Portal:Oceans

The Oceans Portal
A portal dedicated to oceans, seas, oceanography and related topics

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Introduction

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The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as oceans (in descending order by area: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Antarctic/Southern Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean), and are themselves mostly divided into seas, gulfs and subsequent bodies of water. The ocean contains 97% of Earth's water and is the primary component of Earth's hydrosphere, acting as a huge reservoir of heat for Earth's energy budget, as well as for its carbon cycle and water cycle, forming the basis for climate and weather patterns worldwide. The ocean is essential to life on Earth, harbouring most of Earth's animals and protist life, originating photosynthesis and therefore Earth's atmospheric oxygen, still supplying half of it. (Full article...)

A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order sections of the oceanic sea (e.g. the Mediterranean Sea), or certain large, nearly landlocked bodies of water. (Full article...)

Oceanography (from Ancient Greek ὠκεανός (ōkeanós) 'ocean' and γραφή (graphḗ) 'writing'), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. (Full article...)

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Thermohaline circulation (THC) is a part of the large-scale ocean circulation driven by global density gradients formed by surface heat and freshwater fluxes. The name thermohaline is derived from thermo-, referring to temperature, and haline, referring to salt content—factors which together determine the density of sea water.

Wind-driven surface currents (such as the Gulf Stream) travel polewards from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, cooling and sinking en-route to higher latitudes - eventually becoming part of the North Atlantic Deep Water - before flowing into the ocean basins. While the bulk of thermohaline water upwells in the Southern Ocean, the oldest waters (with a transit time of approximately 1000 years) upwell in the North Pacific; extensive mixing takes place between the ocean basins, reducing the difference in their densities, forming the Earth's oceans a global system. The water in these circuits transport energy - as heat - and mass - as dissolved solids and gases - around the globe. Consequently, the state of the circulation greatly impacts the climate of Earth. (Full article...)

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Interesting facts - show different entries

In 1979, the RISE project first discovered hydrothermal vents known as 'black smokers', on a mid-ocean ridge in the Pacific Ocean.

Reproduction in the sea wasp Carybdea marsupialis involves a sexual reproduction phase, budding and fragmentation.

American chemical weapons researcher and oceanographer Thomas Gordon Thompson sold his stamp collection to pay for his private island.

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Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Article requests : List of oceanographers, create a comprehensive article on Concentrations of marine debris out of all the gyre and "garbage patch" articles
Copyedit : Draft:Terrance (octopus)
Expand : Coral Sea, Endeavour Strait, Greenland Sea, Solomon Sea
Photo : find images for Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in the oceans
Stubs : Oceanography stub articles, Marine geography stub articles, Aleutian Trench, Bellingshausen Sea, Caernarfon Bay, Gerlache Strait, Gulf of Oman, Iceland Sea, Draft:Terrance (octopus)
Update : Botany Bay, Wilkins Sound, Mariana Trench, Challenger Deep
Verify : Antarctic Circumpolar Current, Bering Sea, Gulf of Aden, Iceberg B-15, Ionian Sea, Japan Trench, Moreton Bay, Sound (geography), Timor Sea
Other : add ISBNs and remove excessive or inappropriate external links from Aral Sea; check La Belle (ship) for GA status; improve citations or footnotes and remove excessive or inappropriate external links from MS Estonia

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General images - show new batch

