Dictionary:
o·cean (ō'shən) 
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[Middle English occean, from Old French, from Latin ōceanus, from Greek Ōkeanos, the god Oceanus, a great river encircling the earth.]
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| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: ocean |
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| Sci-Tech Encyclopedia: Ocean |
One of the major subdivisions of the interconnected body of salt water that occupies almost three-quarters of the Earth's surface. Earth is the only planet in the solar system whose surface is covered with significant quantities of water. Of the nearly 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water found either on the surface or in relatively accessible underground supplies, more than 97% is in the oceans. See also Oceanography.
Oceans and the seas that connect them cover some 73% of the surface of the Earth, with a mean depth of 3729 m (12,234 ft) (table). More than 70% of the oceans have a depth between 3000 and 6000 m (10,000 and 20,000 ft). Less than 0.2% of the oceans have depths as great as 7000 m (23,000 ft).
Area, km2 | Volume, km3 | Mean depth, m | |
|---|---|---|---|
Pacific | 181,344,000 | 714,410,000 | 3940 |
Atlantic | 94,314,000 | 337,210,000 | 3575 |
Indian | 74,118,000 | 284,608,000 | 3840 |
Arctic | 12,257,000 | 13,702,000 | 1117 |
Total | 362,033,000 | 1,349,929,000 | 3729 |
The oceans are cold and salty. Some 50% have a temperature between 0 and 2°C (32 and 36°F) and a salinity between 34.0 and 35.0. To a high degree of approximation, a salinity of 34 is the equivalent of 34 grams of salt in a kilogram of seawater. Water with a temperature above a few degrees Celsius is confined to a relatively thin surface layer of the ocean. See also Seawater.
Ocean salinity is primarily controlled by the balance of precipitation, river runoff, and evaporation of water at the sea surface. The highest salinities are found in major evaporation basins with little rainfall or river runoff, such as the Red Sea. The lowest salinities are found near the mouths of major rivers such as the Amazon. See also Red Sea.
Nearly all elements known to humankind have been found dissolved in seawater, and those that have not are assumed to be present. However, all but a few are found in very small amounts. Sodium chloride accounts for some 85% of the dissolved salts, and an additional four ions (sulfate, magnesium, calcium, and potassium) bring the total to more than 99.3%. The ratio of ions is remarkably constant from one ocean to another and from top to bottom of each.
The oceans are continually transporting excess heat (warm water) from the tropics toward the Poles and returning colder water toward the tropics. This process of moving excess heat from lower (south of 40°) to higher (north of 40°) latitudes is shared approximately equally by the oceans and the atmosphere. A significant part of the ocean heat exchange process is carried out by the major ocean currents, the “named” currents such as the Gulf Stream, Brazil Current, California Current, and Kuroshio. These currents are primarily driven by the winds, and there is considerable similarity in their pattern from one ocean basin to another. See also Gulf Stream; Kuroshio.
The average winds over the North and South Atlantic as well as the North and South Pacific oceans come out of the west (westerlies) at the middle latitudes and from the east at the lower latitudes (trade winds). The frictional drag of these winds on the surface of the water imparts a spin or torque to the surface of the ocean, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. The major exception is the Indian Ocean north of the Equator, where the circulation is strongly influenced by the winds of the seasonal monsoon. See also Atlantic Ocean; Coriolis acceleration; Equatorial currents; Indian Ocean; Ocean circulation; Pacific Ocean.
