Atlantic Ocean characteristics, location. Oceans compared to the Atlantic Ocean from the north side

Water occupies approximately 70% of the earth's surface. and the Pacific Ocean are the largest water areas. The first of them has long played a vital role in the existence of human civilization. continents and islands are washed by an inextricable environment, but have different properties in different areas. The forties latitudes are famous for constant storms that rage all year round. Tropical waters are known for scorching sun, trade winds and rare hurricanes of destructive force.

General characteristics of the Pacific Ocean

There is a difference in size between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, with the former occupying over 33% of the globe's surface. It also has the greatest depths, lower water temperatures and salt concentrations. The width of the ocean along the equator is 17 thousand km, the area is 178.7 million km 2, and the average depth is 3940 m. Distinctive features of the ocean are also that the earth’s crust underneath is extremely mobile, the bottom is rich in volcanoes, and the waters are rich in animal and plant worlds.

The second name of the Pacific Ocean is the Great. Its waters wash five continents. The eastern shores are quite simple, with several bays and peninsulas. There are many seas on its western edge. These include shelf seas, which are located in the shallow waters of the continent, depths do not exceed 100 m. Some of the seas are located at the point of contact. Groups of islands separate them from the ocean. The coastline is heavily dissected.

General characteristics of the Atlantic Ocean

The differences between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are not only in size, but also in shape. The latter is stretched in the north-south direction and resembles a winding ribbon. Its width is about 5 thousand km, its surface area is 91.6 million km 2, and its average depth is 3597 m. The Atlantic Ocean is the drainage point for a large number of large rivers. If we take the total flow of the Congo and the Amazon, it will be only a quarter.

The Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean have different water salinities. In the first it is larger and ranges from 34 to 37.3‰. On average across the oceans it is 34.71‰. It also has the warmest water, its temperature is 3.99 ºC (the World average is 3.51 ºC). This phenomenon has a simple explanation: the ocean actively exchanges water with coastal seas and bays, which are warm and high in salinity.

Research

The Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean have been explored for a long time. The latter was developed by the indigenous population long before the arrival of Europeans, who entered its waters only during the time of the Great Geographical Discoveries. A group of ships under the leadership of F. Magellan crossed the Pacific Ocean in a westerly direction. For several months the waters were calm, so the name was given to it accordingly. Since that time, the ocean has been explored by many expeditions led by domestic and foreign navigators.

The ancient Greeks and the peoples of Scandinavia were involved in the development of the Atlantic Ocean. Navigation centers appeared on its shores. Since the time of the Great Geographical Discoveries, the main waterways have passed through it. In the 19th and 20th centuries, expedition ships carried out a comprehensive study of the Atlantic. Scientists are still studying the nature of the main currents and the mutual influence of the atmosphere and ocean.

Bottom relief

A comparison of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans in terms of bottom topography suggests that the first one is much more complex. The latter is younger, according to the theory of the movement of lithospheric plates. A huge ridge runs along the Atlantic Ocean in the meridional direction, which, coming to the surface, forms the island. Iceland. This underwater mountain range divides the waters into two almost identical parts. There are large shelves off the European and North American coasts.

Shoals in the Pacific Ocean are significant off the coasts of Asia and Australia. The slope of the continent is steep, often in the form of steps. At the bottom there are many ridges, rises and basins, as well as over 10 thousand volcanic mountains. The ocean waters are also known for the presence of the “Ring of Fire” and the Mariana Trench, which has a record depth of 11.022 km.

Climate

The similarity between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans is that they lie in several climatic zones. above the first of them contain a lot of moisture, which falls in the form of rain. Their annual number above the equator reaches 3000 mm. The Arctic Ocean is separated from the Pacific Ocean by land and underwater mountain ranges, which protect the latter from cold waters.

Trade winds constantly blow in the central regions of the Pacific Ocean, and monsoons blow in the western regions. Dry cold air from the mainland leads to icing of some seas. Western regions are often at the mercy of typhoons. In the temperate zone, winter is accompanied by storms. The northern and southern regions of the Pacific Ocean are known for high waves reaching 30 meters. The average temperature of the surface layer of water varies from -1...+29 ºC. The predominance of precipitation over evaporation has resulted in water salinity below the global average.