The following are images from various ocean-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Banks of the northwest Atlantic (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 2Maris Pacifici by Ortelius (1589). One of the first printed maps to show the Pacific Ocean (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 3A female warty squid (Moroteuthis ingens) (from Southern Ocean)
Image 4Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration, circa 1702–1707 (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 5Malé's population has increased from 20,000 people in 1987 to more than 220,000 people in 2020. (from Indian Ocean)
Image 6The International Hydrographic Organization's delineation of the "Southern Ocean" has moved steadily southward since the original 1928 edition of its Limits of Oceans and Seas. (from Southern Ocean)
Image 7The island geography of the Pacific Ocean Basin (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 8False color map of ocean depth in the Atlantic basin (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 9The British invasion of Isle de France on 29 November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars (from Indian Ocean)
Image 10MS Explorer in Antarctica in January 1999. She sank on 23 November 2007 after hitting an iceberg. (from Southern Ocean)
Image 11The Andaman Negritos are thought to be the first inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, having emigrated from the mainland tens of thousands of years ago. (from Indian Ocean)
Image 12Major ocean trade routes in the world include the northern Indian Ocean. (from Indian Ocean)
Image 13The Antarctic Ocean, as delineated by the draft 4th edition of the International Hydrographic Organization's Limits of Oceans and Seas (2002) (from Southern Ocean)
Image 14Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are a keystone species of the food web. (from Southern Ocean)
Image 15Mombasa Port on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast (from Indian Ocean)
Image 16Universalis Cosmographia, also known as the Waldseemüller map, dated 1507, was the first map to show the Americas separating two distinct oceans. South America was generally considered the New World and shows the name "America" for the first time, after Amerigo Vespucci (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 17An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) map of the Pacific (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 18In 2020, Japanese Prime Minister Suga declined to drink the bottle of Fukushima's treated radioactive water that he was holding, which would otherwise be discharged to the Pacific. (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 19The Aethiopian Ocean depicted in a 1710 French map of Africa (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 20Tarawa Atoll in Kiribati (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 21"Terres Australes" [sic] label without any charted landmass (from Southern Ocean)
Image 22Walruses on Arctic ice floe (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 23Famous official portrait of Captain James Cook who proved that waters encompassed the southern latitudes of the globe. "He holds his own chart of the Southern Ocean on the table and his right hand points to the east coast of Australia on it." (from Southern Ocean)
Image 24The Atlantic Gyres influenced the Portuguese discoveries and trading port routes, here shown in the India Run ("Carreira da Índia"), which would be developed in subsequent years. (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 25A stratovolcano in Ulawun on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 261928 delineation (from Southern Ocean)
Image 27Fish of the Notothenioidei suborder, such as this young icefish, are mostly restricted to the Antarctic and Subantarctic. (from Southern Ocean)
Image 28Impact of El Niño and La Niña on North America (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 29Capture of Atlantic northwest cod in million tons (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 30In the subpolar gyre of the North Atlantic warm subtropical waters are transformed into colder subpolar and polar waters. In the Labrador Sea this water flows back to the subtropical gyre. (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 31Agulhas Bank (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 32The three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands: Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 33Waves 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.
Image 34The Kennedy Channel. (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 35Admiral von Bellingshausen (from Southern Ocean)
Image 36Excavation of the Ertebølle middens in 1880 (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 37Path of the thermohaline circulation. Purple paths represent deep-water currents, while blue paths represent surface currents.
Image 38On the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean temporary logistic stations may be installed. Here, a Twin Otter is refueled on the pack ice at 86°N, 76°43‘W. on April 16, 1990 during a flight to the North Pole (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 39The Arctic Ocean, with borders as delineated by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), including Hudson Bay (some of which is south of 57°N latitude, off the map) and all other marginal seas. (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 40Banks of the northeast Atlantic (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 41Embarked and disembarked slaves in the Atlantic slave trade 1525–1863 (first and last slave voyages) (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 42Madagascar's elephant bird, Mauritius's dodo bird and ostrich (from left to right) (from Indian Ocean)
Image 431911 South Polar Regions exploration map (from Southern Ocean)
Image 44Marine debris strewn over the beaches of the South Atlantic Inaccessible Island (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 45Iceberg A22A in the South Atlantic Ocean (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 461937 delineation (from Southern Ocean)
Image 47Density structure of the upper 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in the Arctic Ocean. Profiles of temperature and salinity for the Amundsen Basin, the Canadian Basin and the Greenland Sea are sketched. (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 48Portrait of Edmund Halley by Godfrey Kneller (before 1721) (from Southern Ocean)
Image 49Cod fishery in Norway (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 50Based on the medieval Íslendingasögur sagas, including the Grœnlendinga saga, this interpretative map of the "Norse World" shows that Norse knowledge of the Americas and the Atlantic remained limited. (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 51
Upwelling in the Southern Ocean
(from Southern Ocean)
Image 52Manganese nodule (from Southern Ocean)
Image 53Orca (Orcinus orca) hunting a Weddell seal in the Southern Ocean (from Southern Ocean)
Image 54The Arctic region showing the Northeast Passage, the Northern Sea Route within it, and the Northwest Passage via Canadian Inland Waters. (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 55Seas that are parts of the Southern Ocean (from Southern Ocean)
