part of the World Ocean bounded by Europe and Africa to the east and North and South America to the west. Its name supposedly comes from the Atlas Mountains in northern Africa or from the mythical lost continent Atlantis.
The Atlantic Ocean is second in size only to the Pacific; its area is approximately 91.56 million km2. It is distinguished from other oceans by its highly rugged coastline, forming numerous seas and bays, especially in the northern part. In addition, the total area of river basins flowing into this ocean or its marginal seas is significantly larger than that of rivers flowing into any other ocean. Another difference of the Atlantic Ocean is the relatively small number of islands and the complex bottom topography, which, thanks to underwater ridges and uplifts, forms many separate basins.
NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
Borders and coastline. The Atlantic Ocean is divided into northern and southern parts, the border between which is conventionally drawn along the equator. From an oceanographic point of view, however, the southern part of the ocean should include the equatorial countercurrent, located at 5-8° N latitude. The northern border is usually drawn along the Arctic Circle. In some places this boundary is marked by underwater ridges. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Atlantic Ocean has a highly indented coastline. Its relatively narrow northern part is connected to the Arctic Ocean by three narrow straits. In the northeast, the 360 km wide Davis Strait (at the latitude of the Arctic Circle) connects it with the Baffin Sea, which belongs to the Arctic Ocean. In the central part, between Greenland and Iceland, there is the Denmark Strait, at its narrowest point only 287 km wide. Finally, in the northeast, between Iceland and Norway, is the Norwegian Sea, approx. 1220 km. In the east, two water areas protruding deeply into the land are separated from the Atlantic Ocean. The more northern of them begins with the North Sea, which to the east passes into the Baltic Sea with the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. To the south there is a system of inland seas - the Mediterranean and the Black - with a total length of approx. 4000 km. In the Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the ocean with the Mediterranean Sea, there are two oppositely directed currents, one below the other. The lower position is occupied by the current coming from Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean, since Mediterranean waters, due to more intense evaporation from the surface, are characterized by greater salinity and, consequently, greater density. In the tropical zone in the southwest of the North Atlantic are the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, connected to the ocean by the Strait of Florida. Coast North America indented by small bays (Pamlico, Barnegat, Chesapeake, Delaware and Long Island Sound); to the northwest are the Bays of Fundy and St. Lawrence, the Strait of Belle Isle, Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay.
Islands. The largest islands are concentrated in the northern part of the ocean; these are the British Isles, Iceland, Newfoundland, Cuba, Haiti (Hispaniola) and Puerto Rico. On the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean there are several groups of small islands - the Azores, Canary Islands, and Cape Verde. Similar groups exist in the western part of the ocean. Examples include the Bahamas, Florida Keys and Lesser Antilles. The Greater and Lesser Antilles archipelagos form an island arc surrounding the eastern Caribbean Sea. In the Pacific Ocean, such island arcs are characteristic of deformation areas earth's crust. Deep-sea trenches are located along the convex side of the arc.
