the first to see the Pacific Ocean. Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer that named the sea Mar Del Sur in 1513. But, the Pacific Ocean name came from Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer who went on a world expedition in 1521. He named it Mar Pacifico in Portuguese, which means peaceful sea. The width of the ocean was accurately measured in 1768 by Pierre-Antoine Véron.

Features of the Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean separates North America and South America from Australia and Asia. It spreads from the Arctic area in the north to the Antarctic in the south. It stretches to 12,300 miles wide from Colombia to Indonesia, which is halfway across the planet. This number is over five times the width of the moon.

Every year, the Pacific Ocean shrinks approximately one inch on three sides. This is because of tectonic plates underneath the surface of the Earth. The Pacific Ocean experiences many tropical storms every year, and many areas around the ocean have earthquakes and volcanoes. The Pacific Ring of Fire is the world’s biggest chain of volcanoes, with a total of 452 volcanoes.

Many seas sit along the western part of the Pacific Ocean, like the Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, and Yellow Sea. The Pacific Ocean is connected to the Arctic Ocean by the Bering Strait. The Strait of Magellan and Drake Passage join the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. And the Strait of Malacca joins the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean together.

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Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean is an enormous body of water that surrounds the entire continent of Antarctica and reaches Australia and the southern end of South America. This ocean is a smaller body of water compared to the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean but is bigger than the Arctic Ocean. It covers approximately four percent of the earth’s surface, which measures out to be 7,846,000 square miles.

Created 30 million years ago, many oceanographers consider this region of water the youngest of the world’s oceans. The creation happened when Antarctica moved apart from South America a long time ago when the earth was being developed.

This Ocean is deeper than the other ones, ranging from 13,000 to over 16,000 feet. The water is very cold because the ocean is located on the outermost edge of the Southern Hemisphere and it contains huge icebergs as well as smaller ones that cover much of it. Because of the icebergs and the most powerful winds on earth, ships have a problem traveling on the ocean all year long. Nevertheless, efforts have to be made because there are so many natural resources like natural gas, petroleum, sand, and gravel. The waters also make available sea mammals and a variety of fish that the world wants. There are few harbors and ports on the southern coastline of the Southern Ocean due to serious ice conditions. As a result, they are off limits to any type of vessels.

The current from the Southern Ocean provides more water than any other current on the planet. A unique feature, known as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current allows the waters to flow around Antarctica. The vast amount of water trapped inside this current, move at an astonishing rate per second. Traveling eastward, it plays an important role in the movement of the other oceans. Extra bodies of water exist because of the ocean, which include the Weddell, Bellingshausen, Ross and Amundsen seas. It also provides bays and gulfs off the coast of Antarctica.

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Value of Oceans

Oceans (Worth $24 trillion)The ocean is essential to the livelihoods and food security of billions of people around the globe. Shipping, tourism, transport, fisheries, oil and gas, renewable energy all depend on the sea.

Two years ago, economists put a dollar value on what our oceans are worth and came up with $24 trillion. If it were a country, the sea would be the seventh-largest economy on the planet.

The real interesting issue is that if we can reverse the tide of degradation, then we should be able to build the $24 trillion asset.

In Indonesia, 70 percent of the population lives along its coastline and depends upon the ocean. But Indonesia is also the second largest plastic waste producer after China.

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