| Dictionary of Dance: Ocean |
Modern dance with choreography by Cunningham, music by David Tudor and Andrew Culver, costumes and lighting by Marsha Skinner. Premiered 18 May 1994 by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company at the Cirque Royal in Brussels. It runs 90 minutes, uses 112 musicians who sit in a circle around the audience, and is performed on a round stage with the audience seated on all sides; the choreography is designed to have no front, back, or side perspective. The piece, conceived by Cunningham and John Cage before the latter's death, is considered to be Cunningham's grandest creation.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: ocean |
The World Ocean
Of the major units that comprise the world ocean, three-the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans-extend northward from Antarctica as huge "gulfs" separating the continents. The fourth, the Arctic Ocean, nearly landlocked by Eurasia and North America and nearly circular in outline, caps the north polar region. The Southern Ocean (also called the Antarctic Ocean) is now often considered a fifth, separate ocean, extending from the shores of Antarctica northward to about 60°S. The major oceans are further subdivided into smaller regions loosely called seas, gulfs, or bays. Some of these seas, such as the Sargasso Sea of the North Atlantic Ocean, are only vaguely defined, while others, such as the Mediterranean Sea or the Black Sea, are almost totally surrounded by land areas. Large and totally landlocked saltwater bodies such as the Caspian Sea are actually salt lakes.
The boundaries between oceans are usually designated by the continental land masses bordering them or by ridges in the ocean floor, which also serve as geographic boundaries. Where these features are absent (such as the ill-defined northern boundary of the Antarctic Ocean), the boundary is somewhat arbitrarily fixed by fluctuating zones of opposing currents that act as partial barriers to the mixing of waters between the two adjacent oceans.
The oceans are not uniformly distributed on the face of the earth. Continents and ocean basins tend to be antipodal, or diametrically opposed to one another, i.e., continents are found on the opposite side of the earth from ocean basins. For example, Antarctica is antipodal to the Arctic Ocean; Europe is opposed by the South Pacific Ocean. Furthermore, over two thirds of the earth's land area is found in the Northern Hemisphere, while the oceans comprise over 80% of the Southern Hemisphere.
The world ocean has an area of about 361 million sq km (139,400,000 sq mi), an average depth of about 3,730 m (12,230 ft), and a total volume of about 1,347,000,000 cu km (322,280,000 cu mi). Each cubic mile of seawater weighs approximately 4.7 billion tons and holds 166 million tons of dissolved solids. One of the most unique and intriguing aspects of ocean water is its salinity, or dissolved salt content. The measurement of salinity is essentially the determination of the amount of dissolved salts in 1 kg of ocean water and is expressed in parts per thousand (‰). Ocean salinities commonly range between 33 ‰ to 38 ‰, with an average of about 35 ‰. Thirty-five parts per thousand salinity is equivalent to 3.5% by weight. Six elements (chlorine, sodium, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, and potassium) constitute over 90% of the total salts dissolved in the oceans. Pressure in the ocean waters increases with increasing depth due to the weight of the overlying water. The pressure increases at the rate of 1 atmosphere for every 10 m (33 ft) of depth (1 atm=15 lb per sq in. or 1,016 dynes per sq cm). The average temperature of the oceans is 3.9°C (39°F).
It now appears that the waters making up the present oceans (and the gases that make up the present atmosphere) were not of cosmic origin, i.e., were not present in the primordial atmosphere. Instead, they were derived from the interior of the earth sometime in the first one or two billion years after the earth's formation. It is now also generally accepted that a new ocean crust has been forming more or less continuously for at least the past 200 million years through a process of volcanic activity along the midocean ridge system (see seafloor spreading), which consists of a series of underwater mountains. On the basis of present knowledge it seems highly probable that all ocean waters and atmospheric gases were gradually released by the separation of these volatile components from the silicate rocks of the crust and upper mantle through volcanic activity. (Molten lava is known to contain appreciable amounts of water and other volatiles that are released upon solidification.) With the passage of time, water released by volcanic activity gradually filled oceanic depressions.
