The Atlantic Ocean and what seas are included in it. Atlantic Ocean characteristics, location
The Atlantic Ocean is the most studied and developed by people of all the oceans. According to one hypothesis, it got its name from the Titan Atlas (according to Greek mythology, holding the vault of heaven on his shoulders). At different times it was called differently: “The Sea beyond the Pillars of Hercules”, “Atlantic”, “Western Ocean”, “Sea of Darkness”, etc. The name "Atlantic Ocean" first appeared in 1507 on the Wald-Semüller map, and since then the name has been established in geography.
Geographical position of the ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest ocean on the planet. It covers an area of 92 million km. The Atlantic Ocean washes the shores of five continents.
The boundaries of the Atlantic Ocean are North America and Eurasia in the northern part, and South America, Africa and Antarctica in the southern part.
The Atlantic separates the Old World from the New.
The Atlantic Ocean is crossed by the equator and the prime meridian (see Fig. 1). Its length is 13 thousand km. The ocean is wide (maximum width - 6700 km) in the northern and southern parts, narrowing in equatorial latitudes to 2900 km. In the north it communicates with the Arctic Ocean, and in the south it is widely connected with the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Rice. 1. Physical map of the Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest among the planet's oceans. The ocean coastline in the northern hemisphere is heavily dissected by numerous peninsulas and bays. There are many islands, internal and marginal seas near the continents. The Atlantic includes 13 seas, which occupy 11% of its area (see Fig. 2).
Remember the names of the largest ones.
Caribbean Sea – 1
Gulf of Mexico –2
Sargasso Sea – 3
Baltic Sea – 4
Bay of Biscay – 5
Mediterranean Sea – 6
Black Sea – 7
Gulf of Guinea – 8
Weddell Sea – 9
Rice. 2. Seas of the Atlantic Ocean
Relief of the Atlantic Ocean floor
The Atlantic Ocean is younger than the Pacific Ocean; it was formed in the Mesozoic era, after the collapse of the Gondwana continent. Its bottom is made up of areas of several lithospheric plates. In the center of the Atlantic Ocean, the huge Mid-Atlantic Ridge stretches from north to south, broken by many transverse faults.
The relative height of the ridge is about 2 km. Transverse faults divide it into separate segments. In the axial part of the ridge there is a giant rift valley ranging from 6 to 30 km wide and up to 2 km deep. Both underwater active volcanoes and the volcanoes of Iceland and the Azores are confined to the rift and faults of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. On both sides of the ridge there are basins with a relatively flat bottom, separated by elevated rises. The shelf area in the Atlantic Ocean is larger than in the Pacific.
It is here, in the central parts of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, that young earth's crust emerges from the depths of the mantle and gradually diverges to the east and west, slowly expanding the ocean. On the protrusion of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the island of Iceland - one of the most beautiful places on Earth (see Fig. 3).
Rice. 3. Iceland
In the eastern and western parts of the ocean there are vast oceanic trenches, and off the western coast there are two small deep-sea trenches - the deepest parts of the ocean (see Fig. 4).
Rice. 4. Relief of the Atlantic Ocean bottom
Atlantic climate
The Atlantic Ocean is located in almost all climatic zones, except one (identify its name on the map). That's right, this is the Arctic climate zone.
The zoning of water masses in the ocean is complicated by the influence of land and sea currents. This is manifested primarily in the temperature distribution of surface waters. In many areas of the ocean, isotherms off the coast deviate sharply from the latitudinal direction.
The northern half of the ocean is warmer than the southern half, the temperature difference reaches 6°C. The average surface water temperature (16.5°C) is slightly lower than in the Pacific Ocean.
The cooling effect is exerted by the waters and ice of the Arctic and Antarctic. The salinity of surface waters in the Atlantic Ocean is high. One of the reasons for increased salinity is that a significant part of the moisture evaporating from the water area does not return to the ocean, but is transferred to neighboring continents (due to the relative narrowness of the ocean).
