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Atlantic Ocean
*** Shopping-Tip: Atlantic Ocean
{{redirect|Atlantic}}
{{Five oceans}}
The '''Atlantic Ocean''' is the second-largest
ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of the earth's surface. The ocean's name, derived from
Greek mythology, means the "
Sea of
Atlas (mythology) Atlas". The oldest known mention of this name is contained in The Histories of
Herodotus around 450 BC (I 202).
This ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending in a north-south direction and is divided into the North Atlantic and South Atlantic by
Equatorial Counter Currents at about 8° North
latitude. Bounded by the
Americas on the west and
Europe and
Africa on the east, the Atlantic is linked to the
Pacific Ocean by the
Arctic Ocean on the north and the
Drake Passage on the south. An artificial connection between the Atlantic and Pacific is provided by the
Panama Canal. On the east, the dividing line between the Atlantic and the
Indian Ocean is the 20° East meridian, running south from
Cape Agulhas to
Antarctica. The Atlantic is separated from the
Arctic Ocean by a line from
Greenland to northwestern
Iceland and then from northeastern Iceland to southernmost tip of
Spitsbergen and then to
North Cape, Norway North Cape in northern
Norway.
[[http://ioc.unesco.org/oceanteacher/OceanTeacher2/01_GlobOcToday/03_GeopolOc/s23_1953.pdf ''Limits of Oceans and Seas'']. International Hydrographic Organization Special Publication No. 23, 1953.]
Image:Ireland-AtlanticOceanwithAranIsland.jpg Ireland.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|left|200px|The Atlantic Ocean as seen from the west coast of [[Ireland on a fair day..html" title="Meaning of left|200px|The Atlantic Ocean as seen from the west coast of [[Ireland">thumb|left|200px|The Atlantic Ocean as seen from the west coast of [[Ireland on a fair day.">left|200px|The Atlantic Ocean as seen from the west coast of [[Ireland">thumb|left|200px|The Atlantic Ocean as seen from the west coast of [[Ireland on a fair day.
Covering approximately 20% of Earth's surface, the Atlantic Ocean is second only to the Pacific in size. With its adjacent seas it occupies an area of about
1 E14 m² 106,400,000 square kilometres (41,100,000
square miles); without them, it has an area of
1 E13 m² 82,400,000 square kilometres (31,800,000 sq mi). The land area that drains into the Atlantic is four times that of either the Pacific or Indian oceans. The volume of the Atlantic Ocean with its adjacent seas is
1 E15 m³ 354,700,000 cubic kilometres (85,100,000
cubic mile cu mi) and without them 323,600,000 cubic kilometres (77,640,000 cu mi).
The average depths of the Atlantic, with its adjacent seas, is 3,332
metres (10,932
foot (unit of length) ft); without them it is 3,926 metres (12,881 ft). The greatest depth, 8,605 metres (28,232 ft), is in the
Puerto Rico Trench. The width of the Atlantic varies from
1 E6 m 2,848 kilometres (1,770
miles) between Brazil and
Liberia to about
1 E6 m 4,830 kilometes (3,000 mi) between the United States and northern Africa.
The Atlantic Ocean has irregular coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs, and seas. These include the
Caribbean Sea,
Gulf of Mexico,
Gulf of St. Lawrence,
Mediterranean Sea,
Black Sea,
North Sea,
Labrador Sea,
Baltic Sea, and
Norwegian Sea Norwegian-
Greenland Sea. Islands in the Atlantic Ocean include
Faroe Islands,
Greenland,
Iceland,
Rockall,
Great Britain,
Ireland,
Fernando de Noronha, the
Azores, the
Madeira Islands, the
Canaries, the
Cape Verde Islands,
Sao Tome e Principe,
Newfoundland,
Bermuda, the
West Indies,
Ascension Island Ascension,
Saint Helena (Britain) St. Helena,
Trindade Island Trindade,
Martin Vaz,
Tristan da Cunha, the
Falkland Islands, and
South Georgia Island.
Image:Atlantic_Ocean.png right|Atlantic Ocean
Ocean bottom
The principal feature of the bottom
topography of the Atlantic Ocean is a great submarine mountain range called the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It extends from
Iceland in the north to approximately 58° South latitude, reaching a maximum width of about 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles). A great
rift valley also extends along the ridge over most of its length. The depth of water over the ridge is less than 2,700 m (8,900 ft) in most places, and several mountain peaks rise above the water, forming islands. The South Atlantic Ocean has an additional submarine ridge, the Walvis Ridge.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge separates the Atlantic Ocean into two large
trough (geology) troughs with depths averaging between 3,700 and 5,500 m (12,000 and 18,000 ft). Transverse ridges running between the continents and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge divide the ocean floor into numerous basins. Some of the larger basins are the Guiana, North American, Cape Verde, and Canaries basins in the North Atlantic. The largest South Atlantic basins are the Angola, Cape, Argentina, and Brazil basins.
