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Indian Ocean
*** Shopping-Tip: Indian Ocean
:''This article is about the water body. For the Indian fusion music band, see
Indian Ocean (band).''
{{Five oceans}}
The '''Indian Ocean''' is the third largest body of water in the world, covering about 20% of the Earth's water surface. It is bounded on the north by southern
Asia (the
Indian subcontinent); on the west by the
Arabia Arabian Peninsula and
Africa; on the east by the
Malay Peninsula, the
Sunda Islands, and
Australia; and on the south by the
Southern Ocean. It is separated from the
Atlantic Ocean by the 20° east
Meridian (geography) meridian running south from
Cape Agulhas,
[[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.] and from the
Pacific Ocean Pacific by the 147° east meridian. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean is approximately 30°north
latitude in the
Persian Gulf. This ocean is nearly 10,000 km (6,200 mi) wide at the southern tips of Africa and Australia; its area is 73,556,000 km² (28,400,000 mi²), including the
Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The ocean's volume is estimated to be
1 E15 m³ 292,131,000 km³ (70,086,000 mi³). Small islands dot the continental rims.
Island nations within the ocean are
Madagascar (formerly Malagasy Republic), the world's fourth largest island;
Comoros;
Seychelles;
Maldives;
Mauritius; and
Sri Lanka.
Indonesia borders it. The ocean's importance as a transit route between Asia and Africa has made it a scene of conflict. Because of its size, however, no nation had successfully dominated until the early 1800s when
United Kingdom Britain controlled much of the surrounding land. After the
World War 2, the ocean has been dominated by
India and
Australia.
Image:Indianocean.PNG right
Environment
The African, Indian, and Antarctic crustal plates converge in the Indian Ocean. Their junctures are marked by branches of the Mid-Oceanic Ridge forming an inverted Y, with the stem running south from the edge of the continental shelf near
Mumbai,
India. The eastern, western, and southern basins thus formed are subdivided into smaller basins by ridges. The ocean's continental shelves are narrow, averaging 200 km (125 mi) in width. An exception is found off Australia's western coast, where the shelf width exceeds 1,000 km (600 mi). The average depth of the ocean is 3,890 m (12,760 ft). Its deepest point, in the
Java Trench, is estimated to be 7,450 m (24,442 ft). North of 50° south latitude, 86% of the main basin is covered by
pelagic sediments, of which more than one-half is
globigerina ooze. The remaining 14% is layered with
terrigenous sediments. Glacial outwash dominates the extreme southern latitudes.
Climate
The climate north of the
equator is affected by a
Monsoon wind system. Strong northeast winds blow from October until April; from May until October south and west winds prevail. In the
Arabian Sea the violent monsoon brings rain to the Indian subcontinent. In the southern hemisphere the winds generally are milder, but summer storms near Mauritius can be severe. When the monsoon winds change, cyclones sometimes strike the shores of the Arabian Sea and the
Bay of Bengal.
Hydrology
Image:Indian_Ocean_bathymetry_srtm.png thumb|right|Bathymetric map of the Indian Ocean
Among the few large rivers flowing into the Indian Ocean are the
Zambezi,
Shatt al-Arab Arvandrud/Shatt-al-Arab,
Indus River Indus,
Ganges River Ganges,
Brahmaputra, and
Ayeyarwady River. Currents are largely controlled by the monsoon. Two large circular currents, one in the northern hemisphere flowing clockwise and one south of the equator moving counterclockwise, constitute the dominant flow pattern. During the winter monsoon, however, currents in the north are reversed. Deepwater circulation is controlled primarily by inflows from the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, and Antarctic currents. North of 20° south latitude the minimum surface temperature is 22°C (72°F), exceeding 28°C (82°F) to the east. Southward of 40° south latitude, temperatures drop quickly. Surface water salinity ranges from 32 to 37 parts per 1,000, the highest occurring in the Arabian Sea and in a belt between southern Africa and southwestern Australia. Pack ice and icebergs are found throughout the year south of about 65° south latitude. The average northern limit of icebergs is 45° south latitude.
Economy
The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the
Middle East,
Africa, and
East Asia with
Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas of
Saudi Arabia,
Iran,
India, and western
Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean. Beach sands rich in heavy
minerals and offshore placer deposits are actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly
India,
South Africa,
Indonesia,
Sri Lanka, and
Thailand.
The warmth of the Indian Ocean keeps
plankton phytoplankton production low, except along the northern fringes and in a few scattered spots elsewhere; life in the ocean is thus limited.
