What is the warmest ocean. What is the warmest ocean
This question cannot be answered immediately, without hesitation. From the lessons of geography, most know about the existence of four oceans: the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific. But not everyone remembers which ocean is the warmest in temperature. But this can be sorted out.
What waters are taken into account in this case - surface or deep? Since the sun's heat penetrates only a couple of meters deep into the water column, it is this temperature that is measured. Firstly, because the deep-sea masses of all oceans keep an approximately stable value of +2 ° C, and secondly, only 5% of the ocean floor has been studied, and therefore it is difficult to say that any data is final.
Interestingly, the four oceans together make up the World Ocean. The amplitude of average temperatures at different latitudes is quite large here: if at 5-10° north latitude it is +27.4°C, then at 70-80° south latitude it is only -1.8°C. And which ocean is the warmest, if we talk about averages?
Arctic
Although, by the method of logical exclusion, this ocean can be crossed out even based on its name, but in fairness it is necessary to mention the average temperature of its waters. It ranges from 0 °С to -4 °С. Icebergs and drifting blocks of ice are proof of this. And no wonder, because the air temperature there reaches from -20 ° C to -40 ° C.
Atlantic Ocean
This is the next candidate for elimination from the list of warm oceans. Its geographic location is to blame: the Atlantic Ocean stretches in an elongated strip from one pole to another. And although there are many warm equatorial masses in its possessions, nevertheless, its waters in large areas are in contact with the cold Arctic Ocean, and this affects the overall average temperature, which is +16 ° С. Moreover, the waters near the equator would not have saved the situation anyway, because their average temperature (+27 ° C) is still less than the temperature of similar waters in the Indian Ocean. So, this is by no means the warmest ocean.
So, there are two options left - Quiet and Indian. Moreover, when answering the question of which ocean is the warmest, of both, the majority will choose the latter. But is it?
Indian Ocean
Why does an ordinary person believe that he is the warmest ocean? If we do not talk about dry statistical data yet, then the point here is in associations. For many, the Indian Ocean is closely associated with such resorts as the Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and India itself. It is there that many of our compatriots go to warm their bones.
In addition, the Red Sea flows into the Indian Ocean, and, as you know, it is the warmest sea on the planet (the average water temperature is + 34 ... + 35 ° С, and this is far from the maximum). The coast of Australia is washed by rather warm waters (+29 °С). Plus, in the Persian Gulf, which also belongs to the Indian Ocean, the thermometer shows +30 ... +32 ° С! Why not a jacuzzi?
And so, everything seems to be developing in such a way that the Indian Ocean should take the lead in terms of such an indicator as surface water temperature, but the numbers are a harsh thing, you can’t argue with them. The average temperature of the water masses is +17 °С. Although in subtropical latitudes the thermometer needle touches +20 ° C, the whole point is icebergs that float in the southern part of the ocean and significantly cool the waters. Therefore, the overall total temperature is lower.
The warmest ocean is the Pacific
It is he who receives the palm. Although in fairness it should be noted that the gap from the Indian one is small and amounts to only 2 ° C. That is, the average temperature of the Pacific Ocean is +19 ° C, and therefore it is known as the warmest ocean in terms of surface water temperature.
But how is this possible, given that this ocean also touches both the cold Arctic and the icy Antarctic? The whole secret is in the area of \u200b\u200bthe water area. It turns out that the size of the water surface, located in hot latitudes and saturated with the warmth of the sun, exceeds the size of the same waters of other oceans, in particular the Indian. That is, the Pacific Ocean took the lead due to the huge area of warm waters.
These waters wash Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti, Indonesia, Hawaii. Holidays at these and many other resorts are chosen by thousands of tourists every year, partly due to the fact that this is the warmest ocean.
There are four oceans on planet Earth, which are combined into one World Ocean. Based on the scale of these water bodies, the climatic conditions in their territories are varied and unpredictable, especially in recent decades. In the ranking of the warmest oceans in the world, there is no place for the Arctic Ocean, since it is located in the northern hemisphere and is mostly filled with huge masses of ice due to the harsh polar climate.
The largest ocean on the planet Quiet , is also the warmest ocean on Earth. The waters of this ocean wash five continents at once, which causes a difference in climatic zones, the average water temperature is 19 ° C, in tropical and equatorial zones the temperature rises to 27.5 ° C. The main source of heat in ocean waters is solar radiation and atmospheric circulation.
The area of the Pacific Ocean exceeds 179 million km 2, with such dimensions, capturing both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres, it is easy to achieve climate and temperature records, which, together with the anomalous warming of the 21st century, have become widespread and quite frequent.