Image 56Three polar bears approach USS Honolulu near the North Pole. (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 57Regional Working Group zones for SOOS (from Southern Ocean)
Image 58Model of a Fijian drua, an example of an Austronesian vessel with a double-canoe (catamaran) hull and a crab claw sail (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 59The bathyscaphe Trieste before her record dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, 23 January 1960 (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 60USS Vincennes at Disappointment Bay, Antarctica in early 1840 (from Southern Ocean)
Image 61Sea cover in the Arctic Ocean, showing the median, 2005 and 2007 coverage (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 62Pacific Ocean currents have created three islands of debris. (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 63A Ring of Fire; the Pacific is ringed by many volcanoes and oceanic trenches. This map does not show the Cascadia subduction zone along part of the west coast of North America, whose trench is completely buried in sediments. (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 64The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is the strongest current system in the world oceans, linking the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific basins. (from Southern Ocean)
Image 65Marine debris on a Hawaiian coast in 2008 (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 66Thule archaeological site (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 67Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration, circa 1754. (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 68Frank Hurley: As time wore on it became more and more evident that the ship was doomed (Endurance trapped in pack ice), National Library of Australia. (from Southern Ocean)
Image 69Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are the most southerly of Antarctic mammals. (from Southern Ocean)
Image 70As the Gulf Stream meanders across the North Atlantic from the North American east coast to Western Europe its temperature drops by 20 °C (36 °F).
Image 71Sunset over the Pacific Ocean as seen from the International Space Station. Tops of thunderclouds are also visible. (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 72Emanuel Bowen's 1780s map of the Arctic features a "Northern Ocean". (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 73A wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) on South Georgia (from Southern Ocean)
Image 74Sunset in Monterey County, California, U.S. (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 75Coral reefs of the Maldives (from Indian Ocean)
Image 76Continents and islands of the Southern Ocean (from Southern Ocean)
Image 77Area inside the black line indicates the area constituting the Pacific Ocean prior to 2002; darker blue areas are its informal current borders following the recreation of the Southern Ocean and the reinclusion of marginal seas. (from Southern Ocean)
Image 78The Austronesian maritime trade network was the first trade routes in the Indian Ocean. (from Indian Ocean)
Image 79James Weddell's second expedition in 1823, depicting the brig Jane and the cutter Beaufroy (from Southern Ocean)
Image 80Made in 1529, the Diogo Ribeiro map was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper size (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 81Minke whale (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 82A copepod (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 83Map showing the migration of the Austronesian peoples (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 84The 1564 Typus Orbis Terrarum, a map by Abraham Ortelius, showed the imagined link between the proposed continent of Antarctica and South America. (from Southern Ocean)
Image 85Air pollution in South Asia spread over the Bay of Bengal and beyond. (from Indian Ocean)
Image 86According to the Coastal hypothesis, modern humans spread from Africa along the northern rim of the Indian Ocean. (from Indian Ocean)
Image 87Distribution of the major water mass in the Arctic Ocean. The section sketches the different water masses along a vertical section from Bering Strait over the geographic North Pole to Fram Strait. As the stratification is stable, deeper water masses are denser than the layers above. (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 88Typhoon Tip at global peak intensity on 12 October 1979 (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 89Bahama Banks (from Atlantic Ocean)
Image 90A map of Australia's official interpretation of the names and limits of oceans and seas around Australia (from Southern Ocean)
Image 91Severe cracks in an ice pier in use for four seasons at McMurdo Station slowed cargo operations in 1983 and proved a safety hazard. (from Southern Ocean)
Image 92During summer, warm continental masses draw moist air from the Indian Ocean, producing heavy rainfall. The process is reversed during winter, resulting in dry conditions. (from Indian Ocean)
Image 93For most of the 16th century, the Portuguese dominated the Indian Ocean trade. (from Indian Ocean)
Image 94An adult and sub-adult Minke whale are dragged aboard the Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin Maru. (from Southern Ocean)
Image 95The Arctic region; of note, the region's southerly border on this map is depicted by a red isotherm, with all territory to the north having an average temperature of less than 10 °C (50 °F) in July. (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 96A bathymetric/topographic map of the Arctic Ocean and the surrounding lands. (from Arctic Ocean)
Image 97A Chagossian on Diego Garcia in 1971, before the British expelled the islanders. He spoke a French-based creole language and his ancestors were likely brought as slaves in the 19th century. (from Indian Ocean)
Image 98Location of the Southern Ocean gyres (from Southern Ocean)
Image 99An iceberg being pushed out of a shipping lane by (L to R) USS Burton Island, USS Atka, and USS Glacier near McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 1965 (from Southern Ocean)
Image 100Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, U.S. in 2020 (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 101The economically important Silk Road was blocked from Europe by the Ottoman Empire in c. 1453 with the fall of the Byzantine Empire. This spurred exploration, and a new sea route around Africa was found, triggering the Age of Discovery. (from Indian Ocean)
Image 102Aldabra giant tortoise from the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles (from Indian Ocean)
Image 103"Southern Ocean" as alternative to the Aethiopian Ocean, 18th century (from Southern Ocean)
Image 104A general delineation of the Antarctic Convergence, sometimes used by scientists as the demarcation of the Southern Ocean (from Southern Ocean)
Image 105Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars taking over Tahiti on 9 September 1842 (from Pacific Ocean)
Image 106Greco-Roman trade with ancient India according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea 1st century CE (from Indian Ocean)

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