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IMPORTANCE OF
OCEANS
Earth- Watery Planet
The earth is a
unique planet with
abundant water.
Water together
with other
conditions like
temperature, etc
makes life possible
on earth.
OCEANS
All the oceans of the world are
connected.
They caver 361,000,000 sq. km out of
the earths total surface of 561,000,000
sq. km.
The important oceans are given below:-
4) Atlantic ocean
5) Pacific ocean
3) The Indian ocean & 4)Arctic ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic ocean is “S” shaped
with greatest length from north to
south.
The Atlantic coastline is greatly
broken and is bordered by the
most fertile lands of Europe.
The Atlantic ocean is the biggest
highway of commerce.
It covers an area
of about
82,160,000sq. Km
The average depth
of the ocean is
between 3 to 5 km
or 4092 m.
The greatest depth
lies off the
Dominican
Republic and is
9,400m.
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific ocean is oval in shape
with greatest length from east to west.
It is the biggest ocean in the world
and is double the size of Atlantic
ocean.
It is believed that all the land of the
world could be placed in it and still a
portion of the ocean as big as Africa
will be left over.
It has consequently
less commerce that
the Atlantic ocean.
It has however great
resource of fish.
There are greater
deeps in this ocean
than in the Atlantic.
The greatest depth of
the sea ( and the
world) is at Mariana
trench,320 kms.
Indian Ocean
The Suez canal connects the Indian
ocean with the Mediterranean sea,
therefore , its trade has greatly increased
during the last century .
The greatest depth is 7,067m in Dunda
trench near south of Java.
Many people often like to call it half an
ocean.
Artic Ocean
It is situated round the north pole
and remains perpetually frozen.
It is connected to the Atlantic
ocean by the eastern and western
Greenland channels and to the
Pacific ocean by the Bering Strait.
Why there is no Antarctic
ocean?
There are some geographers who
regard the area around the continent
of Antarctica as the Antarctic ocean.
But most experts think that this part of
globe has no natural boundaries on
the north, & consist largely of the
southern extremities of the three
major oceans- the Pacific, Atlantic &
the Indian ocean.
Why are the seas different
from ocean??
The seas like the Caribbean, Bering ,
the Mediterranean etc are not
included in the above water surface .
Sea is described as a salt water body
usually on the margins of the
continents
Some important seas are-Arctic,
Kara, Arabian, sea of Japan, Barents,
east China sea, Andaman sea
Difference between the
highest & deepest place on
earth?
The highest summit on land surface is
Mount Everest- 8848m above sea level.
The deepest bottom of the ocean is
Mariana Trench-11,033m below sea level.
The difference between the highest place
on earth and the deepest place on earth is
just 19.9km .
This is very small in relation to earths
diameter.
Chief Features of Ocean
Basin:
The ocean basin are in many
ways similar to the land surface.
This is because this zones exist
as a result of the interaction
between tectonic activities,
volcanic, erosional and
depositional processes which are
active on the surface of the earth.
The main relief zones are- Continental
shelf ; Continental slope; Abyssal plain &
Ocean deeps.
Continental Shelf
cont….
It is the most important part of the ocean
floor for man.
The submerged part of land which is
adjacent to the coastline and which is not
more than 200m deep is called continental
shelf.
It is in these shallow waters that
submarine vegetation grows.
It is the richest fishing ground so it
abounds in planktons which is fish food.
cont….
The continental shelf in some parts of
the world is rich in oil, coal, sulphur
and non-ferrous metals.
There are undersea oil-fields in the
Caspian sea and the gulf of Mexico.
Also there are tin mines off the island
of Sumatra.
Off-shore exploration for oil is being
done in India as well.
Continental Slope
cont…
.
At the outer edge of the continent
shelf, the slope suddenly steepens .
This is found to be 35 to 61m per km.
One end of the slope connects it with
the continental shelf while the other
one merges into the ocean floors.
The area occupied by continental
slope is 8.5% of the total ocean area.
The continental slope consists of light
continental rocks which overlie the dense
rocks of ocean floors.
Deep Ocean Floors
About 2-3rd of the ocean surface is
occupied by Deep Ocean Floors.
They are situated on the base of the
continental slope.
The depth is from 3,000 to 6,000m.
Many long zig-zag ridges, plateaus,
plains, volcanic summits etc.
Many mountain tops rise steeply from the
ocean floors and emerges out of sea as
island.
Such mountain tops are found in
Indonesia and in Pacific ocean.
The Ocean Deep
These are long deep trenches that
are around 30,000 feet deep.
Most oceanic trenches are found in
Pacific ocean.
The deepest of which is about 36,000
feet deep.
Their depth is more than the highest
peak on land.
Features of Ocean & Land
There is a balance between upstanding
continents and low lying ocean basins.
This is isostasic balance.
They are:-
1)Isthmus
2)Gulf
3)Bay
4)Strait
5)Islands
This is a picture of isthmus of
panama.
This is an image of Persian Gulf