Many large rivers flow into the Atlantic Ocean and its seas: the Amazon, Congo, Mississippi, Nile, Danube, La Plata, etc. They carry huge masses of fresh water, suspended material and pollutants into the ocean. Ice forms in the desalinated bays and seas of subpolar and temperate latitudes in winter off the western shores of the ocean. Numerous icebergs and floating sea ice are disrupting shipping in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Trade winds blow in subtropical and tropical latitudes, but the Western Transport winds have much greater strength and fury in the Atlantic. They are especially strong in the temperate latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere.
In the western part of the Atlantic, severe storms and hurricanes regularly arise, unleashing their fury on the coast. There are 10-20 of them per season. Weather news reports sometimes resemble military reports.
Atlantic Ocean Currents
Prevailing winds shape the main currents in the oceans. But the Atlantic Ocean is strongly elongated from north to south, and therefore its main currents extend along the ocean - in the meridional direction (see Fig. 5).
In the Atlantic, as in the Pacific, two rings of surface currents form.
Follow the atlas maps and learn to easily find the following Atlantic Ocean currents.
In the northern hemisphere, the Northern Trade Wind Current, Gulf Stream, North Atlantic and Canary Currents form a clockwise movement of water.
In the southern hemisphere, the South Trade Wind, the Brazilian Current, the West Wind Current and the Benguela Current form the movement of water counterclockwise.
Due to the considerable extent of the Atlantic Ocean from north to south, meridional water flows are more developed in it than latitudinal ones.
Rice. 5. Map of Atlantic Ocean currents
Organic World of the Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is poorer in flora and fauna species than the Pacific Ocean. One of the reasons for this is its relative geological youth and noticeable cooling in the Quaternary period during the glaciation of the northern hemisphere.
However, in quantitative terms, the ocean is rich in organisms - it is the most productive per unit area.
This is primarily due to the widespread development of shelves and shallow banks, which are home to many bottom and bottom fish (cod, flounder, perch, etc.).
Development of the Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean has been explored by people since ancient times. And now it plays a huge role in the life of mankind: a dense network of the most important transport routes connecting Europe with America and the countries of the Persian Gulf stretches through it.
Oil is extracted on the shelf of the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and reserves of iron-manganese nodules have been discovered in the southern part of the ocean.
The Atlantic Ocean is home to the world's main fishing grounds and most popular resorts.
The biological resources of the ocean have been intensively used for a long time. However, due to overfishing of a number of valuable commercial fish species, in recent years the Atlantic is inferior to the Pacific Ocean in the production of fish and seafood.
Intensive human economic activity in the Atlantic Ocean and its seas causes a noticeable deterioration of the natural environment - both in the ocean (water and air pollution, reduction in stocks of commercial fish species) and on the coasts.
In order to prevent further and reduce existing pollution of the natural environment of the Atlantic Ocean, scientific recommendations are being developed and international agreements are being concluded on the rational use of ocean resources.
Bibliography
MainI
1. Geography. Land and people. 7th grade: Textbook for general education. uch. / A.P. Kuznetsov, L.E. Savelyeva, V.P. Dronov, series “Spheres”. – M.: Education, 2011.
2. Geography. Land and people. 7th grade: atlas, “Spheres” series.
Additional
1. N.A. Maksimov. Behind the pages of a geography textbook. – M.: Enlightenment.
2. Russian Geographical Society ().
3. Textbook on geography ().
4. Gazetteer ().
The Atlantic Ocean is second in size only to the Pacific Ocean, its area is approximately 91.56 million km². It is distinguished from other oceans by its highly rugged coastline, forming numerous seas and bays, especially in the northern part. In addition, the total area of river basins flowing into this ocean or its marginal seas is significantly larger than that of rivers flowing into any other ocean. Another difference of the Atlantic Ocean is the relatively small number of islands and the complex bottom topography, which, thanks to underwater ridges and rises, forms many separate basins.
