Facts about Oceans
Pacific ocean is the biggest ocean. It covers 32.6 of Earth's surface or 64,186,300 miles! Arctic ocean is the smallest ocean on Earth. It is more than 10 times smaller than the Pacific ocean. It covers the surface are of 5,105,700 miles. Of the 350 or so shark species, about 80% grow to less than 1.6 m and are unable to hurt people or rarely encounter people. Only 32 species have been documented in attacks on humans, and an additional 36 species are considered potentially dangerous. An estimated 80% of all life on earth is found under the ocean surface and the oceans contain 99% of the living space on the planet. 85% of the area and 90% of the volume constitute the dark, cold environment we call the deep sea. The average depth of the ocean is 3,795 m. Contrary to that the average height of the land is 840 m. The oceans cover 71% of the Earth's surface and contain 97% of the Earth's water. Less than 1% is fresh water, and 2-3% is contained in glaciers and ice caps. 90% of all volcanic activity occurs in the oceans. The speed of sound in water is 1,435 m/sec - nearly five times faster than the speed of sound in air. The highest tides in the world are at the Bay of Fundy, which separates New Brunswick from Nova Scotia. At some times of the year the difference between high and low tide is 16.3 m, taller than a three-story building. The sea level has risen with an average of 10-25 cm over the past 100 years and scientists expect this rate to increase. Sea levels will continue rising even if the climate has stabilized, because the ocean reacts slowly to changes. 10,000 years ago the ocean level was about 110 m lower than it is now. If all the world's ice melted, the oceans would rise 66 m. Each year, three times as much rubbish is dumped into the world's oceans as the weight of fish caught. Life began in the seas 3.1 billion to 3.4 billion years ago. Land dwellers appeared 400 million years ago, relatively recently in geologic time. Many fish can change sex during the course of their lives. Others, especially rare deep-sea fish, have both male and female sex organs. The Blue whale is the largest animal on our planet ever (exceeding the size of the greatest known dinosaurs) and has a heart is the size of a Volkswagen. |
SEARCH
Sponsors
Related Links |