OCEANS & SEAS OF THE WORLD

 

 

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PACIFIC OCEAN GYRES MAPThe surface of the planet is approximately 71% water in five oceans, including the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern. For many years only four oceans were officially recognized, and then in the spring of 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization established the Southern Ocean by determining its limits. Those limits include all water below 60 degrees south, and some of it, like the Arctic Ocean, is frozen. 

 

 

 

 

The world ocean is the principal component of Earth's hydrosphere, it is integral to all known life, forms part of the carbon cycle, and influences climate and weather patterns. The world ocean is the habitat of 230,000 known species, but because much of it is unexplored, the number of species that exist is much larger, possibly over two million. The origin of Earth's oceans remains unknown; oceans are thought to have formed in the Hadean period and may have been the impetus for the emergence of life.

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OCEANIC ZONES

Oceanographers divide the ocean into different zones by physical and biological conditions. The pelagic zone includes all open ocean regions, and can be divided into further regions categorized by depth and light abundance. The photic zone includes the oceans from the surface to a depth of 200 m; it is the region where photosynthesis can occur and is, therefore, the most biodiverse. Because plants require photosynthesis, life found deeper than the photic zone must either rely on material sinking from above (see marine snow) or find another energy source. Hydrothermal vents are the primary source of energy in what is known as the aphotic zone (depths exceeding 200 m). The pelagic part of the photic zone is known as the epipelagic.

 

The pelagic part of the aphotic zone can be further divided into vertical regions according to temperature. The mesopelagic is the uppermost region. Its lowermost boundary is at a thermocline of 12 °C (54 °F), which, in the tropics generally lies at 700–1,000 meters (2,300–3,300 ft). Next is the bathypelagic lying between 10 and 4 °C (50 and 39 °F), typically between 700–1,000 meters (2,300–3,300 ft) and 2,000 - 4,000 meters (6,600–13,100 ft), lying along the top of the abyssal plain is the abyssopelagic, whose lower boundary lies at about 6,000 meters (20,000 ft). The last zone includes the deep oceanic trench, and is known as the hadalpelagic. This lies between 6,000–11,000 meters (20,000–36,000 ft) and is the deepest oceanic zone.

 

The benthic zones are aphotic and correspond to the three deepest zones of the deep-sea. The bathyal zone covers the continental slope down to about 4,000 meters (13,000 ft). The abyssal zone covers the abyssal plains between 4,000 and 6,000 m. Lastly, the hadal zone corresponds to the hadalpelagic zone, which is found in oceanic trenches.

 

The pelagic zone can be further subdivided into two subregions: the neritic zone and the oceanic zone. The neritic zone encompasses the water mass directly above the continental shelves whereas the oceanic zone includes all the completely open water.

 

In contrast, the littoral zone covers the region between low and high tide and represents the transitional area between marine and terrestrial conditions. It is also known as the intertidal zone because it is the area where tide level affects the conditions of the region.

 

The ocean can be divided into three density zones: the surface zone, the pycnocline, and the deep zone. The surface zone, also called the mixed layer, refers to the uppermost density zone of the ocean. Temperature and salinity are relatively constant with depth in this zone due to currents and wave action. The surface zone contains ocean water that is in contact with the atmosphere and within the photic zone. The surface zone has the ocean's least dense water and represents approximately 2% of the total volume of ocean water. The surface zone usually ranges between depths of 500 feet (150 m) to 3,300 feet (1,000 m) below ocean surface, but this can vary a great deal. In some cases, the surface zone can be entirely non-existent. The surface zone is typically thicker in the tropics than in regions of higher latitude. The transition to colder, denser water is more abrupt in the tropics than in regions of higher latitudes. The pycnocline refers to a zone wherein density substantially increases with depth due primarily to decreases in temperature. The pycnocline effectively separates the lower-density surface zone above from the higher-density deep zone below. The pycnocline represents approximately 18% of the total volume of ocean water. The deep zone refers to the lowermost density zone of the ocean. The deep zone usually begins at depths below 3,300 feet (1,000 m) in mid-latitudes. The deep zone undergoes negligible changes in water density with depth. The deep zone represents approximately 80% of the total volume of ocean water. The deep zone contains relatively colder and stable water.

 

If a zone undergoes dramatic changes in temperature with depth, it contains a thermocline. The tropical thermocline is typically deeper than the thermocline at higher latitudes. Polar waters, which receive relatively little solar energy, are not stratified by temperature and generally lack a thermocline because surface water at polar latitudes are nearly as cold as water at greater depths. Below the thermocline, water is very cold, ranging from −1 °C to 3 °C. Because this deep and cold layer contains the bulk of ocean water, the average temperature of the world ocean is 3.9 °C.[citation needed] If a zone undergoes dramatic changes in salinity with depth, it contains a halocline. If a zone undergoes a strong, vertical chemistry gradient with depth, it contains a chemocline. The halocline often coincides with the thermocline, and the combination produces a pronounced pycnocline.

 

There are 5 swirling ocean garbage patches called gyres. The largest gyre is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located between Hawaii and California, held to be about the size of France or Texas at the moment.

