Characteristics and Geography of the Ocean An Introduction in Aquatic Science

Oceans and Continents Ocean Basins – All the large bodies of water on Earth are connected to each other are considered to be the World Ocean. – The World Ocean is divided into 4 major ocean basins 1.Arctic 2.Atlantic 3.Indian 4.Pacific

Ocean Boundaries Atlantic – connects the polar ocean waters. The Artic Ocean is not included as part of the Atlantic. Some maps slit the Atlantic into North and South. Arctic – AKA Northern Ocean, includes waters north of North America and Eurasia. It is bounded from the Pacific by the Bering Strait and the Atlantic at ~65⁰ N Latitude (just north of Iceland). Indian Ocean – divided from the Atlantic by a line drawn from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa to the Antarctica. It is divided from the Pacific by a line running through Indonesia, Australia, and Tasmania to Antarctica. Pacific – the largest of the ocean basins, usually separated from the Atlantic by a line drawn between the eastern tip of Cape Horn in South America and the northern end of the Palmer Peninsula in Antarctica. Taken from the Fluid Earth page 5

Seas Almost always at least partially enclosed by land – An exception of a sea that is not partially enclosed is the Sargasso Sea Typically smaller than oceans The term “sea” is not used consistantly. – It is used mainly historically, and in literature – The Seven Seas refers to the world’s oceans

Continents v. Islands Continents are larger landmasses surrounded by ocean There are 6 major continental land areas: 1.Africa 2.Antarctica 3.Australia 4.Eurasia 5.North America 6.South America Islands are smaller landmasses surrounded by ocean

Continent Boundaries Africa – bordered to the north by the Mediterranean Sea, to the west by the Atlantic, to the east by the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, and the east-southeast by the Indian Ocean. Antarctica – located at the south pole. Eurasia – includes Europe and Asia. North America – includes Canada, the US, Mexico and Central America down to Panama. Islands in the Arctic are included in North America South America – includes all countries south of Panama Taken from the Fluid Earth page 5

Ice Covers up to 10% of the total Surface Area of the earth – ~4% of landmasses are covered in ice – ~5% of ocean surface is covered in ice – The amount of ice will grow and shrink depending on the season.

Mapping Activity The Fluid Earth page 4 Follow the instructions given – Write and answer all questions in your lab notebook

How Much Water???

Mapping Cartographer – a map maker There are two types of maps 1.Equal area – 2.Cylindrical-projection These types of maps are used to show the surface areas of the oceans and continents What characteristics can you identify???

Surface Area Activity The Fluid Earth page 7 Follow the directions and answer the questions. – Draw all data tables, write and answer the questions in your lab notebook

Locating Points on a Globe We use 2 types of imaginary lines in order to locate positions/points on the earth. 1.Latitude or parallels 2.Longitude or meridians There are 2 primary reference lines 1.Prime Meridian (longitude) 2.Equator (latitude)

Equator, Hemispheres, Axis, and Directions The equator runs around the globe, half way between the 2 poles, separating the northern hemisphere from the southern. The earth rotates daily around its axis (imaginary line), which goes through both poles. Movement toward the North Pole is northerly in direction and movement toward the South pole is southerly in direction.

Parallels of Latitude Distance measured in degrees from 0⁰ to 90⁰ N or S of the equator. The latitudinal distance from the equator to either pole is 90⁰, the equator is 0⁰ and the poles are 90⁰N/90⁰S

Meridians of Longitude Imaginary half circles passing from the north to the south pole. The 0⁰ Meridian or Prime Meridian is drawn through Greenwich, England. Meridians are numbered east and west from the Prime Meridian. East and West meet at 180⁰, which runs through the Pacific.

Meridians of Longitude Con’t. Longitude and Latitude lines form a grid that is used to locate any point on the globe. Due to the fact that deg of Longitude and Latitude cover large areas, they are further subdivided into minutes and seconds (this refers to parts of degrees, not time). 1⁰ = 60 minutes (60’) 1 min = 60 seconds (60”)

Meridians of Longitude Con’t. The latitude and longitude readings of a place are called its sperical coordinants. A nautical mile is 1 min. of an arc measured along a meridian or equator. 1 nautical mile = 1.85 km (1.15 mi) 1 knot = 1 nautical mile/hr What do we use knots sto measure???

Wind speed, ship speed, and plane speed.

Plate Tectonics