Bottom relief. The Atlantic Ocean basin is bordered by a shelf, the width of which varies. The shelf is cut through by deep gorges - the so-called. underwater canyons. Their origin is still controversial. One theory is that the canyons were cut by rivers when sea levels were lower than they are today. Another theory connects their formation with the activity of turbidity currents. It has been suggested that turbidity currents are the main agent responsible for the deposition of sediment on the ocean floor and that they are the ones that cut submarine canyons. The bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean has a complex, rugged topography formed by a combination of underwater ridges, hills, basins and gorges. Much of the ocean floor, from depths of about 60 m to several kilometers, is covered with thin, dark blue or bluish-green muddy sediments. A relatively small area is occupied by rocky outcrops and areas of gravel, pebble and sandy deposits, as well as deep-sea red clays. Telephone and telegraph cables were laid on the shelf in the North Atlantic Ocean to connect North America with Northwestern Europe. Here, the area of the North Atlantic shelf is home to industrial fishing areas that are among the most productive in the world. In the central part of the Atlantic Ocean, almost repeating the contours of the coastlines, there is a huge underwater mountain range approx. 16 thousand km, known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This ridge divides the ocean into two approximately equal parts. Most of the peaks of this underwater ridge do not reach the ocean surface and are located at a depth of at least 1.5 km. Some of the highest peaks rise above ocean level and form the islands - the Azores in the North Atlantic and Tristan da Cunha - in the South. In the south, the ridge skirts the coast of Africa and continues further north into the Indian Ocean. A rift zone stretches along the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Currents. Surface currents in the North Atlantic Ocean move clockwise. The main elements of this big system are the northward warm Gulf Stream, as well as the North Atlantic, Canary and Northern Trade Wind (Equatorial) Currents. The Gulf Stream follows from the Strait of Florida and Cuba in a northerly direction along the coast of the United States and approximately 40° N latitude. deviates to the northeast, changing its name to the North Atlantic Current. This current is divided into two branches, one of which follows northeast along the coast of Norway and further into the Arctic Ocean. It is thanks to it that the climate of Norway and all of northwestern Europe is much warmer than would be expected at latitudes corresponding to the area extending from Nova Scotia to southern Greenland. The second branch turns south and further southwest along the coast of Africa, forming the cold Canary Current. This current moves southwest and joins the North Trade Wind Current, which heads west towards the West Indies, where it merges with the Gulf Stream. To the north of the North Trade Wind Current there is an area of stagnant waters, teeming with algae, known as the Sargasso Sea. The cold Labrador Current runs along the North Atlantic coast of North America from north to south, coming from Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea and cooling the shores of New England.
SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
Borders and coastline. Some experts refer to the Atlantic Ocean in the south all the water space up to the Antarctic ice sheet; others take the southern limit of the Atlantic to be an imaginary line connecting Cape Horn in South America with the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. The coastline in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean is much less indented than in the northern part; there are also no inland seas through which the influence of the ocean could penetrate deep into the continents of Africa and South America. The only large bay on the African coast is the Gulf of Guinea. On the coast of South America, large bays are also few in number. The southernmost tip of this continent - Tierra del Fuego - has an indented coastline bordered by numerous small islands.
Islands. There are no large islands in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean, but there are isolated isolated islands, such as Fernando de Noronha, Ascension, Sao Paulo, St. Helena, the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, and in the extreme south - Bouvet, South Georgia , South Sandwich, South Orkney, Falkland Islands.
Bottom relief. In addition to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, there are two main submarine mountain ranges in the South Atlantic. The whale ridge extends from the southwestern tip of Angola to the island. Tristan da Cunha, where it joins the Mid-Atlantic. The Rio de Janeiro Ridge stretches from the Tristan da Cunha Islands to the city of Rio de Janeiro and consists of groups of individual underwater hills.
Currents. The major current systems in the South Atlantic Ocean move counterclockwise. The South Trade Wind Current is directed to the west. At the protrusion of the eastern coast of Brazil, it divides into two branches: the northern one carries water along the northern coast of South America to the Caribbean, and the southern one, the warm Brazil Current, moves south along the coast of Brazil and joins the Western Winds Current, or Antarctic Current, which heads east , and then to the northeast. Part of this cold current separates and carries its waters north along the African coast, forming the cold Benguela Current; the latter eventually joins the South Trade Wind Current. The warm Guinea Current moves south along the coast of Northwest Africa into the Gulf of Guinea.
LITERATURE
Atlas of the Oceans. T. 2. Atlantic and Indian Oceans. L., 1977 Geography of the World Ocean: Atlantic Ocean. L., 1984
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part of the World Ocean bounded by Europe and Africa to the east and North and South America to the west. Its name supposedly comes from the Atlas Mountains in northern Africa or from the mythical lost continent of Atlantis.