North Atlantic Ocean
Borders and coastline. The Atlantic Ocean is divided into northern and southern parts, the border between which is conventionally drawn along the equator. From an oceanographic point of view, however, the southern part of the ocean should include the equatorial countercurrent, located at 5-8° N latitude. The northern border is usually drawn along the Arctic Circle. In some places this boundary is marked by underwater ridges.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the Atlantic Ocean has a highly indented coastline. Its relatively narrow northern part is connected to the Arctic Ocean by three narrow straits. In the northeast, the 360 km wide Davis Strait (at the latitude of the Arctic Circle) connects it with the Baffin Sea, which belongs to the Arctic Ocean. In the central part, between Greenland and Iceland, there is the Denmark Strait, at its narrowest point only 287 km wide. Finally, in the northeast, between Iceland and Norway, there is the Norwegian Sea, approx. 1220 km. In the east, two water areas protruding deeply into the land are separated from the Atlantic Ocean. The more northern of them begins with the North Sea, which to the east passes into the Baltic Sea with the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. To the south there is a system of inland seas - the Mediterranean and the Black - with a total length of approx. 4000 km. In the Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the ocean with the Mediterranean Sea, there are two oppositely directed currents, one below the other. The current moving from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean occupies a lower position, since Mediterranean waters, due to more intense evaporation from the surface, are characterized by greater salinity and, consequently, greater density.
In the tropical zone in the southwest of the North Atlantic are the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, connected to the ocean by the Strait of Florida. The coast of North America is indented by small bays (Pamlico, Barnegat, Chesapeake, Delaware and Long Island Sound); to the northwest are the Bays of Fundy and St. Lawrence, the Strait of Belle Isle, Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay.
The largest islands are concentrated in the northern part of the ocean; these are the British Isles, Iceland, Newfoundland, Cuba, Haiti (Hispaniola) and Puerto Rico. On the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean there are several groups of small islands - the Azores, Canary Islands, and Cape Verde. Similar groups exist in the western part of the ocean. Examples include the Bahamas, Florida Keys and Lesser Antilles. The Greater and Lesser Antilles archipelagos form an island arc surrounding the eastern Caribbean Sea. In the Pacific Ocean, such island arcs are characteristic of areas of crustal deformation. Deep-sea trenches are located along the convex side of the arc.
The Atlantic Ocean basin is bordered by a shelf, the width of which varies. The shelf is cut through by deep gorges - the so-called. underwater canyons. Their origin is still controversial. One theory is that the canyons were cut by rivers when sea levels were lower than they are today. Another theory connects their formation with the activity of turbidity currents. It has been suggested that turbidity currents are the main agent responsible for the deposition of sediment on the ocean floor and that they are the ones that cut submarine canyons.
The bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean has a complex, rugged topography formed by a combination of underwater ridges, hills, basins and gorges. Most of the ocean floor, from depths of about 60 m to several kilometers, is covered with thin, dark blue or bluish-green muddy sediments. A relatively small area is occupied by rocky outcrops and areas of gravel, pebble and sandy deposits, as well as deep-sea red clays.
Telephone and telegraph cables were laid on the shelf in the North Atlantic Ocean to connect North America with Northwestern Europe. Here, the area of the North Atlantic shelf is home to industrial fishing areas that are among the most productive in the world.
In the central part of the Atlantic Ocean, almost repeating the contours of the coastlines, there is a huge underwater mountain range approx. 16 thousand km, known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This ridge divides the ocean into two approximately equal parts. Most of the peaks of this underwater ridge do not reach the ocean surface and are located at a depth of at least 1.5 km. Some of the highest peaks rise above ocean level and form the islands - the Azores in the North Atlantic and Tristan da Cunha - in the South. In the south, the ridge skirts the coast of Africa and continues further north into the Indian Ocean. A rift zone stretches along the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Surface currents in the North Atlantic Ocean move clockwise. The main elements of this large system are the northward warm Gulf Stream, as well as the North Atlantic, Canary and North Trade Wind (Equatorial) Currents. The Gulf Stream follows from the Strait of Florida and Cuba in a northerly direction along the coast of the United States and approximately 40° N. w. deviates to the northeast, changing its name to the North Atlantic Current. This current is divided into two branches, one of which follows northeast along the coast of Norway and further into the Arctic Ocean. It is thanks to it that the climate of Norway and all of northwestern Europe is much warmer than would be expected at latitudes corresponding to the area extending from Nova Scotia to southern Greenland. The second branch turns south and further southwest along the coast of Africa, forming the cold Canary Current. This current moves southwest and joins the North Trade Wind Current, which heads west towards the West Indies, where it merges with the Gulf Stream. To the north of the North Trade Wind Current there is an area of stagnant waters, teeming with algae, known as the Sargasso Sea. The cold Labrador Current runs along the North Atlantic coast of North America from north to south, coming from Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea and cooling the shores of New England.