Continental Shelves, Slopes, and Rises
Virtually all continents are surrounded by a gently sloping submerged plain called the continental shelf, which is an underwater extension of the coastal plain. The continental shelves are the regions of the oceans best known and the most exploited commercially. It is this region where virtually all of the petroleum, commercial sand and gravel deposits, and fishery resources are found. It is also the locus of waste dumping. Changes in sea level have alternatingly exposed and inundated portions of the continental shelf. Continental shelves vary in width from almost zero up to the 1,500-km-wide (930-mi) Siberian shelf in the Arctic Ocean. They average 78 km (48 mi) in width. The edge of the shelf occurs at a depth that ranges from 20 to 550 m (66 to 1,800 ft), averaging 130 m (430 ft). The shelves consist of vast deposits of sands, muds, and gravels, overlying crystalline rocks or vast thicknesses of consolidated sedimentary rocks. Although there is a great variation in shelf features, nonglaciated shelves are usually exceptionally flat, with seaward slopes averaging on the order of 205 m per km (10 ft per mi), or less than 1° of slope. The edge of the shelf, called the shelf break, is marked by an abrupt increase in slope to an average of about 4°.
The continental slopes begin at the shelf break and plunge downward to the great depths of the ocean basin proper. Deep submarine canyons, some comparable in size to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, are sometimes found cutting across the shelf and slope, often extending from the mouths of terrestrial rivers. The Congo, Amazon, Ganges, and Hudson rivers all have submarine canyon extensions. It is assumed that submarine canyons on the continental shelf were initially carved during periods of lower sea level in the course of the ice ages. Their continental slope extensions were carved and more recently modified by turbidity currents-subsea "landslides" of a dense slurry of water and sediment.
Many continental slopes end in gently sloping, smooth-surfaced features called continental rises. The continental rises usually have an inclination of less than 1/2°. They have been found to consist of thick deposits of sediment, presumably deposited as a result of slumping and turbidity currents carrying sediment off the shelf and slope. The continental shelf, slope, and rise together are called the continental margin.
Trenches, Plains, and Ridges
One of the most surprising findings of the early oceanographers was that the deepest parts of the oceans were not in the centers, as they had expected, but were in fact quite close to the margins of continents, particularly in the Pacific Ocean. Further exploration showed that these deeps were located in long V-shaped trenches bordering the seaward edge of volcanic island arcs. These trenches are one of the most striking features of the Pacific floor. Trenches virtually encircle the rim of the Pacific basin. The trenches have lengths of thousands of kilometers, are generally hundreds of kilometers wide, and extend 3 to 4 km (1.9-2.5 mi) deeper than the surrounding ocean floor. The greatest ocean depth has been sounded in the Challenger Deep of the Marianas Trench, a distance of 10,911 m (35,798 ft) below sea level.
The deep ocean floor begins at the seaward edge of the continental rise or marginal trench, if one is present, and extends seaward to the base of the underwater midocean mountains. Many relief features of great importance are present in this region. Vast abyssal plains cover significant portions of the deep ocean basin. Such plains are occasionally broken by low, oval-shaped abyssal hills. The abyssal plains cover about 30% of the Atlantic and nearly 75% of the Pacific ocean floors. They are among the flattest portions of the earth's crust and appear to be formed by the deposition of fine sediment carried by turbidity currents that have covered and smoothed out irregularities in the ocean floor.
One of the most significant features of the ocean basins is the midocean ridge. First discovered in the Atlantic Ocean on the Challenger expedition, its relief features were further investigated during the German Meteor expedition of 1925-26. By the early 1960s it had been confirmed that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge was only part of a continuous feature that extended 55,000 km (34,000 mi) through the Atlantic, Indian, South Pacific, and Arctic oceans. The ridge is a broad bulge in the ocean floor that rises 1 to 3 km (0.6-2 mi) above the adjacent abyssal plains. It has a variable width averaging more than 1,500 km (c.900 mi). It is crossed by a number of fracture zones (transform faults) and displays a deep rift 37 to 48 km (23-30 mi) wide and about 1.6 km (1 mi) deep at its very crest.
Relationship of the Ocean and the Atmosphere
The atmosphere affects the oceans and is in turn influenced by them. The action of winds blowing over the ocean surface creates waves and the great current systems of the oceans. When winds are strong enough to produce spray and whitecaps, tiny droplets of ocean water are thrown up into the atmosphere where some evaporate, leaving microscopic grains of salt buoyed by the turbulence of the air. These tiny particles may become nuclei for the condensation of water vapor to form fogs and clouds.