Fishing is confined to subsistence levels. Its fish are of great and growing importance to the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from
Russia,
Japan,
South Korea, and
Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for
shrimp and
tuna.
History
The earliest known civilizations, in the valleys of the
Nile,
Euphrates,
Tigris, and Indus rivers and in Southeast Asia, have developed near the Indian Ocean. During
Egypt's 1st dynasty (c. 3000 BC), sailors were sent out onto its waters, journeying to
Punt (region) Punt, thought to be part of present-day
Somalia. Returning ships brought gold and myrrh.
Phoenicians of the
3rd millennium BC may have entered the area, but no settlements resulted.
The Indian Ocean is far calmer and thus open to trade earlier than the
Atlantic or
Pacific. The powerful
monsoons also meant ships could easily sail them west early in the season, then wait a few months and return eastwards. This allowed
Indonesian peoples to cross the Indian Ocean to settle in
Madagascar.
In the second or first century BC Eudoxus of
Cyzicus was the first
Greece Greek to cross the Indian Ocean.
Hippalus is said to have discovered the direct route from
Arabia to
India around this time. During the first and second centuries intensive
Roman commerce trade relations developed between
Roman Egypt and the
Tamil people Tamil kingdoms of the
Cheras,
Cholas and
Pandyas in Southern India. Like the Indonesian people above, the western sailors used the monsoon to cross the Ocean. The unknown author of the ''
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' describes this route and the ports and trade goods along the coasts of
Africa and
India around
70.
In
1497 Vasco da Gama rounded the
Cape of Good Hope and sailed to India, the first European to do so. The European ships, armed with heavy cannon, quickly came to dominate the trade.
Portugal at first attempted to achieve pre-eminence setting up forts at the important straits and ports. But the small nation was unable to support such a vast project and they were replaced in the mid-
17th century 1600s by other European powers. The
Dutch East India Company (
1602-
1798) sought control of trade with the East across the Indian Ocean.
France and Britain established trade companies for the area. Eventually Britain became the principal power and by
1815 dominated the area.
The opening of the
Suez Canal in
1869 revived European interest in the East, but no nation was successful in establishing trade dominance. Since
World War II the United Kingdom has withdrawn from the area, to be only partially replaced by India, the
Soviet Union USSR, and the
United States. The last two have tried to establish hegemony by negotiating for naval base sites. Developing countries bordering the ocean, however, seek to have it made a "zone of peace" so that they may use its shipping lanes freely, though the United Kingdom and United States maintain a military base on
Diego Garcia atoll in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
On
December 26 2004 the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean (south east asia) were hit by
tsunamis caused by the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The waves resulted in more than 226,000 deaths and over 1 million homeless.
Data
'''Southern Ocean:'''
A spring 2000 decision by the
International Hydrographic Organization delimited a
Southern Ocean fifth world ocean, stripping the southern portions of the Indian Ocean. The new ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60°south latitude which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit. The Indian Ocean remains the third-largest of the world's five oceans.
'''Area:'''
* ''total:'' 68.556 million km²
* ''seas:'' includes
Andaman Sea,
Arabian Sea,
Bay of Bengal,
Great Australian Bight,
Gulf of Aden,
Gulf of Oman,
Laccadive Sea,
Mozambique Channel,
Persian Gulf,
Red Sea,
Strait of Malacca, and other tributary water bodies
'''Coastline:'''
66,526 km
'''Climate:'''
northeast
monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon (June to October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June and October/November in the northern Indian Ocean and January/February in the southern Indian Ocean
'''Terrain:'''
surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the southern Indian Ocean; unique reversal of surface currents in the northern Indian Ocean; low atmospheric pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents, while high pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest winds and currents; ocean floor is dominated by the
Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge and subdivided by the
Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge,
Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and
Ninetyeast Ridge
Graphics of the seabed terrain produced by the Royal Navy & British Geological Survey in 2005 can be found
here.