The Atlantic Ocean is second in size only to the Pacific; its area is approximately 91.56 million km 2. It is distinguished from other oceans by its highly rugged coastline, forming numerous seas and bays, especially in the northern part. In addition, the total area of river basins flowing into this ocean or its marginal seas is significantly larger than that of rivers flowing into any other ocean. Another difference of the Atlantic Ocean is the relatively small number of islands and the complex bottom topography, which, thanks to underwater ridges and uplifts, forms many separate basins.
Atlas of the Oceans. T. 2. Atlantic and Indian Oceans. L., 1977
Geography of the World Ocean: Atlantic Ocean. L., 1984
Oceans and seas cover 361.26 million km2, or 70.8% earth's surface. In the northern hemisphere, land occupies 39.4% of the surface of our planet, oceans - 60.6%, in southern hemisphere land accounts for only 19%, while the ocean accounts for 81%.
More than one third of the earth's surface is occupied by the Pacific Ocean. It is the deepest, coldest and least saline ocean, although it receives a relatively small portion of river flow. Near the equator, the width of the Pacific Ocean reaches 17 thousand km.
The second largest ocean, the Atlantic, is relatively narrow. Its width is approximately 5000 km. It stretches like a winding ribbon between the poles. If the area occupied by the Pacific Ocean reaches 178.7 million km2, then the area of the Atlantic Ocean is 91.6 million km2. It is shallower than the Pacific Ocean. Its average depth is 3597 m (Tikhogo - 3940 m). In this respect, it is inferior to the Indian Ocean, whose average depth is 3711 m with an area of 76.17 million km2. Many large rivers discharge water into the Atlantic Ocean. The volume of water carried by the Amazon and Congo alone accounts for about 25% of the total flow of rivers flowing into the ocean. Despite this, Atlantic waters are the most saline - 34-37.3% (the average salinity of ocean waters is 34.71%). These are also the warmest waters, their average temperature reaches 3.99 ° C (the World Ocean - 3.51 ° C). This paradoxical situation is due to the high level of exchange between the Atlantic Ocean and the marginal seas, the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, whose waters are characterized by high temperatures and high salinity.
The third largest ocean, the Indian Ocean, is mostly located in the southern hemisphere. It reaches its maximum width in the very south, between South Africa and New Zealand - 15 thousand km. Three major rivers flow into the Indian Ocean basin - the Ganges, Indus and Brahmaputra. The average water temperature in the Indian Ocean is 3.88 ° C, the average salinity is 34.78%, i.e., close to the average for the World Ocean.
The smallest and shallowest is the Arctic Ocean. Its salinity is low, since it is surrounded on all sides by land, from which many small and large rivers flow. A significant part of the ocean surface is covered with ice.
Although modern oceans have different sizes, their structure is approximately the same. In any ocean, approximately three equivalent zones can be distinguished: continental margins, abyssal basins and mid-ocean ridges. Continental margins, including the shelf, slope and its foot, occupy approximately 20.5% of the surface of the ocean floor, abyssal basins account for 41.8% of their area, and mid-ocean ridges and rises of the central ocean type account for 32.7%. The last value is typical for all oceans. The relationship between the continental margins and abyssal basins varies within quite significant limits. Thus, in the Atlantic Ocean, where the width of the shelves is greatest, the continental margins occupy approximately 28% of the bottom area, and abyssal basins - 38%. In the Pacific Ocean the situation is reversed: 15.7% are underwater continental margins, 43% are abyssal basins. True, there are many deep-sea trenches, but their area is only 2.9% of the total ocean area. Free-standing submarine volcanoes and volcanic ridges are most numerous in the Pacific Ocean, but they occupy a smaller area there than in the Indian Ocean (2.5% compared to 5.4%). However, many of these figures still need clarification.
The oceans have formed sustainable systems surface and bottom currents. The pattern of distribution of warm and cold surface currents in the largest ocean basins is approximately the same. In equatorial regions, wind transport from east to west dominates, which generates the northern and southern equatorial currents. The first operates in the northern hemisphere, the second in the southern hemisphere. They are separated by a rather narrow zone, within which water transfer occurs in the opposite direction, east direction. This is the so-called Equatorial Countercurrent.
