Portal:Oceans
Wikipedia portal for content related to Oceans / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Oceans Portal
A portal dedicated to oceans, seas, oceanography and related topics
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Introduction
The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approx. 70.8% of Earth. In English, the term ocean also refers to any of the large bodies of water into which the world ocean is conventionally divided. The following names describe five different areas of the ocean: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern, and Arctic. The ocean contains 97% of Earth's water and is the primary component of Earth's hydrosphere, thus the ocean is essential to life on Earth. The ocean influences climate and weather patterns, the carbon cycle, and the water cycle by acting as a huge heat reservoir. (Full article...)
A sea is a large body of salty water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the wider body of seawater. 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 oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics; plate tectonics and seabed geology; and fluxes of various chemical substances and physical properties within the ocean and across its boundaries. These diverse topics reflect multiple disciplines that oceanographers utilize to glean further knowledge of the world ocean, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, geography, geology, hydrology, meteorology and physics. Paleoceanography studies the history of the oceans in the geologic past. An oceanographer is a person who studies many matters concerned with oceans, including marine geology, physics, chemistry, and biology. (Full article...)
Selected article - show another
Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and porpoises. Dolphins and porpoises may be considered whales from a formal, cladistic perspective. Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the order Cetartiodactyla, which consists of even-toed ungulates. Their closest non-cetacean living relatives are the hippopotamuses, from which they and other cetaceans diverged about 54 million years ago. The two parvorders of whales, baleen whales (Mysticeti) and toothed whales (Odontoceti), are thought to have had their last common ancestor around 34 million years ago. Mysticetes include four extant (living) families: Balaenopteridae (the rorquals), Balaenidae (right whales), Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale), and Eschrichtiidae (the grey whale). Odontocetes include the Monodontidae (belugas and narwhals), Physeteridae (the sperm whale), Kogiidae (the dwarf and pygmy sperm whale), and Ziphiidae (the beaked whales), as well as the six families of dolphins and porpoises which are not considered whales in the informal sense.
Whales are fully aquatic, open-ocean animals: they can feed, mate, give birth, suckle and raise their young at sea. Whales range in size from the 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) and 135 kilograms (298 lb) dwarf sperm whale to the 29.9 metres (98 ft) and 190 tonnes (210 short tons) blue whale, which is the largest known animal that has ever lived. The sperm whale is the largest toothed predator on Earth. Several whale species exhibit sexual dimorphism, in that the females are larger than males. (Full article...)Interesting facts - show different entries
- The color of the sea snail Simnia spelta varies, but when it grazes on the white gorgonian it mimics the twigs.
- A sculpture of the god Neptune on one of the parapets of the University of Washington's Gerberding Hall represents the academic disciplines of oceanography and fisheries science.
- After sinking the British ocean liner SS Dwinsk in June 1918, the German submarine U-151 remained in the area and used the survivors in seven lifeboats as a lure in order to try and sink additional Allied ships.
Selected list articles and Marine habitat topics
- List of oceans
- List of ancient oceans
- List of seas
- List of circumnavigations
- List of cruise lines
- List of largest lakes and seas in the Solar System
- List of marine biologists
- List of marine ecoregions
- List of maritime explorers
- List of naval battles
- List of ocean liners
- List of oceanographic institutions and programs
- List of oldest surviving ships
- List of rogue waves
- List of seafood dishes
- List of submarine topographical features
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General images - show new batch
- Image 1Capture of Atlantic northwest cod in million tons (from Atlantic Ocean)
- Image 2Continents and islands of the Southern Ocean (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 3Frank 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 4Greco-Roman trade with ancient India according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea 1st century CE (from Indian Ocean)
- Image 6Malé's population has increased from 20,000 people in 1987 to more than 220,000 people in 2020. (from Indian Ocean)
- Image 8The three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands: Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia (from Pacific Ocean)
- Image 9Fish of the Notothenioidei suborder, such as this young icefish, are mostly restricted to the Antarctic and Subantarctic. (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 10For most of the 16th century, the Portuguese dominated the Indian Ocean trade. (from Indian Ocean)
- Image 11The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is the strongest current system in the world oceans, linking the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific basins. (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 12The 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 13MS Explorer in Antarctica in January 1999. She sank on 23 November 2007 after hitting an iceberg. (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 14The International Hydrographic Organization's delineation of the "Southern Ocean" has moved steadily southwards since the original 1928 edition of its Limits of Oceans and Seas. (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 15The 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 16Area 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 17According to the Coastal hypothesis, modern humans spread from Africa along the northern rim of the Indian Ocean. (from Indian Ocean)
- Image 18Walruses on Arctic ice floe (from Arctic Ocean)
- Image 19The 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 21"Terres Australes" [sic] label without any charted landmass (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 23Model 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 24Admiral von Bellingshausen (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 25Distribution 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 26Embarked and disembarked slaves in the Atlantic slave trade 1525–1863 (first and last slave voyages) (from Atlantic Ocean)