In turn, the oceans act upon the atmosphere-in ways not clearly understood-to influence and modify the world's climate and weather systems. When water evaporates, heat is removed from the oceans and stored in the atmosphere by the molecules of water vapor. When condensation occurs, this stored heat is released to the atmosphere to develop the mechanical energy of its motion. The atmosphere obtains nearly half of its energy for circulation from the condensation of evaporated ocean water.
Because the oceans have an extremely high thermal capacity when compared to the atmosphere, the ocean temperatures fluctuate seasonally much less than the atmospheric temperature. For the same reason, when air blows over the water, its temperature tends to come to the temperature of the water rather than vice versa. Thus maritime climates are generally less variable than regions in the interiors of the continents.
The relationships are not simple. The pattern of atmospheric circulation largely determines the pattern of oceanic surface circulation, which in turn determines the location and amount of heat that is released to the atmosphere. Also, the pattern of atmospheric circulation determines in part the location of clouds, which influences the locations of heating of the ocean surface.
Currents and Ocean Circulation
Surface Circulation
The surface circulation of the oceans is intimately tied to the prevailing wind circulation of the atmosphere (see wind). As the planetary winds flow across the water, frictional stresses are set up which push huge rivers of water in their path. The general pattern of these surface currents is a nearly closed system of currents, called gyres, which are approximately centered on the horse latitudes (about 30° latitude in both hemispheres). Major circulation of water in these gyres is clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. In the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans, smaller counterclockwise gyres are developed partly due to the presence of the continents. These are centered on about 50°N lat. The most dominant current in the Southern Ocean is the West Wind Drift, which circles Antarctica in an easterly direction. The northern and southern hemispheric gyres are divided by an eastward flowing equatorial countercurrent, which essentially follows the belt of the doldrums. This countercurrent is caused by the return flow of water piled up along the eastward portion of the equatorial seas, and its return flow is uninhibited by the weak and erratic winds of the doldrums. Analysis of current records shows that a number of major currents, such as the Gulf Stream, have strong fast-moving currents beneath them trending in the opposite direction to the surface current. Such undercurrents, or countercurrents, appear to be as important and pervasive as the surface currents. In 1952 the Cromwell current was found flowing eastward beneath the south equatorial current of the Pacific. In 1961 a similar current was discovered in the Atlantic. See also tide.
Thermohaline Circulation
Thermohaline circulation refers to the deepwater circulation of the oceans and is primarily caused by differences in density between the waters of different regions. It is mainly a convection process where cold, dense water formed in the polar regions sinks and flows slowly toward the equator. Most of the deep water acquires its characteristics in the Antarctic region and in the Norwegian Sea. Antarctic bottom water is the densest and coldest water in the ocean depths. It forms and sinks just off the continental slope of Antarctica and drifts slowly along the bottom as far as the middle North Atlantic Ocean, where it merges with other water. The circulation of ocean waters is vitally important in dispersing heat energy around the globe. In general, heat flows toward the poles in the surface currents, while the displaced cold water flows toward the equator in deeper ocean layers.
The Ocean as a Biological Environment
The oceans hold the answers to many important questions about the development of the earth and the history of life on earth. For instance, within the rocks and sediment of the ocean floors the geological history of the earth is recorded. Fossils in this sediment record a portion of the biological history of the earth at least back to the Jurassic period, which ended about 140,000,000 years ago. The first appearance of life on the earth is thought to have occurred in the oceans 2 or 3 billion years ago. The modern marine environment is divided into two major realms, the benthic and the pelagic, based upon the ecological characteristics and marine life associated with them. See also marine biology.