The widest area of ​​the Atlantic is in a temperate and tropical climate, and not in the equatorial one like the Pacific. Trade winds and winds from the west are frequent here. Storms occur throughout the year in waters south of the equator. In the temperate zone they occur mainly in winter.

The Atlantic is somewhat colder than the Pacific. The reasons for this are the following: icebergs, cold waters from the poles, active vertical mixing. Strong differences in the temperatures of atmospheric air and water lead to the occurrence of dense fogs. The high salinity of the Atlantic is explained by the fact that evaporated moisture is transferred towards the continents, because the width of the ocean is relatively small.

Currents

The Pacific and Atlantic oceans connect the continents by waterways. The currents of the latter are predominantly meridional in nature. They have greater speed and the ability to transfer cold and heat between different latitudes. The Atlantic is known for its large number of icebergs.

In the Pacific Ocean, currents directed along latitudes predominate. Currents with a closed oval contour have formed in the north and south.

Organic world

The flora and fauna in the Pacific Ocean is extremely diverse. All conditions have been created for this: age, different climate zones, sizes. It contains ½ of the total mass of the organic world. The richness of flora and fauna is especially great at the equator and in the tropics near coral reefs. The northern part has large stocks of salmon fish. The ichthyofauna is also rich off the coast of the South American continent. Following the fish, birds also gathered here, feeding on them. The Pacific Ocean is home to many species of mammals (whales, fur seals, etc.) and invertebrates (mollusks, corals, etc.).

The flora and fauna of the Atlantic Ocean has less species diversity compared to the Pacific. The reason for this phenomenon lies in the fact that the first one is much younger, but managed to survive a serious cold snap during the Ice Age. The number of representatives of the organic world here is large, despite their poor species composition.

Islands and seas of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans

The Pacific Ocean includes the following seas: Okhotsk, East China, Bering, Japan, etc. The islands that are part of it: Kuril, Japanese, New Guinea and New Zealand, etc.

Seas that make up the Atlantic Ocean: Black, Mediterranean, Baltic, etc. Famous islands: Iceland, British, Canary, etc.

It should be noted that the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean have more differences than similarities. It is not for nothing that they are located on opposite sides of the globe, have different times of formation, bottom structure and other factors that influenced their characteristics.

The very name of the Atlantic Ocean comes either from the Atlas Mountains in northern Africa, or from the name of the legendary continent of Atlantis, which supposedly existed in ancient times and died as a result of a terrible flood. Disputes and searches are still going on regarding the location of Atlantis.
The Atlantic is generally rich in myths, legends and mysterious stories. For example, one of the oldest geographical descriptions is about the voyage of a certain Greek Pytheas from Massilia (present-day Marseille) in the 4th century. BC e. to the north Atlantic, where Thule is supposedly located, the land of legendary cold and fog. Until now, the exact location of Thule, like Atlantis, has not been determined.
Some enthusiasts claim that even before Columbus, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, the disappeared fleet of Alexander the Great, Arab sailors, Templars, etc. could have sailed along the Atlantic to the shores of America. These legends of the Atlantic have not yet been confirmed. But the primacy of Scandinavian navigators in the discovery of America has been absolutely proven. Archaeological excavations have shown that the Vikings in the 10th century. They discovered not only Greenland, where they then lived for several centuries, but also reached the coast of the mainland. Remains of their settlements have been found on the Newfoundland peninsula.
But the Atlantic Ocean became the most important ocean for all of humanity during the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, in the 15th-17th centuries, when European civilization discovered through the Atlantic how huge our world is. The Atlantic Ocean was the first to test the strength of the skills of European shipbuilders, and the practical experience of expeditions suggested how to create new technologies, how to improve cartography and navigation instruments.
However, when humanity decided that it had already achieved perfection in conquering the elements, the Atlantic Ocean taught a harsh lesson.
On April 14, 1912, the world's largest passenger liner, the Titanic, collided with an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage. 1502 people died, this tragedy was a shock for the whole world. Atlantic demanded to be taken seriously, and this lesson was remembered for a long time. The sinking of the Titanic has become a legend; many books have been written about it and many films have been made.
There is no point in hoping that someday we, people, will manage the Atlantic like we do in our own kitchen. Even in the 21st century, having much more advanced technology than it was at the time of the Titanic, experienced captains are seriously wary of many places in the ocean that have earned a bad reputation. Just look at the Bermuda Triangle, where people and ships continue to disappear.

