Ocean

From Wikinfo

[[fr:Oc�an]]

Three quarters of the surface of the Earth is covered by ocean. This global, interconnected body of salt water is divided by the continents and larger archipelagos into five oceans as follows:

• Arctic Ocean
• Atlantic Ocean
• Indian Ocean
• Pacific Ocean
• Southern Ocean

The boundaries between the oceans are set by the International Hydrographic Organization; e.g., the Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica to 60 degrees south latitude. Smaller regions of the oceans are known as seas, gulfs, straits, etc.

Contents 1 Exploration 2 Climate 3 Composition 4 Ecology 5 Economy 6 External links 6.1 References

Exploration

Study of Earth's oceans is called oceanography.

Climate

One of the most dramatic forms of weather occurs over the oceans: hurricanes (called typhoons in the eastern Pacific Ocean). Ocean currents greatly affect Earth's climate.

Composition

The oceans of Earth are salty.

Composition of Earth's ocean water by element

Element	Percent	Element	Percent
Oxygen	85.7000	Sulfur	0.0885
Hydrogen	10.8000	Calcium	0.0400
Chlorine	1.9000	Potassium	0.0380
Sodium	1.0500	Bromine	0.0065
Magnesium	0.1350	Carbon	0.0026

Ecology

The oceans are home to many forms of life, such as:

• fish
• cetacea such as whales, dolphins and porpoises,
• cephalopods such as the octopus
• crustaceans such as lobsters and shrimp
• marine worms
• plankton
• krill

Economy

The oceans are essential to transportation: a huge portion of the world's goods is moved by ship between the world's seaports. Important ship canals include the Saint Lawrence Seaway, Panama Canal, and Suez Canal.

External links

• http://www.palomar.edu/oceanography/salty_ocean.htm

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Ocean" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean October 23, 2003