The Benthic Realm
The benthic realm refers to the floor of the oceans, extending from the high tide line to the greatest ocean depths. The organisms that live in or on the bottom are called benthos. The benthic realm is subdivided on the basis of depth into the littoral zone, which extends from high tide to a depth of about 200 m (660 ft), and the deep-sea realm. The benthic life forms are both sessile (attached) and motile (mobile). They are distributed from near-shore littoral regions to the ocean depths and play an important role in the food chain. Some benthonic life forms live by predation, others sift organic matter from the water, and others scavenge the bottom for organic debris that has settled there. Benthonic plants can live only in the euphotic zone, the uppermost 100-200 m (330-660 ft) of the ocean, where sunlight penetrates. Benthonic animals that live below the euphotic zone often must depend on the rain of organic debris from above to supply their food needs, and thus the deep regions of the benthic realm are not highly populated except in the areas around hydrothermal vents where chemosynthesis provides an alternative food source.
The Pelagic Realm
The pelagic realm consists of all of the ocean water covering the benthic realm. It is divided horizontally into the neritic, or fertile near-shore, province and the oceanic province. Vertically it is divided into the euphotic, or photic, zone and the aphotic (without sunlight) zone. Drifting, free-floating organisms, called plankton, and organisms with poor mobile ability populate the euphotic zone. Most plankton are microscopic or near-microscopic in size. Phytoplankton are photosynthetic bacteria (cyanbacteria) and floating algae, such as diatoms, dinoflagellates, and coccolithopores. Heterotrophic plankton (zooplankton) are floating animals and protozoans of the sea and rely on the phytoplankton as food sources. Foraminifera and radiolaria are the dominant protozoan zooplankton that secrete tests (shells), which become incorporated into the sediment of the ocean floor. Many juvenile forms of swimmers (such as shrimp) or bottom dwellers (such as barnacles) pass through a planktonic phase. Marine organisms capable of self-locomotion are called nektonic life forms. Fish, squid, and whales are examples of marine nekton.
Importance of the Ocean
Throughout history humans have been directly or indirectly influenced by the oceans. Ocean waters serve as a source of food and valuable minerals, as a vast highway for commerce, and provide a place for both recreation and waste disposal. Increasingly, people are turning to the oceans for their food supply either by direct consumption or indirectly by harvesting fish that is then processed for livestock feed. It has been estimated that as much as 10% of human protein intake comes from the oceans. Nevertheless, the food-producing potential of the oceans is only partly realized. Other biological products of the oceans are also commercially used. For example, pearls taken from oysters are used in jewelry, and shells and coral have been widely used as a source of building material.
Ocean water is processed to extract commercially valuable minerals such as salt, bromine, and magnesium. Although nearly 60 valuable chemical elements have been found dissolved in ocean water, most are in such dilute concentrations that commercial extraction is not profitable. In a few arid regions of the world, such as Ascension Island, Kuwait, and Israel, ocean water is desalinated to produce freshwater.
The shallow continental shelves have been exploited as a source of sands and gravels. In addition, extensive deposits of petroleum-bearing sands have been exploited in offshore areas, particularly along the Gulf and California coasts of the United States and in the Persian Gulf. On the deep ocean floor manganese nodules, formed by the precipitation of manganese oxides and other metallic salts around a nucleus of rock or shell, represent a potentially rich and extensive resource. Research is currently being conducted to explore nodule mining and metallic extraction techniques. Ocean water itself could prove to be a limitless source of energy in the event that nuclear fusion reactors are developed, since the oceans contain great quantities of deuterium.
The oceans also have become more important for recreational use, as each year more people are attracted to the sports of swimming, fishing, scuba diving, boating, and waterskiing. Ocean pollution, meantime, has escalated dramatically as those who use the oceans for recreational and commercial purposes, as well as those who live nearby, have disposed of more and more wastes there (see water pollution).
Bibliography
See also R. Carson, The Sea Around Us (1961); J. Bardach, Harvest of the Sea (1968); J. R. Moore, ed., Oceanography (1971); R. Perry, The Unknown Ocean (1972).
| Devil's Dictionary: ocean |
n.
A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man -- who has no gills.
| Word Tutor: ocean |
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.
— Gandhi (1869-1948), Indian spiritual and political leader, called Mahatma "great soul" .
| Quotes About: Oceans |
Quotes:
"The ocean moans over dead men's bones."
- Thomas B. Aldrich
"A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man, who has no gills."