The deep ocean floor is thought to be fairly flat, although numerous
seamounts and some
guyots exist. Several deeps or trenches are also found on the ocean floor. The Puerto Rico Trench, in the North Atlantic, is the deepest. The
Laurentian Abyss is found off the eastern coast of Canada. In the south Atlantic, the
South Sandwich Trench reaches a depth of 8,428 m (27,651 ft). A third major trench, the
Romanche Trench, is located near the equator and reaches a depth of about 7,454 m (24,455 ft). The shelves along the margins of the continents constitute about 11% of the bottom topography. In addition, a number of deep channels cut across the continental rise.
Ocean
sediments are composed of terrigenous, pelagic, and authigenic material. Terrigenous deposits consist of sand, mud, and rock particles formed by erosion, weathering, and volcanic activity on land and then washed to sea. These materials are largely found on the
continental shelf continental shelves and are thickest off the mouths of large rivers or off desert coasts. Pelagic deposits, which contain the remains of organisms that sink to the ocean floor, include red clays and
Globigerinida Globigerina,
pteropod, and siliceous oozes. Covering most of the ocean floor and ranging in thickness from 60 to 3,300 m (200 to 11,000 ft), they are thickest in the convergence belts and in the zones of upwelling. Authigenic deposits consist of such materials as
manganese nodules. They occur where
sedimentation proceeds slowly or where currents sort the deposits.
Water characteristics
The
salinity of the surface waters in the open ocean ranges from 33 to 37 parts per thousand by mass and varies with latitude and season. Although the minimum salinity values are found just north of the equator, in general the lowest values are in the high latitudes and along coasts where large rivers flow into the ocean. Maximum salinity values occur at about 25° North latitude. Surface salinity values are influenced by evaporation, precipitation, river inflow, and melting of sea ice.
Surface water temperatures, which vary with latitude, current systems, and season and reflect the latitudinal distribution of solar energy, range from less than −2 °
Celsius C to 29 °C (28 °
Fahrenheit F to 84 °F). Maximum temperatures occur north of the equator, and minimum values are found in the polar regions. In the middle latitudes, the area of maximum temperature variations, values may vary by 7 °C to 8 °C (13 °F to 15 °F).
The Atlantic Ocean consists of four major water masses. The North and South Atlantic central waters constitute the surface waters. The sub-Antarctic intermediate water extends to depths of 1,000 m (3,300 ft). The North Atlantic deep water reaches depths of as much as 4,000 m (13,200 ft). The
Antarctica Antarctic bottom water occupies ocean basins at depths greater than 4,000 m (13,200 ft).
Within the North Atlantic, ocean currents isolate a large elongated body of water known as the
Sargasso Sea, in which the salinity is noticeably higher than average. The Sargasso Sea contains large amounts of
seaweed, and is also the spawning ground for the
European eel.
Due to the
Coriolis effect, water in the North Atlantic circulates in a clockwise direction, whereas water circulation in the South Atlantic is counter clockwise. The South
tides in the Atlantic Ocean are semi-
diel diurnal; that is, two high tides occur during each 24 lunar hours. The tides are a general wave that moves from south to north. In latitudes above 40° North some east-west oscillation occurs.
Climate
Image:Atlantic hurricane graphic.gif frame|right|Waves in the trade winds in the Atlantic Ocean — areas of converging winds that move along the same track as the prevailing wind — create instabilities in the atmosphere that may lead to the formation of hurricanes.
The climate of the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent land areas is influenced by the temperatures of the surface waters and water currents as well as the winds blowing across the waters. Because of the oceans' great capacity for retaining heat, maritime climates are moderate and free of extreme seasonal variations.
Precipitation (meteorology) Precipitation can be approximated from coastal weather data and air temperature from the water temperatures. The oceans are the major source of the atmospheric moisture that is obtained through evaporation. Climatic zones vary with latitude; the warmest climatic zones stretch across the Atlantic north of the equator. The coldest zones are in the high latitudes, with the coldest regions corresponding to the areas covered by sea ice. Ocean currents contribute to climatic control by transporting warm and cold waters to other regions. Adjacent land areas are affected by the winds that are cooled or warmed when blowing over these currents. The
Gulf Stream, for example, warms the atmosphere of the British Isles and northwestern Europe, and the cold water currents contribute to heavy fog off the coast of northeastern Canada (the
Grand Banks area) and the northwestern coast of Africa. In general, winds tend to transport moisture and warm or cool air over land areas.
tropical cyclone Hurricanes develop in the southern part of the North Atlantic Ocean.