Each of the equatorial currents is associated with a relatively closed system of other currents that form a macrocirculation cell. Thus, the North Equatorial Current in the Atlantic Ocean, deviating to the north near the ridge of the Lesser Antilles, generates the warm Gulf Stream. The latter moves first along the continental margin of North America and then crosses the North Atlantic. From here, cooled waters begin to move south toward the equator, forming the cold Canary Current. In the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, the role of the Gulf Stream is played by another warm current, the Kuroshio, which rises to moderate and high latitudes along the coast of Japan. Cooling, the waters brought by Kuroshio rush south, moving near the Pacific coast of North America. This cold boundary current is called the California Current. Large macrocirculation cells also emerged in the southern half of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. Here, in high latitudes, under the influence of the prevailing westerly winds around Antarctica, a powerful current of the Western Winds operates. Some of its branches, deviating to the north, in the form of cold boundary currents rush to the equator along the western coasts of Africa, Australia and South America. Deflected by trade winds, the main branches of these currents follow further through the tropics to the western continental margins, from where they move south in the form of warm waste currents. These subtropical macrocirculation cells, as in the northern hemisphere, are anticyclonic in nature. Other branches of cold compensation currents, deviating to the east, form small circulation cells of the cyclonic type in the eastern periphery of the tropical zone of the oceans. In the subpolar and polar regions of the northern hemisphere, in the areas of the Icelandic and Aleutian lows, there are cyclonic gyres, well expressed in the autumn-winter seasons.
Differences in the density and temperature of surface and bottom waters give rise to vertical water exchange. The consequence of this is the emergence of bottom geostrophic currents directed from high latitudes to the equator. Since these underwater rivers flow along the continental slopes and over their feet, that is, along the contours of the continents in the western regions of the oceans, they are called contour currents. The most powerful of them cross the equator, penetrating into the other hemisphere.
These are the most general outline Features of modern ocean circulation. All of the above indicates that ocean basins are separate cells of a single whole system, constructed in structural, morphological and oceanological terms quite uniformly. Next, we will show that the evolution of the oceans and the geological processes occurring in them obey the same laws.
Atlantic Ocean, part of the World Ocean bounded by Europe and Africa to the east and North and South America to the west.
Its name supposedly comes from the Atlas Mountains in northern Africa or from the mythical lost continent of Atlantis. The Atlantic Ocean is second in size only to the Pacific; its area is approximately 91.56 million km2.
It is distinguished from other oceans by its highly rugged coastline, forming numerous seas and bays, especially in the northern part. In addition, the total area of river basins flowing into this ocean or its marginal seas is significantly larger than that of rivers flowing into any other ocean. Another difference of the Atlantic Ocean is the relatively small number of islands and the complex bottom topography, which, thanks to underwater ridges and rises, forms many separate basins.
Borders and coastline. The Atlantic Ocean is divided into northern and southern parts, the border between which is conventionally drawn along the equator. From an oceanographic point of view, however, the southern part of the ocean should include the equatorial countercurrent, located at 5–8° N latitude. The northern border is usually drawn along the Arctic Circle. In some places this boundary is marked by underwater ridges.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the Atlantic Ocean has a highly indented coastline. Its relatively narrow northern part is connected to the Arctic Ocean by three narrow straits. In the northeast, the 360 km wide Davis Strait (at the latitude of the Arctic Circle) connects it with the Baffin Sea, which belongs to the Arctic Ocean. In the central part, between Greenland and Iceland, there is the Denmark Strait, at its narrowest point only 287 km wide. Finally, in the northeast, between Iceland and Norway, there is the Norwegian Sea, approx. 1220 km. In the east, two water areas protruding deeply into the land are separated from the Atlantic Ocean.