- Ambrose Bierce
"Roll on, deep and dark blue ocean, roll. Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain. Man marks the earth with ruin, but his control stops with the shore."
- Lord Byron
"Praise the sea; on shore remain."
- John Florio
"He that will learn to pray, let him go to sea."
- George Herbert
"I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky; and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by."
- John Masefield
See more famous quotes about Oceans
| Dream Symbol: Ocean |
The meaning of a dream about the sea can vary, depending on whether the ocean is a vast, imposing body of water, or a peaceful sea beside a resort. The sea can have waves as high as a thirty-story building, or be as calm and clear as a piece of glass. Sailing the high seas may give a sense of elation, or lead to a feeling of helplessness, especially if the dreamer is lost at sea. Unless tied to specific experiences near the water, the sea often represents the state of our emotions and/or the unconscious mind.
| Wikipedia: Ocean |
| Earth's oceans (World Ocean) |
|---|
An ocean (from Greek Ωκεανός, Okeanos (Oceanus)) is a large body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface (~3.61 X 1014 m2) is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.
More than half of this area is over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) deep. Average oceanic salinity is around 35 parts per thousand (ppt) (3.5%), and nearly all seawater has a salinity in the range of 30 to 38 ppt. Scientists estimate that 230,000 marine life forms of all types are currently known, but the total could be up to 10 times that number.[1]
Contents |
Though generally described as several 'separate' oceans, these waters comprise one global, interconnected body of salt water often referred to as the World Ocean or global ocean.[2][3] This concept of a continuous body of water with relatively free interchange among its parts is of fundamental importance to oceanography.[4]
The major oceanic divisions are defined in part by the continents, various archipelagos, and other criteria. These divisions are (in descending order of size):
The Pacific and Atlantic may be further subdivided by the equator into northern and southern portions. Smaller regions of the oceans are called seas, gulfs, bays, straits and other names.
Geologically, an ocean is an area of oceanic crust covered by water. Oceanic crust is the thin layer of solidified volcanic basalt that covers the Earth's mantle. Continental crust is thicker but less dense. From this perspective, the earth has three oceans: the World Ocean, the Caspian Sea, and Black Sea. The latter two were formed by the collision of Cimmeria with Laurasia. The Mediterranean Sea is at times a discrete ocean, because tectonic plate movement has repeatedly broken its connection to the World Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar. The Black Sea is connected to the Mediterranean through the Bosporus, but the Bosporous is a natural canal cut through continental rock some 7,000 years ago, rather than a piece of oceanic sea floor like the Strait of Gibraltar.
Despite their names, smaller landlocked bodies of saltwater that are not connected with the World Ocean, such as the Aral Sea, are actually salt lakes. The Pacific Ocean is bigger than North and South America put together.
The ocean has a significant effect on the biosphere. Oceanic evaporation, as a phase of the water cycle, is the source of most rainfall, and ocean temperatures determine climate and wind patterns that affect life on land. Life within the ocean evolved 3 billion years prior to life on land. Both the depth and distance from shore strongly influence the amount and kinds of plants and animals that live there.[5]
The area of the World Ocean is 361×106 km2 (139×106 mi2)[6] Its volume is approximately 1.3 billion cubic kilometres (310 million cu mi).[7] This can be thought of as a cube of water with an edge length of 1,111 kilometres (690 mi). Its average depth is 3,790 metres (12,400 ft), and its maximum depth is 10,923 metres (6.787 mi)[6] Nearly half of the world's marine waters are over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) deep.[3] The vast expanses of deep ocean (anything below 200 metres (660 ft) cover about 66% of the Earth's surface.[8] This does not include seas not connected to the World Ocean, such as the Caspian Sea.
The total mass of the hydrosphere is about 1,400,000,000,000,000,000 metric tons (1.5×1018 short tons) or 1.4×1021 kg, which is about 0.023% of the Earth's total mass. Less than 3% is freshwater; the rest is saltwater, mostly in the ocean.