Geography of the Atlantic Ocean

Almost all the Earth's climate zones pass through the Atlantic Ocean; its length is about 20,000 km. Among the many seas belonging to the Atlantic Ocean, the Sargasso Sea deserves special mention. Because this is the only sea in the world that does not have continental shores, and its waters are replete with sargassum (brown seaweed).
The Atlantic Ocean is shaped like a Latin letter S. It extends from Greenland in the north to Antarctica in the south. Fresh water from most of the land flows into this huge water basin.

The second largest in the world after the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean has its own characteristics. Its coastline is highly indented, it has a relatively small number of islands, and the rivers flowing into the Atlantic Ocean or its marginal seas have the largest basin area.
The Atlantic Ocean is also characterized by the complexity of its bottom topography. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge rises above the ocean floor to a height of 2 km. Individual peaks of the ridge form islands, the largest of which is Iceland. Volcanic activity continues in this area and frequent earthquakes occur.
Another feature of the Atlantic is icebergs - huge mountains of ice floating on the surface of the ocean. They periodically break off from the ice surface of Greenland and Antarctica. These beautiful ocean wanderers are still a great threat to sea vessels.
For Europeans, the concept of the Atlantic is strongly associated with the current, which has the most serious impact on the weather of the continent. It is thanks to the Gulf Stream, which carries its waters from the Bahamas (where the Florida Current joins the Antilles Current, forming the Gulf Stream), that the countries of Europe adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean can enjoy a climate milder than that observed at the same latitude, but away from the Gulf Stream. Suffice it to say that the thermal power of the Gulf Stream is equal to the power of a million nuclear power plants. In the ocean, the Gulf Stream moves at a speed of 6-10 km/h, the thickness of its stream is 700-800 m.
The Atlantic Ocean is the ocean most intensively used by humans and therefore the most susceptible to pollution and other anthropogenic (human-involved) impacts. Suffice it to say that fishing in the Atlantic regularly becomes the subject of dispute between different countries - it is very difficult to agree on quotas. Overfishing regularly leads to population declines and the need for new restrictions. The presence of many large cities and developed countries on the Atlantic coast leads to the discharge of large amounts of pollutants into its waters.
It is believed that approximately 200 million years ago there was no Atlantic Ocean. And there was the huge continent of Pangea, which 160-180 million years ago, again approximately (exact dates are almost never found in paleogeography), split apart. Further splits and divergences of the Earth's lithospheric plates led to the fact that about 5-10 million years ago the Atlantic Ocean acquired an almost modern appearance. Many scientists tend to consider the Atlantic Ocean to be the youngest ocean existing on Earth.

General information of the ATLANTIC

The International Hydrographic Organization has established the boundaries of the Atlantic Ocean: in the north - along the border of the Labrador Sea (Atlantic) with Davis Strait (), the Atlantic Ocean with (Arctic Ocean) and the Norwegian Sea (Arctic Ocean) and the North Sea (Atlantic) with the Norwegian Sea (Arctic Ocean); in the south - with the Southern Ocean (surrounding Antarctica); in the southwest - with the Pacific Ocean along the Strait of Magellan (belongs to the Pacific Ocean); in the southeast - with the Indian Ocean.

Largest sea: Weddell Sea.

The largest rivers flowing into the Atlantic Ocean: Amazon, Nile, Congo, Niger, Mississippi, La Plata.

The most important currents: Gulf Stream, North Atlantic, Canary, Northern Trade Wind, Labrador, Southern Trade Wind, Brazilian, Antarctic Circumpolar, Bengal, Guiana, Falkland Equatorial Countercurrent.