History and economy
The Atlantic Ocean appears to be the second youngest of the world's oceans, after the
Southern Ocean. Evidence indicates that it did not exist prior to 180 million years ago, when the continents that formed from the breakup of the ancestral supercontinent,
Pangaea, were being rafted apart by the process of seafloor spreading. The Atlantic has been extensively explored since the earliest settlements were established along its shores. The
Vikings,
Portugal Portuguese, and
Christopher Columbus were the most famous among its early explorers. After Columbus, European exploration rapidly accelerated, and many new trade routes were established. As a result, the Atlantic became and remains the major artery between Europe and the Americas (known as
transatlantic trade). Numerous scientific explorations have been undertaken, including those by the German Meteor expedition, Columbia University's Lamont Geological Observatory, and the United States Navy
Hydrographic office#United States Hydrographic Office.
The ocean has also contributed significantly to the development and economy of the countries around it. Besides its major "
transatlantic" transportation and communication routes, the Atlantic offers abundant petroleum deposits in the
sedimentary rocks of the continental shelves and the world's richest fishing resources, especially in the waters covering the shelves. The major species of fish caught are
cod,
haddock,
hake,
herring, and
mackerel. The most productive areas include the
Grand Banks of
Newfoundland, the shelf area off
Nova Scotia,
Georges Bank off
Cape Cod, the Bahama Banks, the waters around
Iceland, the
Irish Sea, the
Dogger Bank of the
North Sea, and the Falkland Banks.
Eel,
lobster, and
whales have also been taken in great quantities. All these factors, taken together, tremendously enhance the Atlantic's great commercial value. Because of the threats to the ocean environment presented by oil spills,
marine debris, and the incineration of toxic wastes at sea, various international treaties exist to reduce some forms of pollution.
*In
1858, the first
transatlantic telegraph cable was laid by
Cyrus Field.
*In
1919, the American
NC-4 became the first
airplane to cross the Atlantic (though it made a couple of landings on islands along the way).
*Later in 1919, a British airplane piloted by
Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight, from
Newfoundland to
Ireland.
*In
1921, the
United Kingdom British were the first to cross the North Atlantic in an
airship.
*In
1922, the
Portugal Portuguese were the first to cross the South Atlantic in an
airship.
*The first transatlantic
telephone call was made on
January 7, 1927.
*In
1927,
Charles Lindbergh made the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight in an airplane (between
New York City and
Paris).
*After rowing for 81 days and 2,962 miles, on
December 3,
1999 Tori Murden became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by
rowboat alone when she reached
Guadeloupe from the
Canary Islands.
'''Location:'''
body of water between Africa,
Europe, the
Southern Ocean, and the
Americas
'''
Geographic coordinates:''' {{coor dm|0|00|N|25|00|W|}}
'''Map references:'''
World
'''Area:'''
* ''total:''
1 E13 m² 76.762 million km² (29.637 million mi²)
* ''note:'' includes the
Baltic Sea,
Black Sea,
Caribbean Sea,
Davis Strait,
Denmark Strait, part of the
Drake Passage,
Gulf of Mexico,
Labrador Sea,
Mediterranean Sea,
North Sea,
Norwegian Sea, almost all of the
Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies
'''Area - comparative:'''
slightly less than 6.5 times the size of the
United States
'''Coastline:'''
111,866 km (69,510 mi)
'''Climate:'''
Tropical cyclones (
hurricanes) develop anywhere from off the coast of Africa near
Cape Verde to the
Windward Islands and move westward into the
Caribbean Sea or up the east coast of North America; hurricanes can occur from May to December, but are most frequent from late July to early November. Storms are common in the North Atlantic during northern winters, making ocean crossings more difficult and dangerous.
Terrain
Image:Atlantic bathymetry.jpg thumb|300px|Atlantic bathymetry
The surface is usually covered with sea ice in the
Labrador Sea,
Denmark Strait, and
Baltic Sea from October to June. There is a clockwise warm-water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the northern Atlantic, and a counter-clockwise warm-water gyre in the southern Atlantic. The ocean floor is dominated by the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin, first discovered by the
Challenger Expedition.