A common misconception[citation needed] is that the oceans are blue primarily because the sky is blue. In fact, water has a very slight blue color that can only be seen in large volumes. While the sky's reflection does contribute to the blue appearance of the surface, it is not the primary cause.[9] The primary cause is the absorption by the water molecules' nuclei of red photons from the incoming light, the only known example of color in nature resulting from vibrational, rather than electronic, dynamics.[10]
Sailors and other mariners have reported that the ocean often emits a visible glow, or luminescence, which extends for miles at night. In 2005, scientists announced that for the first time, they had obtained photographic evidence of this glow.[11] It may be caused by bioluminescence.[12][13][14]
Ocean travel by boat dates back to prehistoric times, but only in modern times has extensive underwater travel become possible.
The deepest point in the ocean is the Mariana Trench, located in the Pacific Ocean near the Northern Mariana Islands. It has a maximum depth of 10,923 metres (35,840 ft).[15] The British naval vessel, "Challenger II" surveyed the trench in 1951 and named the deepest part of the trench, the "Challenger Deep". In 1960, the Trieste successfully reached the bottom of the trench, manned by a crew of two men.
Much of the ocean bottom remains unexplored and unmapped. A global image of many underwater features larger than 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) was created in 1995 based on gravitational distortions of the nearby sea surface.[citation needed]
Oceanographers divide the ocean into regions depending on physical and biological conditions of these areas. The pelagic zone includes all open ocean regions, and can be divided into further regions categorized by depth and light abundance. The photic zone covers the oceans from surface level to 200 metres down. This is the region where photosynthesis can occur and therefore is the most biodiverse. Since plants require photosynthesis, life found deeper than this must either rely on material sinking from above (see marine snow) or find another energy source; hydrothermal vents are the primary option in what is known as the aphotic zone (depths exceeding 2000m). The pelagic part of the photic zone is known as the epipelagic. The pelagic part of the aphotic zone can be further divided into regions that succeed each other vertically according to temperature.
The mesopelagic is the uppermost region. Its lowermost boundary is at a thermocline of 12 °C (Template:Convert/f), which, in the tropics generally lies at 700–1,000 metres (2,300–3,300 ft). Next is the bathypelagic lying between 10-4 °C (Template:Convert/f/10-4 °C), typically between 700–1,000 metres (2,300–3,300 ft) and 2,000–4,000 metres (6,600–13,000 ft) Lying along the top of the abyssal plain is the abyssalpelagic, whose lower boundary lies at about 6,000 metres (20,000 ft). The final zone includes the deep trenches, and is known as the hadalpelagic. This lies between 6,000–11,000 metres (20,000–36,000 ft) and is the deepest oceanic zone.
Along with pelagic aphotic zones there are also benthic aphotic zones. These correspond to the three deepest zones of the deep sea. The bathyal zone covers the continental slope down to about 4,000 metres (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 the oceanic trenches. The pelagic zone can also be split into two subregions, the neritic zone and the oceanic zone. The neritic encompasses the water mass directly above the continental shelves, while 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 floor spreads from mid-ocean ridges where two plates adjoin. Where two plates move towards each other, one plate subducts under another plate (oceanic or contintential) leading to an oceanic trench.
Ocean currents greatly affect the Earth's climate by transferring heat from the tropics to the polar regions, and transferring warm or cold air and precipitation to coastal regions, where winds may carry them inland. Surface heat and freshwater fluxes create global density gradients that drive the thermohaline circulation part of large-scale ocean circulation. It plays an important role in supplying heat to the polar regions, and thus in sea ice regulation. Changes in the thermohaline circulation are thought to have significant impacts on the earth's radiation budget. Insofar as the thermohaline circulation governs the rate at which deep waters reach the surface, it may also significantly influence atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.
For a discussion of the possibilities of changes to the thermohaline circulation under global warming, see shutdown of thermohaline circulation.