Numbers

Length (from north to south): about 20,000 km.
Smallest width (from east to west): 2800 km.

Maximum width: 13,500 km.

Area: 91.4 million km 2 (including continental seas).

Greatest depth: 8742 m - Puerto Rico Trench.

Average depth: 3600 m.

Volume: 329.7 million km 3 .

Average annual water salinity: 35%.

Economy

The main significance is transport; the northern part of the Atlantic is the most used sea route today. Subsea oil and gas production, many offshore mineral deposits.
Use of biological resources - more than half of the world's production of cod, tuna, herring, etc.

Climate and weather

All climate zones are represented.

Most of the Atlantic Ocean is between 40º N. w. and 42º S. w. - is located in the equatorial, subequatorial, tropical and subtropical zones, where there are positive temperatures all year round. In tropical latitudes the average temperature is +20ºС with heavy rainfall. In subequatorial regions - from +10ºС in winter and +20ºС in summer, precipitation mainly in summer. Tropical hurricanes are a common occurrence. In the subtropics, the temperature of the coldest month of the year drops to +10ºС, and winter is characterized by heavy rainfall. In temperate latitudes, north of 40º N. w. and south of 42º S. sh., precipitation most often falls evenly throughout the year (within 1000 mm), reaching a maximum in the autumn-winter period. Strong storms are typical, temperatures range from +10...15ºС in summer to -10ºС in winter. The most severe climate is in the southernmost part of the Atlantic, in subantarctic and Antarctic latitudes. However, the Atlantic Ocean in subarctic and arctic latitudes can be considered “warmer” only conditionally.

Attractions

■ Beautiful beaches on the shores of all continents washed by the Atlantic Ocean;
■ Madeira Island;
■ Azores;
■ Cape Verde Islands;
■ Canary and Antilles islands.
■ Bermuda.

Curious facts

■ American aviator Charles Lindbergh was the first to fly non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.
■ The most remote island in the world is Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic, located 1600 km from the Cape of Good Hope. And the largest island in the world is Greenland in the North Atlantic Ocean.
■ Proven oil reserves in the Gulf of Mexico are believed to be 4 billion tons.
■ In the center of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which runs in the central part of the Atlantic Ocean floor, a volcanic process is constantly underway. Emissions of molten rock - magma - put pressure on the layers of the earth's crust. As a result, America and Europe are becoming 2 cm further apart every year.

The Atlantic Ocean is second in size only to the Pacific Ocean; its area is approximately 91.56 million km 2. It is distinguished from other oceans by its highly rugged coastline, forming numerous seas and bays, especially in the northern part. In addition, the total area of ​​river basins flowing into this ocean or its marginal seas is significantly larger than that of rivers flowing into any other ocean. Another difference of the Atlantic Ocean is the relatively small number of islands and the complex bottom topography, which, thanks to underwater ridges and rises, forms many separate basins.

NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

Borders and coastline.

The Atlantic Ocean is divided into northern and southern parts, the border between which is conventionally drawn along the equator. From an oceanographic point of view, however, the southern part of the ocean should include the equatorial countercurrent, located at 5–8° N latitude. The northern border is usually drawn along the Arctic Circle. In some places this boundary is marked by underwater ridges.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Atlantic Ocean has a highly indented coastline. Its relatively narrow northern part is connected to the Arctic Ocean by three narrow straits. In the northeast, the 360 ​​km wide Davis Strait (at the latitude of the Arctic Circle) connects it with the Baffin Sea, which belongs to the Arctic Ocean. In the central part, between Greenland and Iceland, is the Denmark Strait, only 287 km wide at its narrowest point. Finally, in the northeast, between Iceland and Norway, is the Norwegian Sea, approx. 1220 km. In the east, two water areas protruding deeply into the land are separated from the Atlantic Ocean. The more northern of them begins with the North Sea, which to the east passes into the Baltic Sea with the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. To the south there is a system of inland seas - the Mediterranean and the Black - with a total length of approx. 4000 km. In the Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the ocean with the Mediterranean Sea, there are two oppositely directed currents, one below the other. The current moving from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean occupies a lower position, since Mediterranean waters, due to more intense evaporation from the surface, are characterized by greater salinity and, consequently, greater density.