 

1. North Atlantic Gyre

2. South Atlantic Gyre

3. Indian Ocean Gyre

4. North Pacific Gyre

5. South Pacific Gyre

 

 

 

Seas and oceans of the world location map

 

 

 

 

A - Z LIST OF SEAS & OCEANS, BAYS & GULFS

ADRIATIC SEA 
Aegean Sea 
Aland Sea 
Aki-nada 
Alboran Sea 
Amakusa-nada 
Amundsen Sea 
Andaman Sea 
Arabian Sea 
Arafura Sea 
Aral Sea 
ARCTIC OCEAN
ATLANTIC OCEAN - Equatorial - North - South
Baie d'Hudson 
Bakor Sea 
Balearic Sea 
Bali Sea 
BALTIC SEA
Banda Sea 
Barents Sea 
BAY OF BENGAL - Bay of Bengal - Sargassum evaluation
Beaufort Sea 
Bellingshausen Sea 
BERING SEA
Bingo-nada

BAY OF BISCAY

Bismarck Sea 
BLACK SEA
Bohol Sea 
Bulkhead Rip 
Camotes Sea 

Cape Horn

Cape Leeuwin

Cape Of Good Hope
Cape Rip 
CARIBBEAN SEA
Caspian Sea 
Celebes Sea 
Celtic Sea 
Ceram Sea 
Chosŏndong-hae 
Chukchi Sea 
Clement Rapids 
CORAL SEA
Daryā-ye Khazar 
Daryā-ye Khezer 
Daryā-ye Māzandarān 
Daryā-ye ‘Ommān 
Davis Sea 
Dent Rapids 
Dicks Rip 
Dumont d'Urville, Mer 
EAST CHINA SEA
East Siberian Sea 
Eastern Chops 
Eastern Mediterranean

ENGLISH CHANNEL
Flores Sea 
Galloway Rapids 
Genkai-nada 
Greene Point Rapids 
Greenland Sea

GUANABARA BAY

GULF OF GUINEA - Sargassum evaluation
GULF OF MEXICO

Gulf of Thailand
Halmahera Sea 
Harima-nada 
Hibiki-nada 
Hiuchi-nada 

Horn of Africa - Somali Peninsula
Hyŏnji-hae 
Hyūga-nada 
Indian River

INDIAN OCEAN - Sargassum evaluation
Inland Sea 
Ionian Sea 
Irish Sea 
Itsuki-nada 
Iyo-nada 
Java Sea 
Jiuzhou Yang 
Kalupag Sea 
Kara Sea 
Kashima-nada 
Khalkidhikón Pélagos 
Kong Hĺkon VII Hav 
Koro Sea 
Kosmonavtov, more 
Kumano-nada 
Labrador Sea 
Laccadive Sea 
Landmeen 
Laptev Sea 
Laut Lepar 
Lazareva, more 
Leading Tickles 
Ligurian Sea 
Lincoln Sea 
Long Rip 
Luzon Sea 
Maotou Yang 
Mawson Sea 
McKinley Sea 
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
Meiyu Yang 
Mer d' Emeraude 
Mer de Lincoln 
Mer du Labrador 
Mindanao Sea 
Mizushima-nada 
Molucca Sea 
Moore Rip 
Myrtóön Pélagos 
Nakwakto Rapids 
NORTH SEA
Northwest Rip 
Northwest Straits 
Norwegian Sea 
Outer Bald Rip 
P'eng-hu Wan 
PACIFIC OCEAN - North - South
Pechorskoye More

PERSIAN GULF
Philippine Sea 
Pollock Rip 
Prince Gustaf Adolf Sea 
Putuo Yang 
Qizhou Yang 
Queen Victoria Sea 
Quoddy River 
Red Sea 
Riser-Larsena, more 
Ross Sea 
Saaristomeri 
Salish Sea 
Samar Sea 
Sargasso Sea 
Savu Sea 
Scotch Corner 
Scotia Sea 
Sea of Azov 
Sea of Crete 
SEA OF JAPAN
Sea of Marmara 
Sea of Okhotsk 
Sea of the Hebrides 
Shag Harbour Rip 
Shantarskoye More 
Short Rip 
Sibuyan Sea 
Sodruzhestva, more 
Solomon Sea 
Somova, more 
SOUTH CHINA SEA - Sargassum evaluation
South Pacific Ocean 
Sulu Sea 
Suō-nada 
Tail of the Rip 
Tasman Sea 
Thálassa Cheimarras 
Thale Phuket 
The Hospital 
The Overfalls 
The Rip 
The Swirlers 
The Tittle 
Thimble Tickles 
Thrakikón Pelagós 
Timor Sea 
Tosa-wan 
Tyrrhenian Sea 
Uwa-kai 
Virsko More 
Visayan Sea 
Wandel Hav 
Weddell Sea 
Western Mediterranean 
Whirlpool Rapids 
White Sea 
Wilsons Rip 
Yellow Sea

 

 

 

 

LINKS & REFERENCE

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean#Oceanic_divisions

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/oceans.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

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AN A TO Z LISTING OF OUR BAYS, GULFS, SEAS AND OCEANS