Elevation extremes
*''lowest point:''
Milwaukee Deep in the
Puerto Rico Trench -8,605 m (28,232 ft; 5.3 mi)
*''highest point:'' sea level, 0 m
Natural resources
Petroleum and
gas fields,
fish, marine mammals (
seal (mammal) seals and
whales), sand and gravel aggregates,
placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones
Natural hazards
Icebergs are common in the
Davis Strait,
Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from February to August and have been spotted as far south as
Bermuda and the
Madeira Islands. Ships are subject to
superstructure#Engineering concept superstructure icing (nautical) icing in extreme northern Atlantic from October to May. Persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to September, as can hurricanes north of the equator (May to December).
The
Bermuda Triangle is popularly believed to be the site of numerous aviation and shipping incidents, due to unexplained and supposedly mysterious causes, but coastguard records do not support this belief.
Current environmental issues
Endangered marine species include the
manatee,
seal (mammal) seals,
sea lions,
turtles, and
whales. Drift net fishing is killing
dolphins,
albatrosses and other seabirds (
petrels,
auks), hastening the decline of fish stocks and contributing to international disputes. There is municipal sludge pollution off the eastern United States, southern
Brazil, and eastern
Argentina, oil pollution in the
Caribbean Sea,
Gulf of Mexico,
Lake Maracaibo,
Mediterranean Sea, and
North Sea, and industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea.
Notes on geography
Major chokepoints include the
Strait of Gibraltar and the
Panama Canal; strategic straits include the
Strait of Dover,
Straits of Florida,
Mona Passage, The Sound (
Oresund), and
Windward Passage; the
Equator divides the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean (previously known as the
Ethiopic Ocean). During the
Cold War the so called
Greenland-
Iceland-
United Kingdom UK (GIUK) Gap was a major strategic concern, the seabed in that area was laid with extensive
hydrophone systems to track Soviet
submarines.
Ports and harbours
*
Aberdeen (
United Kingdom)
*
Abidjan (
Côte d'Ivoire)
*
A Coruña (
Spain)
*
Accra (
Ghana)
*
Ã…lesund (
Norway)
*
Amsterdam (
Netherlands)
*
Antwerp (
Belgium)
*
Bahia Blanca (
Argentina)
*
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore (
United States)
*
Banjul (
The Gambia)
*
Belfast (
Northern Ireland)
*
Bergen, Norway Bergen (
Norway)
*
Bissau (
Guinea-Bissau)
*
Bodø (
Norway)
*
Bordeaux (
France)
*
Boston, Massachusetts Boston (
United States)
*
Bremen (city) Bremen (
Germany)
*
Brest, France Brest (
France)
*
Bristol (
England)
*
Cadiz (
Spain)
*
Cape Town (
South Africa)
*
Casablanca (
Morocco)
*
Cayenne (
French Guiana)
*
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston (
United States)
*
Charlottetown (
Canada)
*
Cherbourg (
France)
*
Conakry (
Guinea)
*
Cork (
Republic of Ireland)
*
Cotonou (
Benin)
*
Dakar (
Senegal)
*
Douala (
Cameroon)
*
Dublin (
Republic of Ireland)
*
Dunkirk, France Dunkirk (
France)
*
Edinburgh (
Scotland)
*
Iquitos (
Peru) (via the
Amazon)
*
Port Everglades Everglades, Port (
United States)
*
Fortaleza (
Brazil)
*
Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown (
Guyana)
*
Glasgow (
Scotland)
*
Gothenburg(
Sweden)
*
Hamburg (
Germany)
*
Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax (
Canada)
*
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville (
United States)
*
Lagos (
Nigeria)
*
Las Palmas (
Spain)
*
Le Havre (
France)
*
Libreville (
Gabon)
*
Lisbon (
Portugal)
*
Liverpool (
England)
*
Lomé (
Togo)
*
London (
England)
*
Luanda (
Angola)
*
Maceió (
Brazil)
*
Malabo (
Equatorial Guinea)
*
Port of Miami-Dade Miami (
United States)
*
Monrovia (
Liberia)
*
Montreal Montréal (
Canada)
*
Morehead City, North Carolina Morehead City (
United States)
*
Nantes (
France)
*
Nantucket (
United States)
*
Narvik (
Norway)
*
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven (
United States)
*
New London, Connecticut New London (