South Atlantic Ocean
Some experts refer to the Atlantic Ocean in the south all the water space up to the Antarctic ice sheet; others take the southern limit of the Atlantic to be an imaginary line connecting Cape Horn in South America with the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. The coastline in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean is much less indented than in the northern part; there are also no inland seas through which the influence of the ocean could penetrate deep into the continents of Africa and South America. The only large bay on the African coast is the Gulf of Guinea. On the coast of South America, large bays are also few in number. The southernmost tip of this continent - Tierra del Fuego - has an indented coastline bordered by numerous small islands.
There are no large islands in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean, but there are isolated isolated islands, such as Fernando de Noronha, Ascension, Sao Paulo, St. Helena, the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, and in the extreme south - Bouvet, South Georgia , South Sandwich, South Orkney, Falkland Islands.
In addition to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, there are two main submarine mountain ranges in the South Atlantic. The whale ridge extends from the southwestern tip of Angola to the island. Tristan da Cunha, where it joins the Mid-Atlantic. The Rio de Janeiro Ridge stretches from the Tristan da Cunha Islands to the city of Rio de Janeiro and consists of groups of individual underwater hills.
The major current systems in the South Atlantic Ocean move counterclockwise. The South Trade Wind Current is directed to the west. At the protrusion of the eastern coast of Brazil, it splits into two branches: the northern one carries water along the northern coast of South America to the Caribbean, and the southern one, the warm Brazil Current, moves south along the coast of Brazil and joins the Western Winds Current, or Antarctic Current, which heads east , and then to the northeast. Part of this cold current separates and carries its waters north along the African coast, forming the cold Benguela Current; the latter eventually joins the South Trade Wind Current. The warm Guinea Current moves south along the coast of Northwest Africa into the Gulf of Guinea.
Atlantic Ocean- this is a “plot” of the water area of the World Ocean, which is limited on the southern side by Europe and Africa, on the western side by South and North America. A huge mass of salt water, beautiful views, rich flora and fauna, hundreds of beautiful islands - this is all called the Atlantic Ocean.
Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean is considered the second largest component of our planet (in first place is ). The coastline is clearly divided into water areas: seas and bays. Total area of the Atlantic Ocean, the river basins that flow into it are about 329.7 million km³ (this is 25% of the waters of the World Ocean).
The name of the ocean - Atlantis - was first found in the works of Herodotus (5th century BC). Then the prototype of the modern name was recorded in the works of Pliny the Elder (1st century AD). It sounds like Oceanus Atlanticus, translated from ancient Greek as the Atlantic Ocean.
There are several versions of the etymology of the name of the ocean:
- in honor of the mythological titan Atlas (Atlas, which holds the entire vault of heaven);
- from the name of the Atlas Mountains (they are located in northern Africa);
- in honor of the mysterious and legendary continent of Atlantis. I immediately offer you the most interesting video - the film “Battle of Civilizations - Find Atlantis”
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These are the versions and assumptions put forward about Atlantis and the mysterious Atlantean race.
As for the history of the formation of the ocean, scientists are sure that it arose due to the breakup of the missing supercontinent Pangea. It included 90% of the continental crust of our planet.