The more northern of them begins with the North Sea, which to the east passes into the Baltic Sea with the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. To the south there is a system of inland seas - the Mediterranean and the Black - with a total length of approx. 4000 km. In the Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the ocean with the Mediterranean Sea, there are two oppositely directed currents, one below the other. The current moving from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean occupies a lower position, since Mediterranean waters, due to more intense evaporation from the surface, are characterized by greater salinity and, consequently, greater density.
In the tropical zone in the southwest of the North Atlantic are the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, connected to the ocean by the Strait of Florida. The coast of North America is indented by small bays (Pamlico, Barnegat, Chesapeake, Delaware and Long Island Sound); to the northwest are the Bays of Fundy and St. Lawrence, the Strait of Belle Isle, Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay.
Islands. The largest islands are concentrated in the northern part of the ocean; these are the British Isles, Iceland, Newfoundland, Cuba, Haiti (Hispaniola) and Puerto Rico. On the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean there are several groups of small islands - the Azores, Canary Islands, and Cape Verde. Similar groups exist in the western part of the ocean. Examples include the Bahamas, Florida Keys and Lesser Antilles. The Greater and Lesser Antilles archipelagos form an island arc surrounding the eastern Caribbean Sea. In the Pacific Ocean, such island arcs are characteristic of areas of crustal deformation. Deep-sea trenches are located along the convex side of the arc.
Bottom relief. The Atlantic Ocean basin is bordered by a shelf, the width of which varies. The shelf is cut through by deep gorges - the so-called. underwater canyons. Their origin is still controversial. One theory is that the canyons were cut by rivers when sea levels were lower than they are today. Another theory connects their formation with the activity of turbidity currents. It has been suggested that turbidity currents are the main agent responsible for the deposition of sediment on the ocean floor and that they are the ones that cut submarine canyons.
The bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean has a complex, rugged topography formed by a combination of underwater ridges, hills, basins and gorges. Most of the ocean floor, from depths of about 60 m to several kilometers, is covered with thin, muddy sediments that are dark blue or bluish-green in color. A relatively small area is occupied by rocky outcrops and areas of gravel, pebble and sandy deposits, as well as deep-sea red clays.
Telephone and telegraph cables were laid on the shelf in the North Atlantic Ocean to connect North America with Northwestern Europe. Here, the area of the North Atlantic shelf is home to industrial fishing areas that are among the most productive in the world.
In the central part of the Atlantic Ocean, almost repeating the contours of the coastlines, there is a huge underwater mountain chain approx. 16 thousand km, known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This ridge divides the ocean into two approximately equal parts. Most of the peaks of this underwater ridge do not reach the ocean surface and are located at a depth of at least 1.5 km. Some of the highest peaks rise above ocean level and form the islands - the Azores in the North Atlantic and Tristan da Cunha - in the South. In the south, the ridge skirts the coast of Africa and continues further north into the Indian Ocean. A rift zone stretches along the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Currents. Surface currents in the North Atlantic Ocean move clockwise. The main elements of this large system are the northward warm Gulf Stream, as well as the North Atlantic, Canary and North Trade Wind (Equatorial) Currents. The Gulf Stream follows from the Strait of Florida and Cuba in a northerly direction along the coast of the United States and approximately 40° N latitude. deviates to the northeast, changing its name to the North Atlantic Current. This current is divided into two branches, one of which follows northeast along the coast of Norway and further into the Arctic Ocean. It is thanks to it that the climate of Norway and all of northwestern Europe is much warmer than would be expected at latitudes corresponding to the area stretching from Nova Scotia to southern Greenland.
The second branch turns south and further southwest along the coast of Africa, forming the cold Canary Current. This current moves southwest and joins the North Trade Wind Current, which heads west towards the West Indies, where it merges with the Gulf Stream. To the north of the North Trade Wind Current there is an area of stagnant waters, teeming with algae, known as the Sargasso Sea. The cold Labrador Current runs along the North Atlantic coast of North America from north to south, coming from Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea and cooling the shores of New England.
