If I told you to give a list of the world’s oceans, I am pretty certain you would say Atlantic, Indian, Pacific……yet, you wouldn’t be all wrong. But for the main fact that these oceans are connected, they are in real fact just one large ocean.
Check out more facts below as provided by about.com
1. There Is Really Only One Ocean
True, there are five defined oceans around the world. In order of size, they are the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian, the Southern (Antarctic), and Arctic Oceans. But in fact, they are all connected, so there is really one ocean on Earth.
2. The Ocean Covers Over 360 million Square Kilometres
Earth is often called the Blue Planet because so much of our planet is ocean. The ocean covers 71% of the Earth’s surface, which amounts to over 360 million square kilometres in area. As far as volume, the amount of water in the ocean is about 1,380 million cubic kilometres!
3. The Ocean Contains 97% of the Water on Earth
One of the unique things about Earth as a planet is its abundance of water. If you have ever studied the water cycle in school, you know the ocean is an important part of this process. One reason is that the ocean contains 97% of Earth’s water. Because of its large size, the ocean affects climate and even reduces the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by absorbing carbon.
Read More: WATER CYCLE: The Process that Provides ALL THE WATER You Use
The remaining 3% occur in the form of ice sheets and glaciers which contain about 2% of Earth’s water. Also groundwater, lakes, rivers, soil and the atmosphere together make up the other 1% of the water on Earth.
4. The Ocean Provides Half of the Air You Breathe
Green plants fix their energy through a process called photosynthesis, which provides oxygen for humans and other animals. Yet not only green plants, but aquatic plants too called phytoplankton.
And because the ocean is so huge and full of so much of these plants, it is estimated that through photosynthesis, phytoplankton are responsible for 50 to 90% of the air that we breathe here on Earth. Hence, we have good reasons to keep the ocean clean and healthy seeing as it helps us breathe!
5. The Ocean Bottom Isn’t Flat
If you wade into the ocean from the beach, you will likely encounter a mostly flat bottom. While some of the ocean is flat and covered with sand, but if you walked across the floor of the Atlantic Ocean for example, you would encounter hills, valleys and even mountains!
In fact, you would have to cross the longest mountain range in the world – the mid-ocean ridge – which extends more than 64,000 kilometres around the Earth.
6. The Deepest Point in the Ocean is Over 36,000 Feet
The deepest point in the ocean is called the Mariana Trench, which lies about 11 kilometres below the ocean surface. Although most of the deep ocean has not been explored, humans have made it into the Mariana Trench and to the Challenger Deep, which is the deepest spot in the ocean.
7. The Biggest Ocean Animals Stretch More Than 31 Metres
The biggest animal in the world is the blue whale. The blue whale is an immense creature that is longer than 2 school buses and weighs more than 25 elephants put together! They are found in oceans around the world.
But there are some organisms even bigger than the blue whale, the giant siphonophore is one. It extends for more than 31 metres, and is made up of many bodies called zooids, which are specialised to perform different functions. Some are for movement, some for reproduction, some for eating, etc. All of these bodies are connected by a stem called a stolon, and even though they are different bodies, move together as if they were one organism!
And these are just a fraction of the wonders of the watery deep known to man!
1 thought on “The 7 Wonders of the Ocean No One Told You About”
Quite insightful,it gives u the knowledge things around you!