Atlantic Ocean on the world map
Every 600 million years, continental blocks unite, only to split apart again over time. It was as a result of this process that 160 thousand years ago arose Atlantic Ocean. Map currents shows that ocean waters move under the influence of cold and warm currents. 
These are all the main currents of the Atlantic Ocean.
Atlantic Ocean Islands
The largest islands in the Atlantic Ocean are Ireland, Great Britain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and Newfoundland. They are located in the northern sector of the ocean. Their total area is 700 t. km 2. Several groups of smaller islands are located in the eastern part of the ocean: the Canary Islands, . On the western side are the groups of the Lesser Antilles. Their archipelago creates a unique arc of land that surrounds the eastern sector of the waters.
One cannot fail to mention one of the most beautiful islands of the Atlantic -.
Atlantic Ocean water temperature
The waters of the Atlantic Ocean are colder than the Pacific Ocean (due to the large extent of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge). The average surface water temperature is +16.9, but it varies depending on the season. In February, in the northern part of the water area and in August in the southern part, the lowest temperature is recorded, and the highest is observed in other months.
Atlantic ocean depth
What is the depth of the Atlantic Ocean? The maximum depth of the Atlantic Ocean reaches 8742 m (recorded in the Puerto Rico Trench at 8742 m), and the average depth is 3736 m. The Puerto Rico Trench is located on the border of the ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Its length along the slopes of the Antilles range is 1200 km.
The area of the Atlantic Ocean is 91.66 million km². And a quarter of this territory falls on its seas. Here .
Atlantic Ocean: sharks and more
The underwater world of the Atlantic Ocean will amaze the imagination of any person with its richness and diversity. It is a unique ecosystem that unites many species of plants and animals.
The flora of the Atlantic Ocean is represented mainly by bottom vegetation (phytobenthos): green, red, brown algae, kelp, flowering plants such as poseidonia, philospadix.
Without exaggeration, the Sargasso Sea, located in the Atlantic Ocean between 20° and 40° north latitude and 60° west longitude, can be called a unique natural miracle. On the surface of 70% of its water surface there are always brown algae - sargassum.
But most of the surface of the Atlantic Ocean is covered with phytoplankton (these are single-celled algae). Its mass, depending on the area, varies from 1 to 100 mg/m3.
Inhabitants of the Atlantic Ocean beautiful and mysterious, because many of their species have not been fully studied. Cold and temperate waters are home to a large number of different representatives of underwater fauna. For example, pinnipeds, whales, perch, flounder, cod, herring, shrimp, crustaceans, mollusks. Many animals are bipolar, that is, they have adapted to a comfortable existence in both cold and temperate zones (turtles, crabs, jellyfish, fur seals, whales, seals, mussels).
A special class consists of the inhabitants of the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Corals, sponges, and echinoderm fish species amaze and impress the human eye.
What sharks are in the Atlantic Ocean Can they pay a visit to an unwary tourist? The number of species that live in the Atlantic exceeds a dozen. The most common are white, soup, blue, reef, basking, and sand sharks. But cases of attacks on people do not happen very often, and if they do happen, it is more often due to the provocations of the people themselves.
The first officially recorded shark attack on a human occurred on July 1, 1916, to Charles Van Sant on a New Jersey beach. But even then, residents of the resort town perceived this incident as an accident. Such tragedies began to be registered only in 1935. But shark scientists Nichols, Murphy and Lucas did not take the attacks lightly and began to intensively search for their specific causes. As a result, they created their “Year of the Shark” theory. She claimed that the attacks were motivated by a large migration of sharks. Since the beginning of 2013, according to the International Register of Shark Attacks, 55 cases of predator attacks on humans have been recorded in the world, 10 of which were fatal.
Bermuda Triangle
Atlantic ocean map
Ocean area – 91.6 million sq. km;
Maximum depth – Puerto Rico Trench, 8742 m;
Number of seas – 16;
The largest seas are the Sargasso Sea, the Caribbean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea;
The largest gulf is the Gulf of Mexico;
The largest islands are Great Britain, Iceland, Ireland;
The strongest currents:
- warm - Gulf Stream, Brazilian, North Passat, South Passat;
- cold - Bengal, Labrador, Canary, Western Winds.