Borders and coastline. Some experts refer to the Atlantic Ocean in the south all the water space up to the Antarctic ice sheet; others take the southern limit of the Atlantic to be an imaginary line connecting Cape Horn in South America with the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. The coastline in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean is much less indented than in the northern part; there are also no inland seas through which the influence of the ocean could penetrate deep into the continents of Africa and South America. The only large bay on the African coast is the Gulf of Guinea. On the coast of South America, large bays are also few in number. The southernmost tip of this continent, Tierra del Fuego, has an indented coastline bordered by numerous small islands.
The Atlantic Ocean is considered one of the largest and most voluminous in size, namely the second in size after the Pacific Ocean. This ocean is the most studied and developed when compared with other water areas. Its location is as follows: in the east it is framed by the shores of North and South America, and in the west its borders end in Europe and Africa. In the South it passes into the Southern Ocean. And on the northern side it borders with Greenland. The ocean is distinguished by the fact that there are very few islands in it, and the topography of its bottom is all dotted and has a complex structure. The coastline is broken.
Characteristics of the Atlantic Ocean
If we talk about the area of the ocean, it occupies 91.66 million square meters. km. We can say that part of its territory is not the ocean itself, but existing seas and bays. The volume of the ocean is 329.66 million square meters. km, and its average depth is 3736 m. Where the Puerto Rico Trench is located, the ocean is considered to have the greatest depth, which is 8742 m. There are two currents - North and South.
Atlantic Ocean from the north
The ocean boundary from the north is marked in some places by ridges located under water. In this hemisphere, the Atlantic is framed by an indented coastline. Its small northern part is connected to the Arctic Ocean by several narrow straits. Davis Strait is located in the northeast and connects the ocean with the Baffin Sea, which is also considered to belong to the Arctic Ocean. Closer to the center, the Denmark Strait is less wide than the Davis Strait. Between Norway and Iceland, closer to the northeast, is the Norwegian Sea.
In the southwest of the Northern Current of the ocean are the Gulf of Mexico, which is connected by the Strait of Florida. And also the Caribbean Sea. There are many bays to note here, such as Barnegat, Delaware, Hudson Bay and others. It is in the northern side of the ocean that you can see the largest and largest islands, which are famous for their fame. These are Puerto Rico, the world famous Cuba and Haiti, as well as the British Isles and Newfoundland. Closer to the east you can find small groups of islands. These are the Canary Islands, the Azores and Cape Verde. Closer to the west are the Bahamas and the Lesser Antilles.
South Atlantic Ocean
Some geographers believe that the southern part is the entire space up to Antarctica. Someone is defining the border at Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope between two continents. The coastline in the south of the Atlantic Ocean is not as indented as in the north, and there are no seas. There is one large bay near Africa - Guinean. The farthest point in the south is Tierra del Fuego, which is framed by small islands in large numbers. Also, you cannot find large islands here, but there are separate islands, like. Ascension, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha. In the far south you can find the Southern Islands, Bouvet, Falkland and others.
As for the current in the southern ocean, here all systems flow counterclockwise. Near eastern Brazil, the South Trade Wind Current branches. One branch goes north, flows near the northern coast of South America, filling the Caribbean. And the second is considered southern, very warm, moves near Brazil and soon connects with the Antarctic Current, then heads to the east. Partially separates and turns into the Benguela Current, which is distinguished by its cold waters.
Attractions of the Atlantic Ocean
There is a special underwater cave in the Belize Barrier Reef. It was called the Blue Hole. It is very deep, and inside it there is a whole series of caves that are connected to each other by tunnels. The depth of the cave reaches 120 m and is considered unique of its kind.
There is no person who does not know about the Bermuda Triangle. But it is located in the Atlantic Ocean and excites the imagination of many superstitious travelers. Bermuda attracts with its mystery, but at the same time frightens with the unknown.
It is in the Atlantic that you can see an unusual sea that has no shores. And all because it is located in the middle of a body of water, and its boundaries cannot be framed by land, only currents show the boundaries of this sea. This is the only sea in the world that has such unique data and is called the Sargasso Sea.
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