United States)
*
New York (
United States)
*
Newcastle upon Tyne (
England)
*
Newport News (
United States)
*
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk (
United States)
*
Nouakchott (
Mauritania)
*
Oslo (
Norway)
*
Ostend (
Belgium)
*
Port of Palm Beach Palm Beach (
United States)
*
Paramaribo (
Suriname)
*
Penzance (
United Kingdom)
*
Peterhead (
United Kingdom)
*
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia (
United States)
*
Port Harcourt (
Nigeria)
*
Portland, Maine Portland (
United States)
*
Porto (
Portugal)
*
Porto-Novo (
Benin)
*
Portsmouth (
England)
*
Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth (
United States)
*
Providence, Rhode Island Providence (
United States)
*
Pucallpa (
Peru) (via the
Amazon)
*
Puerto Cortes (
Honduras)
*
Quebec City, Quebec Québec (
Canada)
*
Rabat (
Morocco)
*
Recife (
Brazil)
*
ReykjavÃk (
Iceland)
*
Rio de Janeiro (
Brazil)
*
Rotterdam (
Netherlands)
*
Salvador, Brazil Salvador (
Brazil)
*
Saint-Nazaire (
France)
*
Santa Cruz de Tenerife (
Spain)
*
Santander, Spain Santander (
Spain)
*
Santos (São Paulo) Santos (
Brazil)
*
Savannah, Georgia Savannah (
United States)
*
Seville (
Spain)
*
Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John (
Canada)
*
Sept-ÃŽles (
Canada)
*
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's (
Canada)
*
Southampton (
England)
*
Stavanger (
Norway)
*
Sydney, Nova Scotia Sydney (
Canada)
*
Tangier (
Morocco)
*
Trois-Rivières (
Canada)
*
Tromsø (
Norway)
*
Trondheim (
Norway)
*
Vigo (
Spain)
*
Vitória (
Brazil)
*
Walvis Bay (
Namibia)
*
Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles Willemstad (
Netherlands Antilles)
*
Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington (
United States)
*
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Yarmouth (
Canada)
*
Yurimaguas (
Peru) (via the
Amazon)
Note on transportation
The
Saint Lawrence Seaway is an important waterway.
References
Much of this article comes from the public domain site
http://oceanographer.navy.mil/atlantic.html (
dead link). It is now accessible from the
Internet Archive at http://web.archive.org/web/20020221215514/http%3a//oceanographer.navy.mil/atlantic.html.
* Disclaimers for this website, including its status as a public domain resource, are recorded on the Internet Archive at http://web.archive.org/web/20020212021049/http%3a//oceanographer.navy.mil/warning.html.
External links
{{Commons|Atlantic Ocean}}
-
NOAA In-situ Ocean Data Viewer Plot and download ocean observations
-
CIA – The World Factbook – Atlantic Ocean
Category:Atlantic Ocean
Category:Oceans
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el:Ατλαντικός Ωκεανός
es:Océano Atlántico
eo:Atlantika Oceano
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fa:اقیانوس اطلس
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fy:Atlantyske Oseaan
ga:An tAigéan Atlantach
gl:Océano Atlántico
ko:대서양
hr:Atlantski ocean
io:Atlantiko
id:Samudra Atlantik
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he:×”×?×•×§×™×™× ×•×¡ ×”×?×˜×œ× ×˜×™
ka:�ტლ�ნტის �კე�ნე
kw:Keynvor Iwerydh
la:Oceanus Atlanticus
lt:Atlanto vandenynas
li:Atlantische Oceaan
hu:Atlanti-óceán
mk:Ð?тлантÑ?ки Океан
mn:Ð?тлантын далай
nl:Atlantische Oceaan
nds:Atlantik
ja:大西洋
no:Atlanterhavet
nn:Atlanterhavet
pl:Ocean Atlantycki
pt:Oceano Atlântico
ro:Oceanul Atlantic
ru:Ð?тлантичеÑ?кий океан
sh:Atlantik
scn:Ocèanu Atlà nticu
simple:Atlantic Ocean
sk:Atlantický oceán
sl:Atlantski ocean
sr:Ð?тлантÑ?ки океан
fi:Atlantin valtameri
sv:Atlanten
ta:அட�லாண�டிக� பெர�ங�கடல�
th:มหาสมุทรà¹?à¸à¸•à¹?ลนติà¸?
vi:Ä?ại Tây DÆ°Æ¡ng
tr:Atlas Okyanusu
uk:Ð?тлантичний океан
zh:大西洋
see
Atlantic Ocean
{{catmore}}
Category:Oceans
be:КатÑ?горыÑ?:Ð?тлÑ?нтычны акіÑ?н
ca:Categoria:Oceà Atlà ntic
cs:Kategorie:Atlantský oceán
de:Kategorie:Atlantischer Ozean
eo:Kategorio:Atlantika oceano
ko:분류:대서양
nl:Categorie:Atlantische Oceaan
ja:Category:大西洋
no:Kategori:Atlanterhavet
pl:Kategoria:Ocean Atlantycki
ru:КатегориÑ?:Ð?тлантичеÑ?кий океан
sk:Kategória:Atlantický oceán
sl:Category:Atlantski ocean
*** Shopping-Tip: Atlantic Ocean