The widespread use of ocean space by man, which led to its large-scale pollution, also affects the change in the temperature regime of waters towards warming.
For the flora and fauna of the Pacific Ocean, temperature shifts can be detrimental. Since 1998, the UN has been constantly raising the problem of warming not only the Pacific, but also the World Ocean as a whole, which can lead to catastrophic consequences for the entire planet.
So far, temperature indicators slightly deviate from the norm, but further economic activity of a person polluting the air and ocean spaces can lead to global cataclysms, during which the population of the planet can drastically change downward.
Indian Ocean , covering an area of 76.144 million km 2 , is the second warmest water resource with an average temperature of 17°C. Despite the high water temperatures in the equatorial zone, often exceeding 27-29 ° C, due to the peculiarities of the location, the Indian Ocean does not have stable temperature indicators, accompanied by significant drops.
In the southern part of this ocean, icebergs and massive ice formations are not uncommon, which significantly affect the climatic features of ocean waters.
Bottom waters and high salinity have a special effect on the temperature regime of the Indian Ocean, but one of the global factors, as in the case of the Pacific Ocean, is the contamination with human waste products and the massive release of oil refinery waste and oil products in its pure form.
Atlantic Ocean with an average temperature of 14 ° C, it is in third place in the rating. The area of its waters is 91.66 million km 2. The impact of the four main world atmospheric centers and a significant meridional extent determine the climatic features of the Atlantic Ocean.
To a greater extent, the temperature of oceanic waters does not have stable values along its entire length, showing sharp fluctuations, as a rule, in the negative direction as it moves away from the equator. Due to significant diurnal temperature fluctuations, oceanic waters do not have time to warm up, thereby rapidly losing all the temperature accumulated during the day at night.
Also, the zonal temperature regimes are actively influenced by the presence of strong currents, which sharply negatively affect the heat transfer of water.
Warm Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is located on 1/3 of the surface of the globe and makes up half of the volume of the waters of the World Ocean. The Pacific Ocean is located in almost all climatic zones of the globe. It is the warmest, deepest and largest ocean. The warmest Pacific Ocean is because its predominant share is located in very warm latitudes.
In addition, the Pacific Ocean does not have such a wide border with the Arctic Ocean as the Atlantic, and the Antarctic border does not have a significant effect on cooling, as in the Indian.
Temperatures in the Pacific Ocean
The average water temperature on the surface of the Pacific Ocean is 2° higher than on the surfaces of the Indian and Atlantic oceans. The maximum average annual temperature of surface waters is +25 - +29 °С, the minimum average annual temperature is + 5 - + 6 °С. The average annual water temperature of the Pacific Ocean is +19.1 °C.
The deepest ocean is due to the large number of deep-sea trenches. The Pacific Ocean has 25 of the 35 deepest trenches in the World Ocean, including the deepest trench in the world (Marian - 10902 m). The average depth of the Pacific Ocean is about 3976 m.
The largest ocean is considered due to its location in both hemispheres of the Earth. In the west it washes Eurasia and Australia, in the east - North and South America, in the south - Antarctica. The Pacific Ocean is separated from the Arctic Ocean by the Bering Strait, from the Atlantic - along the Drake Strait, from the Indian - along an imaginary conditional line. The width of the Pacific Ocean reaches 17,200 km.
The surface layer of the oceans is heated by the sun's rays, and the thickness of such a heated layer is no more than a few meters. Below this level, the water is already colder, and in deeper layers it has a temperature not exceeding plus 2 degrees. But, despite the fact that all the oceans of the world have not very high water temperatures in the deep layers, there is the warmest ocean. The Pacific Ocean is recognized as such, moreover, it is considered a kind of record holder in the titles of “most-most”.
Why is he the warmest of all?
If you are interested in which ocean is the warmest, then the answer will be unequivocal - the Pacific Ocean, which is mostly located in the equator. But the closer the ocean is to the equator, the warmer its waters. On average, its surface waters have a temperature of plus 19 degrees. A little colder than the waters of the Indian Ocean - the temperature regime of the water here averages plus 17 degrees. And the coldest is the Arctic Ocean - here the water temperature is a little more than plus 1 degree.
In summer, the ocean waters of the earth warm up, and in winter they slowly cool down, during which heat is released into the surrounding air, heating the surrounding air like a battery. The scientists concluded that if the world ocean had not accumulated heat, then the average temperature on our planet would have been plus 21 degrees, and this would have led to a completely different level of human existence.
Not only the warmest, but also huge!
