Oceans
and Seas
The water in the oceans and seas is termed as
marine water. Continuous water body that surrounds the continents, created by
earth’s internal force is known as Ocean. The term ocean takes its origin from
the Greek word ‘Oceaonus’ meaning enormous river encircling the earth. The
area of the World Ocean is 361 million square kilometre. The earth has at
present five major oceans: The Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian
Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, and the Southern ocean (Figure 5.3). All these oceans
are interconnected to form one Global
Ocean or World Ocean. This
nature of water to level up quickly
has made it as a reference point to measure the height of the land features and
the depth of the sea features.
Fact File
Mean
Sea Level (MSL) is the average height of the surface of the sea for
all stages of the tide. MSL is reference point to measure the height of land
features and depth of the sea features.
Sea is a body of saline water (generally a division of the world ocean) partly
or fully enclosed by land. Marginal sea
is a sea partially enclosed by islands, archipelagos, or peninsulas and
extension of oceans towards land. They are generally shallow. Andaman Sea,
Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Java Sea, Persian Gulf and Red Sea are marginal
seas of the Indian Ocean.
Bay is a water body surrounded on three sides by land and the fourth side
(mouth) wide open towards an ocean. Gulf
is a large body of water, with a narrow mouth, that is almost completely
surrounded by land. The world’s largest gulf is the Gulf of Mexico. Sound, creek, bight and cove are bays which vary in size and
depth.
Strait is a narrow channel of water, connecting two larger bodies of water. Palk Strait connects Gulf
of Mannar and Bay of Bengal. Isthmus
is a narrowSea is a body of saline
water (generally a division of the
world ocean) partly or fully enclosed by land. Marginal sea is a sea partially enclosed by islands, archipelagos,
or peninsulas and extension of oceans towards land. They are generally shallow.
Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Java Sea, Persian Gulf and Red Sea are
marginal seas of the Indian Ocean.
Bay is a water body surrounded on three sides by land and the fourth side
(mouth) wide open towards an ocean. Gulf
is a large body of water, with a narrow mouth, that is almost completely
surrounded by land. The world’s largest gulf is the Gulf of Mexico. Sound, creek, bight and cove are bays which vary in size and
depth.
Strait is a narrow channel of water, connecting two larger bodies of water. Palk Strait connects Gulf
of Mannar and Bay of Bengal. Isthmus
is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land masses. Isthmus of Suez
connects Africa and Asia.
Enclosed
seas are seas that reach very deep into the continent stay connected
with one or the other ocean of the world through straits. Mediterranean Sea is
the best example for enclosed sea. Partly
Enclosed Seas are those types of
seas that are connected to the
oceans by a very wide opening and have similar characters of the adjacent
ocean. A series of islands may also occur between a partly enclosed sea and the
ocean to which it is connected. Caribbean Sea is a perfect example.
Landlocked
Seas are completely surrounded by landmass on all sides
without any natural outlet. They are actually hyper saline lakes. Dead Sea and
Caspian Sea are good examples of landlocked seas. Jordon River and Volga River
flow into Dead Sea and Caspian Sea respectively.
Fjord is a long indented bay with steep slope that has been created by the submergence of U shaped
glacial valley. Example: sogne Fjord in Norway (203 km).
Ria is an indented bay with gradual slope formed by the submergence of V shaped river valley. George River in Sydney is the best example for Ria.
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