'''Elevation extremes:'''
* ''lowest point:''
Diamantina Trench - 8,047 m
* ''highest point:'' sea level 0 m
'''Natural resources:'''
petroleum oil and gas fields,
fish,
shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules
'''Environment - current issues:'''
endangered marine species include the
dugong,
seal (mammal) seals,
turtles, and
whales; oil
pollution in the Arabian Sea,
Persian Gulf, and
Red Sea
'''Geography - note:'''
major chokepoints include
Bab el Mandeb,
Strait of Hormuz,
Strait of Malacca, southern access to the
Suez Canal, and the
Lombok Strait
'''Ports and harbors:'''
Calcutta (
India),
Chennai (
Madras;
India),
Colombo (
Sri Lanka),
Durban (
South Africa),
Jakarta (
Indonesia),
Karachi (
Pakistan),
Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle (
Australia),
Mumbai (
Bombay;
India),
Richards Bay (
South Africa),
Visakhapatnam (
India),
Kochi, India Kochi (
India)
References
*Braun, D., The Indian Ocean (1983)
*Chandra, S., ed., The Indian Ocean (1987);
*Chaudhuri, K. N., Trade and Civilization in the Indian Ocean (1985);
*Cousteau, Jacques-Yves, and Diole, Philippe, Life and Death in a Coral Sea (1971);
*Cubitt, Gerald, Islands of the Indian Ocean (1975);
*Das Gupta, A., and Pearson, M.N., India and the Indian Ocean (1987);
*Dowdy, W. L., and Trood, R., eds., The Indian Ocean (1985);
*Kerr, A., ed., Resources and Development in the Indian Ocean Region (1981);
*Nairn, A. E., and Stehli, F. G., eds., The Ocean Basins and Margins, Vol. 6: The Indian Ocean (1982);
*Ostheimer, John M., ed., The Politics of the Western Indian Ocean Islands (1975); *Toussaint, Auguste, The History of the Indian Ocean, trans. by June Guicharnaud (1966).
''Much of this text is based on public domain text by US Naval Oceanographer at: http://oceanographer.navy.mil/indian.html''
External links
-
NOAA In-situ Ocean Data Viewer Plot and download ocean observations
{{SouthAsiaWaters}}
Category:Oceans
Category:Indian Ocean
ar:Ù…Øيط هندي
an:Ozián Indico
ast:Océanu �ndicu
bg:ИндийÑ?ки океан
zh-min-nan:ÃŒn-tÅ?·-iûâ?¿
bn:à¦à¦¾à¦°à¦¤à§€à¦¯à¦¼ মহাসমà§?দà§?র
br:Meurvor Indez
ca:Oceà �ndic
cv:Инди океанĕ
cs:Indický oceán
cy:Cefnfor India
da:Indiske Ocean
de:Indischer Ozean
et:India ookean
el:Ινδικός Ωκεανός
es:Océano �ndico
eo:Hinda Oceano
eu:Indiar ozeano
fr:Océan Indien
gl:Océano �ndico
ko:��양
hi:हिन�द महासागर
hr:Indijski ocean
io:Indiana Oceano
id:Samudra Hindia
is:Indlandshaf
it:Oceano Indiano
he:×”×?×•×§×™×™× ×•×¡ ההודי
ka:ინდ�ეთის �კე�ნე
sw:Bahari ya Hindi
la:Oceanus Indicus
lt:Indijos vandenynas
hu:Indiai-óceán
nl:Indische Oceaan
ja:インド洋
no:Indiahavet
nn:Det indiske havet
pl:Ocean Indyjski
pt:Oceano Ã?ndico
ro:Oceanul Indian
ru:ИндийÑ?кий океан
sa:सिन�ध� महासागर
simple:Indian Ocean
sk:Indický oceán
sl:Indijski ocean
sr:ИндијÑ?ки океан
fi:Intian valtameri
sv:Indiska oceanen
ta:இந�த� சம�த�திரம�
th:มหาสมุทรà¸à¸´à¸™à¹€à¸”ีย
vi:Ấn Ä?á»™ DÆ°Æ¡ng
tr:Hint Okyanusu
uk:ІндійÑ?ький океан
zh:�度洋
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see
Indian Ocean
The '''
Indian Ocean''' is the third-largest body of water in the world, covering about 20% of the Earth's water surface. It is bounded on the north by southern
Asia (the Indian Sub-continent); on the west by the
Arabia Arabian Peninsula and
Africa; on the east by the
Malay Peninsula, the
Sunda Islands, and
Australia; and on the south by the
Southern Ocean. This ocean is the only one named for a country, India.
Category:Oceans
ca:Categoria:Oceà �ndic
cv:Категори:Инди океанĕ
et:Kategooria:India ookean
fr:Catégorie:Océan Indien
ko:분류:��양
hr:Kategorija:Indijski ocean
is:Flokkur:Indlandshaf
nl:Categorie:Indische Oceaan
ja:Category:インド洋
no:Kategori:Indiahavet
nn:Kategori:Det indiske havet
pl:Kategoria:Ocean Indyjski
pt:Categoria:Oceano Ã?ndico
ru:КатегориÑ?:ИндийÑ?кий океан
sk:Kategória:Indický oceán
sl:Kategorija:Indijski ocean
*** Shopping-Tip: Indian Ocean