The Atlantic Ocean occupies the entire space from subarctic latitudes to Antarctica. In the southwest it borders on the Pacific Ocean, in the southeast on the Indian Ocean and in the north on the Arctic Ocean. In the northern hemisphere, the coastline of the continents that are washed by the waters of the Arctic Ocean is greatly indented. There are many inland seas, especially in the east.
The Atlantic Ocean is considered a relatively young ocean. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which stretches almost strictly along the meridian, divides the ocean floor into two approximately equal parts. In the north, individual peaks of the ridge rise above the water in the form of volcanic islands, the largest of which is Iceland.
The shelf part of the Atlantic Ocean is not large - 7%. The greatest width of the shelf, 200 – 400 km, is in the area of the North and Baltic seas.
The Atlantic Ocean is found in all climate zones, but most of it is in tropical and temperate latitudes. The climatic conditions here are determined by trade winds and westerly winds. The winds reach their greatest strength in the temperate latitudes of the southern Atlantic Ocean. In the region of the island of Iceland there is a center for the generation of cyclones, which significantly affect the nature of the entire Northern Hemisphere.
Average surface water temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean are significantly lower than in the Pacific. This is due to the influence of cold waters and ice that come from the Arctic Ocean and Antarctica. In high latitudes there are many icebergs and drifting ice floes. In the north, icebergs slide from Greenland, and in the south from Antarctica. Nowadays, the movement of icebergs is monitored from space by artificial satellites of the earth.
Currents in the Atlantic Ocean have a meridional direction and are characterized by strong activity in the movement of water masses from one latitude to another.
The organic world of the Atlantic Ocean is poorer in species composition than that of the Pacific. This is explained by geological youth and cooler climatic conditions. But despite this, the reserves of fish and other marine animals and plants in the ocean are quite significant. The organic world is richer in temperate latitudes. More favorable conditions for many species of fish have developed in the northern and northwestern parts of the ocean, where there are fewer flows of warm and cold currents. Here the following products are of industrial importance: cod, herring, sea bass, mackerel, capelin.
The natural complexes of individual seas and the inflow of the Atlantic Ocean stand out as unique. This is especially true for inland seas: the Mediterranean, Black, Northern and Baltic. The Sargasso Sea, unique in its nature, is located in the northern subtropical zone. The giant sargassum algae that the sea is rich in made it famous.
Important sea routes lie across the Atlantic Ocean, connecting the New World with the countries of Europe and Africa. The Atlantic coast and islands are home to world-famous recreation and tourism areas.
The Atlantic Ocean has been explored since ancient times. Since the 15th century, the Atlantic Ocean has become the main waterway of mankind and does not lose its importance today. The first period of ocean exploration lasted until the middle of the 18th century. It was characterized by the study of the distribution of ocean waters and the establishment of ocean boundaries. A comprehensive study of the nature of the Atlantic began at the end of the 19th century.
The nature of the ocean is now being studied by more than 40 scientific ships from around the world. Oceanologists carefully study the interaction of the ocean and the atmosphere, observe the Gulf Stream and other currents, and the movement of icebergs. The Atlantic Ocean is no longer able to independently restore its biological resources. Preserving its nature today is an international matter.
Choose one of the unique places of the Atlantic Ocean and take an exciting journey together with Google maps.
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Many seas wash the shores of one or more countries. Some of these seas are huge, while others are very small... Only inland seas are not part of the ocean.
After the Earth formed from a clump of gas and dust 4.5 billion years ago, the temperature on the planet dropped and the vapor contained in the atmosphere condensed (turned into liquid when cooled), settling on the surface in the form of rain. From this water the world ocean was formed, which was subsequently divided by continents into four oceans. These oceans include numerous coastal seas, often connected to each other.
