DATA BANK 3OCEANS

An ocean (from Ancient Greek (Okeanos); the World Ocean of classical antiquity ) is a body [2] of saline water that composes a large part of a planet's hydrosphere. In the context of Earth, it refers to one or all of the major divisions of the planet's World Ocean they are, in descending order of area, [3][4] the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern (Antarctic), and ArcticOceans. The word "sea" is often used interchangeably with "ocean", but strictly speaking a sea is a body of saline water (possibly a division of [5] the World Ocean) partly or fully enclosed by land. Earth's global ocean is the largest confirmed surface ocean on all observable planets. Approximately 72% 8 2 of the planet's surface (~3.6x10 km ) is covered by saline water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas, although some sources prove that the ocean only covers [6] approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. In terms of the hydrosphere in the Earth, the ocean contains 97% of the Earth's water. Oceanographers have stated that out of 97%, only 2% of the ocean as a whole [6] in Earth has been explored. Because it is the principal component of Earth's hydrosphere, the world ocean is integral to all known life, forms part of the carbon cycle, and influences climate and weather patterns. The total volume is approximately 1.3 billion cubic kilometres [7] [8] (310 million cu mi) with an average depth of 3,682 metres (12,080 ft) . It is the habitat of 230,000 known species, however much of the ocean's depths remain unexplored and it is estimated that over two [9] million marine species may exist. The origin of Earth's oceans is still unknown though they are believed to have first appeared in the Hadean period and may have been the point of origin for the emergence of life. Extraterrestrial oceans may be composed of a wide range of elements and compounds. The only confirmed large stable bodies of extraterrestrial surface liquids are the lakes of Titan though there is evidence for the existence of oceans elsewhere in theSolar System. Early in their geologic histories, Mars and Venus are theorized to have had large water oceans. The Mars ocean hypothesis suggests that nearly a third of the surface of Mars was once covered by water, though the water on Mars is no longer oceanic, and a runaway greenhouse effect may have boiled away the global ocean of Venus. Compounds such as saltsand ammonia mixed water are known to lower the freezing point potentially allowing water to exist in large quantities in extraterrestrial environments as brine or convecting ice. The Solar System's gas giant planets are also believed to possess liquid atmospheric layers of yet to be confirmed compositions. Unconfirmed oceans are speculated beneath the surface of many dwarf planets and natural satellites, notably the ocean of Europa is believed to have over twice the water volume of Earth. Oceans may also exist on exoplanets and exomoons, including surface oceans of liquid water within a circumstellar habitable zone. Ocean planets are a hypothetical type of planet with a surface completely covered with liquid.
[1]

Divisions
The major oceanic divisions are defined in part by the continents, various archipelagos, and other criteria. [11][14] See the table below for more information, note that the table is in descending order in terms of size.

Rank

Ocean

Notes

Pacific Ocean

Separates Asia and Oceania from the Americas

[14]

Atlantic Ocean

Separates the Americas from Eurasia and Africa

Indian Ocean

Washes upon southern Asia and separates Africa and Australia

[15][16][14]

Southern Ocean

Sometimes considered an extension of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian [17][11] Oceans, which encirclesAntarctica

Arctic Ocean

Sometimes considered a sea of the Atlantic, which covers much of the Arctic and washes upon northern North America and Eurasia

The Pacific and Atlantic may be further subdivided by the equator into northern and southern portions. A smaller region of the ocean can be called other names, such as sea, gulf,bay, and strait.

Physical properties
The total mass of the hydrosphere is about 1,400,000,000,000,000,000 metric tons (1.510 short tons) 21 or 1.410 kg, which is about 0.023 percent of the Earth's total mass. Less than 3 percent is freshwater; the rest is saltwater, mostly in the ocean. The area of the World Ocean is 361 million square kilometres [18] (139 million square miles), and its volume is approximately 1.3 billion cubic kilometres (310 million cu [7] mi). This can be thought of as a cube of water with an edge length of 1,111 kilometres (690 mi). Its [18] average depth is 3,790 metres (12,430 ft), and its maximum depth is 10,923 metres (6.787 mi). Nearly [12] half of the world's marine waters are over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) deep. The vast expanses of deep [19] ocean (anything below 200 metres (660 ft)) cover about 66% of the Earth's surface. This does not include seas not connected to the World Ocean, such as the Caspian Sea. The bluish color of water is a composite of several contributing agents. Prominent contributors include [20] dissolved organic matter and chlorophyll.
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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 [21] photographic evidence of this glow. It is most likely caused by bioluminescence.

Zones and depths

Oceanographers divide the ocean into different zones depending on the present 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 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 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 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 (54 F), which, in the tropics generally lies at 7001,000 metres (2,3003,300 ft). Next is the bathypelagic lying between 10 and 4 C (50 and 39 F), typically between 7001,000 metres (2,3003,300 ft) and 2,0004,000 metres (6,60013,000 ft) Lying along the top of theabyssal plain is the abyssalpelagic, whose lower boundary lies at about 6,000 metres (20,000 ft). The last zone includes the deep trenches, and is known as the hadalpelagic. This lies between 6,00011,000 metres (20,00036,000 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, thehadal 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.

Exploration
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. Its maximum depth has been estimated to be 10,971 metres (35,994 ft) (plus or minus 11 meters; see theMariana Trench article for discussion of the various estimates of the maximum depth.) 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.

Climate
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 of 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 becauseatmospheric waves bring warm air north [25][26] from the subtropics. 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).

Biology
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 climateand wind patterns that affect life on land. Life within the ocean evolved 3 billion years prior to life on land. Both the depth and the distance [27] from shore strongly influence thebiodiversity of the plants and animals present in each region. Lifeforms native to the ocean include:

Fish; Radiata, such as jellyfish (Cnidaria); Cetacea, such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises; Cephalopods, such as octopus and squid; Crustaceans, such as lobsters, clams, shrimp, and krill; Marine worms; Plankton; and Echinoderms, such as brittle stars, starfish, sea cucumbers, and sand dollars.

Economic value
The oceans are essential to transportation. This is because most of the world's goods move by ship between the world's seaports. Oceans are also the major supply source for thefishing industry. Some of the more major ones are shrimp, fish, crabs and lobster.