The Pacific Ocean can be called the most-most in many respects. In addition to being recognized as the warmest, it also has a very huge size, which allows us to call it the largest and deepest. Since the ocean is located in various climatic zones, its length is incredibly large. The equatorial zone of the ocean is considered the most extensive, where the water temperature is at least plus 25 degrees.
The volume of water in the ocean is 723,000,000 km3. From north to south it stretches for 15,800 km, and from east to west - for 19,500 km. The area of the warmest ocean in the world is approximately 180,000,000 km2.
Who opened?
It is known that the first to see the vast expanses of this ocean was the conquistador Balboa, who crossed the Isthmus of Panama in the 16th century. In those days, he called the expanse of water the “South Sea”. But a little later, the navigator from Portugal, F. Magellan, nicknamed the vast Pacific Ocean, because when crossing it for one hundred and ten days the weather was surprisingly calm, there were no storms.
Features of the bottom topography
The ocean floor is very diverse. For example, in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean there is a flat bottom. And in its central part there are gutters and hollows. The deepest place in the local area is the Mariana Trench, which deepens almost 11,000 km. This depression is the deepest place on the planet. At the bottom of the Pacific Ocean there are considerable deposits of natural resources (for example, about forty percent of the world's reserves of "black gold" are located here).
Ocean dwellers
Since this ocean makes up about half of the available surface waters on Earth, its animal and plant life is quite diverse. More than one hundred thousand species of marine life live in ocean waves. Most life exists in the tropical zone. And at present, oceanologists are discovering previously unseen animals that live here.
Water pollution
Despite the fact that many species of animals live here, their numbers may decrease due to human impact on nature. Now the Pacific Ocean is recognized as quite polluted. Environmental problems have led to the disappearance of some species of plants and animals. For example, by the twentieth century, there were almost no fur seals and some species of whales. And the fault is the pollution of waters by oil and various industrial wastes. Also, the amount of garbage dumped into the ocean waters is increasing every year. Five hundred miles from California, a patch of garbage is gradually growing in size. And in order to prevent the death of plants and animals, it is important that a person thinks and learns to protect nature.
It is the largest and deepest, the Arctic - the smallest and coldest, the Atlantic - the most salty. Which ocean is the warmest? Indian! It is considered the third largest and covers an area of about 76 million square kilometers, washing the shores of Antarctica, Australia, Eurasia and Africa. It has a complex bottom relief, which is formed by the continental plates: Hindustan, Arabian, African and Antarctic.
Mid-ocean ridges are located at the junction of the plates. They divide the bottom of the ocean into three parts. The depth (on average) is approximately 4 thousand square meters. The maximum depth in it is fixed at a level of more than 7.5 thousand meters.
So, Indian - the warmest ocean. This is due to the fact that its northern part is the warmest compared to other oceans due to good heating and isolation from cold water masses. In the water area is the Persian Gulf, the water temperature of which reaches more than 30 degrees, and the Red Sea, which is considered the warmest in the world, flows into the ocean.
The warmest ocean also has the highest salinity. The reason for this is the high evaporation and also the lack of sufficient water desalination.
The Indian Ocean is characterized by monsoons. This is due to the extensive borders with the continents.
The contrasting pressure over the ocean and over land causes strong winds. In winter, a high pressure area over Asia contributes to the formation of a northeast monsoon, and in summer it changes to a humid southwest monsoon. In summer, there are winds with a force of more than 7 points. In winter, the weather is more severe (in the form of floods and hurricanes on land). The southeast trade wind prevails. The high speed of the trade winds and monsoons creates surface currents that change every season. The largest such current is the Somali. It flows from north to south in winter and reverses direction in summer.
The warmest ocean has a wide variety of flora and fauna. The richness of living organisms and plants is most widely represented in the coastal regions and the tropical region. The water mass is saturated with plankton - food for large fish.
The most numerous fish in the Indian Ocean are a variety of sharks, tuna, dolphins. Sea giant turtles and snakes, cetaceans, seals are found, brown and coral structures and polyps are widespread in the constantly warm water area. of origin Sri Lanka and Madagascar are considered the largest. To determine which is the warmest ocean on the globe, the fact that such popular resort islands as the Seychelles and the Maldives are located in the water expanses of the Indian Ocean.
Natural resources near the Indian Ocean are used less compared to the resources of other oceans. Although fishing plays an important role in the economy of many countries. And the main commercial fish is tuna. The warmest ocean is rich in oil and gas. In terms of their reserves and production, it ranks first. And one of the largest oil fields is the Persian Gulf.