All About Oceans

The earth’s oceans make up more than 70% of its total surface area. More than half of this area of salt water is more than 9000 feet deep!

There are actually just three distinctly separate oceans in the world today; the World Ocean, the Black Ocean and the Caspian Sea. The largest ocean on earth is the World Ocean, measuring in at an immense 361 million square kilometers. The World Ocean is continentally divided into five smaller parts, which include the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic Ocean. Smaller portions of these oceans are typically classified as either seas, gulfs or straits.

The Mediterranean Sea unofficially became the world’s fourth ocean when the sea’s only outlet to the World Ocean, the Strait of Gibraltar, was closed due to the movement of the African continent.

The oceans of the world are home to the vast majority of the plant and animal species on earth, millions of which have yet to be discovered by man.