Largest seas of the Pacific Ocean
Philippine Sea
Area: 5.7 million km2, located between Taiwan in the north, the Mariana Islands in the east, the Caroline Islands in the southeast and the Philippines in the west.
coral sea
Area: 4 million km2, limited to the west by Australia, Papua New Guinea to the north, Vanuatu to the east and New Caledonia
South China Sea
Area: 3.5 million km2, located between the Philippines in the east, Malaysia in the south, Vietnam in the west and China in the north
Tasman Sea
Area: 3.3 million km 2, washes Australia in the west and New Zealand in the east and separates the Pacific and Indian oceans.
Bering Sea
Area: 2.3 million km 2, located between Chukotka (Russia) in the west and Alaska (USA) in the east.
Japanese Sea
Area: 970,000 km2, located between the Russian Far East in the northwest, Korea in the west and Japan in the east.
Largest seas of the Atlantic Ocean
Sargasso Sea
Area: 4 million km 2, located between Florida (USA) in the west and the Northern Antilles in the south.
Composition of sea water
Sea water consists of approximately 96% water and 4% salt. Apart from the Dead Sea, the saltiest sea in the world is the Red Sea: it contains 44 grams of salt per liter of water (versus 35 grams on average for most seas). This high salt content is explained by the fact that water evaporates faster in this hot region.
Gulf of Guinea
Area: 1.5 million km 2, located at the latitude of the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
Mediterranean Sea
Area: 2.5 million km 2, surrounded by Europe in the north, Western Asia in the east and North Africa in the south.
Antilles Sea
Area: 2.5 million km 2, located between the Antilles in the east, the coast of South America in the South and Central America in the West.
Gulf of Mexico
Area: 1.5 million km 2, it is adjacent to the southern coast of the United States from the north and Mexico from the west.
Baltic Sea
Area: 372,730 km 2, borders Russia and Finland in the north, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the east, Poland and Germany in the south and Denmark and Sweden in the west.
North Sea
Area: 570,000 km 2, it is adjacent to Scandinavia in the east, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France in the south and Great Britain in the west.
Largest seas of the Indian Ocean
Arabian Sea
Area: 3.5 million km 2, washes the Arabian Peninsula in the west, Pakistan in the north and India in the east.
Bay of Bengal
Area: 2.1 million km 2, located between the coasts of India in the west, Bangladesh in the north, Myanmar (Burma) in the northeast, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the southeast and Sri Lanka in the southwest.
Great Australian Bight (Australian Bight)
Area: 1.3 million km 2, stretches along the southern coast of Australia.
Arafura Sea
Area: 1 million km 2, located between Papua New Guinea in the northwest, Indonesia in the west and Australia in the south.
Mozambique Channel
Area: 1.4 million km 2, located near Africa, between the coasts of Mozambique in the west and Madagascar in the east.
The largest seas of the Arctic Ocean
Barencevo sea
Area: 1.4 million km 2, washes the shores of Norway in the west and Russia in the east.
Greenland Sea
Area: 1.2 million km 2, limited by Greenland in the west and the island of Spitsbergen (Norway) in the east.
East-Siberian Sea
Area: 900,000 km 2, washes the shores of Siberia.
The largest seas of Antarctica
Inland seas
Inland, or closed, seas are completely surrounded by land. The Black and Caspian seas are the largest of them.
Black Sea
Area: 461,000 km2. It is surrounded by Romania and Bulgaria in the west, Russia and Ukraine in the north, Georgia in the east and Turkey in the south. It communicates with the Mediterranean Sea through Marmara.
Bellingshausen Sea
Area: 1.2 million km 2, located near Antarctica.
Caspian Sea
Area: 376,000 km2, located between Azerbaijan in the west, Russia in the northwest, Kazakhstan in the north and east, Turkmenistan in the southeast and Iran in the south.
Ross Sea
Area: 960,000 km 2, located north of Antarctica.
Weddell Sea
Area: 1.9 million km 2, located between the South Orkney Islands (UK) and the South Shetland Islands (UK) in the north and Antarctica in the south.
The Dead Sea is so salty that there are no living organisms in it