It is often stated that the thermohaline circulation is the primary reason that the climate Western Europe is so temperate. An alternate hypothesis claims that this is largely incorrect, and that Europe is warm mostly because it lies downwind of an ocean basin, and because atmospheric waves bring warm air north from the subtropics.[16][17]
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current encircles that continent, influencing the area's climate and connecting currents in several oceans.
One of the most dramatic forms of weather occurs over the oceans: tropical cyclones (also called "typhoons" and "hurricanes" depending upon where the system forms).
Lifeforms native to oceans include:
The oceans are essential to transportation: most of the world's goods move by ship between the world's seaports.
Oceans are also the major supply source for the fishing industry. Some of these are shrimp, fish, crabs and lobster.
Continental drift continually reconfigures the oceans, joining and splitting bodies of water.[citation needed] Ancient oceans include:
Earth is the only known planet with liquid water on its surface and is certainly the only one in our own solar system. However, liquid water is thought to be present under the surface of the Galilean moons Europa and, with less certainty, Callisto and Ganymede. Geysers have been found on Saturn's moon Enceladus, though these may not involve bodies of liquid water. Other icy moons may have once had internal oceans that have now frozen, such as Triton. The planets Uranus and Neptune may also possess large oceans of liquid water under their thick atmospheres, though their internal structure is not well understood.
There is currently much debate over whether Mars once had an ocean in its northern hemisphere, and over what happened to it; recent findings by the Mars Exploration Rover mission indicate Mars had long-term standing water in at least one location, but its extent is not known.
Astronomers believe that Venus had liquid water and perhaps oceans in its very early history. If they existed, all later vanished via resurfacing.
Liquid hydrocarbons are thought to be present on the surface of Titan, though lakes may be a more accurate term. The Cassini-Huygens space mission initially discovered only what appeared to be dry lakebeds and empty river channels, suggesting that Titan had lost what surface liquids it might have had. Cassini's more recent fly-by of Titan offers radar images that strongly suggest hydrocarbon lakes near the colder polar regions. Titan is thought to have a subterranean water ocean under the ice and hydrocarbon mix that forms its outer crust.
Beyond the solar system, the planet Gliese 581 c is at the right distance from its sun to support liquid surface water. However, its greenhouse effect would make it too hot for oceans to exist on the surface. On Gliese 581 d the greenhouse effect may bring temperatures suitable for surface oceans. Astronomers dispute whether HD 209458 b has water vapour in its atmosphere. Gliese 436 b is believed to have "hot ice." Neither of these planets are cool enough for liquid water—but if water molecules exist there, they are also likely to be found on planets at a suitable temperature.[18]
The original concept of "ocean" goes back to notions of Mesopotamian and Indo-European mythology, imagining the world to be encircled by a great river. Okeanos in Greek, reflects the ancient Greek observation that a strong current flowed off Gibraltar and their subsequent assumption that it was a great river. (Compare also Samudra from Hindu mythology and Jörmungandr from Norse mythology.) The world was imagined to be enclosed by a celestial ocean above the heavens, and an ocean of the underworld below.
Artworks which depict maritime themes are known as marine art, a term which particularly applies to common styles of European painting of the 17th to 19th centuries.
Pope, F. 2009. From eternal darkness springs cast of angels and jellied jewels. in The Times. November 23. 2009 p. 16 - 17.
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Look up ocean in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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| Translations: Ocean |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - hav, ocean
idioms:
idioms:
Deutsch (German)
n. - Ozean, Meer
idioms:
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (γεωγρ., μτφ.) ωκεανός
idioms:
idioms:
Português (Portuguese)
n. - oceano (m)
idioms:
idioms:
idioms:
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - ocean, hav
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
大海, 广阔, 海洋
idioms:
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 大海, 廣闊, 海洋
idioms:
idioms:
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 大洋, 海, とてもたくさんの
idioms:
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) محيط
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - אוקיינוס
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Dictionary of Dance. The Oxford Dictionary of Dance. Copyright © 2000, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
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| Devil's Dictionary. Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, 1911 Read more |
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| Dream Symbol. The Dreams Encyclopedia. 1995 ©Visible Ink Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ocean". Read more |
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