- Image 29Air pollution in South Asia spread over the Bay of Bengal and beyond. (from Indian Ocean)
- Image 30An exclusive economic zone map of the Pacific which excludes non-tropical islands. (from Pacific Ocean)
- Image 31Banks of the northeast Atlantic (from Atlantic Ocean)
- Image 32Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are a keystone species of the food web. (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 33Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are the most southerly of Antarctic mammals. (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 34Regional Working Group zones for SOOS (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 38Location of the Southern Ocean gyres (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 39The 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 40Famous 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 41The Austronesian maritime trade network was the first trade routes in the Indian Ocean. (from Indian Ocean)
- Image 42A stratovolcano in Ulawun on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea (from Pacific Ocean)
- Image 43Waves 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 44Universalis 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 45Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration, circa 1754. (from Pacific Ocean)
- Image 47Seas that are parts of the Southern Ocean (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 481928 delineation (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 50As 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 51The Arctic region showing the Northeast Passage, the Northern Sea Route within it, and the Northwest Passage. (from Arctic Ocean)
- Image 52Decrease of old Arctic Sea ice 1982–2007 (from Arctic Ocean)
- Image 53Made in 1529, the Diogo Ribeiro map was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper size (from Pacific Ocean)
- Image 54Major ocean trade routes in the world include the northern Indian Ocean. (from Indian Ocean)
- Image 55The island geography of the Pacific Ocean Basin (from Pacific Ocean)
- Image 56Based 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 57Sea cover in the Arctic Ocean, showing the median, 2005 and 2007 coverage (from Arctic Ocean)
- Image 58A 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 59An adult and sub-adult Minke whale are dragged aboard the Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin Maru. (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 61Maris Pacifici by Ortelius (1589). One of the first printed maps to show the Pacific Ocean (from Pacific Ocean)
- Image 63Thule archaeological site (from Arctic Ocean)
- Image 66Path of the thermohaline circulation. Purple paths represent deep-water currents, while blue paths represent surface currents.
- Image 68Severe 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 69Madagascar's Elephant bird, Mauritius's Dodo bird and ostrich (from left to right) (from Indian Ocean)
- Image 70Sunset over the Pacific Ocean as seen from the International Space Station. Tops of thunderclouds are also visible. (from Pacific Ocean)
- Image 71A general delineation of the Antarctic Convergence, sometimes used by scientists as the demarcation of the Southern Ocean (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 72Aldabra giant tortoise from the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles (from Indian Ocean)
- Image 73A 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 74A bathymetric/topographic map of the Arctic Ocean and the surrounding lands. (from Arctic Ocean)
- Image 75The 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 77USS Vincennes at Disappointment Bay, Antarctica in early 1840 (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 78The Pacific Ocean, photograph taken from space by the GOES-18 spacecraft in September 2023 (from Pacific Ocean)
- Image 80In 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 81The bathyscaphe Trieste before her record dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, 23 January 1960 (from Pacific Ocean)
- Image 83Density 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 85A map of Australia's official interpretation of the names and limits of oceans and seas around Australia (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 86Banks of the northwest Atlantic (from Atlantic Ocean)
- Image 871911 South Polar Regions exploration map (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 89British invasion of Mauritius during the Napoleonic Wars on 29 November 1810 (from Indian Ocean)
- Image 90James Weddell's second expedition in 1823, depicting the brig Jane and the cutter Beaufroy (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 91Iceberg A22A in the South Atlantic Ocean (from Atlantic Ocean)
- Image 92Manganese nodule (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 94During summer, warm continental masses draw moist air from the Indian Ocean hence producing heavy rainfall. The process is reversed during winter, resulting in dry conditions. (from Indian Ocean)
- Image 96Marine debris strewn over the beaches of the South Atlantic Inaccessible Island (from Atlantic Ocean)
- Image 97In 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 981937 delineation (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 99On 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. (from Arctic Ocean)
- Image 100"Southern Ocean" as alternative to the Aethiopian Ocean, 18th century (from Southern Ocean)
- Image 102Pacific Ocean currents have created three islands of debris. (from Pacific Ocean)
- Image 104The 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 105An 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 106Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration, circa 1702–1707 (from Pacific Ocean)
- Image 108The 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)
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External media
- World Ocean Database and World Ocean Atlas Series – from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Information, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Includes the World Ocean Atlas.
- European Atlas of the Seas – the European Atlas of the Seas, from the European Commission
- NOAA Research – NOAA research news, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)
- Ocean Research – from The World Ocean Observatory
- Ocean Biodiversity Information System – "a global open-access data and information clearing-house on marine biodiversity for science, conservation and sustainable development"