In the tropical zone in the southwest of the North Atlantic are the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, connected to the ocean by the Strait of Florida. The coast of North America is indented by small bays (Pamlico, Barnegat, Chesapeake, Delaware and Long Island Sound); to the northwest are the Bays of Fundy and St. Lawrence, the Strait of Belle Isle, Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay.

Islands.

The largest islands are concentrated in the northern part of the ocean; these are the British Isles, Iceland, Newfoundland, Cuba, Haiti (Hispaniola) and Puerto Rico. On the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean there are several groups of small islands - the Azores, Canary Islands, and Cape Verde. Similar groups exist in the western part of the ocean. Examples include the Bahamas, Florida Keys and Lesser Antilles. The Greater and Lesser Antilles archipelagos form an island arc surrounding the eastern Caribbean Sea. In the Pacific Ocean, such island arcs are characteristic of areas of crustal deformation. Deep-sea trenches are located along the convex side of the arc.

Bottom relief.

The Atlantic Ocean basin is bordered by a shelf, the width of which varies. The shelf is cut through by deep gorges - the so-called. underwater canyons. Their origin is still controversial. One theory is that the canyons were cut by rivers when sea levels were lower than they are today. Another theory connects their formation with the activity of turbidity currents. It has been suggested that turbidity currents are the main agent responsible for the deposition of sediment on the ocean floor and that they are the ones that cut submarine canyons.

The bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean has a complex, rugged topography formed by a combination of underwater ridges, hills, basins and gorges. Most of the ocean floor, from depths of about 60 m to several kilometers, is covered with thin, muddy sediments that are dark blue or bluish-green in color. A relatively small area is occupied by rocky outcrops and areas of gravel, pebble and sandy deposits, as well as deep-sea red clays.

Telephone and telegraph cables were laid on the shelf in the North Atlantic Ocean to connect North America with Northwestern Europe. Here, the area of ​​the North Atlantic shelf is home to industrial fishing areas that are among the most productive in the world.

A rift zone stretches along the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Currents.

Surface currents in the North Atlantic Ocean move clockwise. The main elements of this large system are the northward warm Gulf Stream, as well as the North Atlantic, Canary and North Trade Wind (Equatorial) Currents. The Gulf Stream follows from the Strait of Florida and Cuba in a northerly direction along the coast of the United States and approximately 40° N latitude. deviates to the northeast, changing its name to the North Atlantic Current. This current is divided into two branches, one of which follows northeast along the coast of Norway and further into the Arctic Ocean. It is thanks to it that the climate of Norway and all of northwestern Europe is much warmer than would be expected at latitudes corresponding to the area extending from Nova Scotia to southern Greenland. The second branch turns south and further southwest along the coast of Africa, forming the cold Canary Current. This current moves southwest and joins the North Trade Wind Current, which heads west towards the West Indies, where it merges with the Gulf Stream. To the north of the North Trade Wind Current there is an area of ​​stagnant waters, teeming with algae, known as the Sargasso Sea. The cold Labrador Current runs along the North Atlantic coast of North America from north to south, coming from Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea and cooling the shores of New England.

SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

Borders and coastline.

Some experts refer to the Atlantic Ocean in the south all the water space up to the Antarctic ice sheet; others take the southern limit of the Atlantic to be an imaginary line connecting Cape Horn in South America with the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. The coastline in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean is much less indented than in the northern part; there are also no inland seas through which the influence of the ocean could penetrate deep into the continents of Africa and South America. The only large bay on the African coast is the Gulf of Guinea. On the coast of South America, large bays are also few in number. The southernmost tip of this continent, Tierra del Fuego, has an indented coastline bordered by numerous small islands.

Islands.

There are no large islands in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean, but there are isolated isolated islands, such as Fernando de Noronha, Ascension, Sao Paulo, St. Helena, the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, and in the extreme south - Bouvet, South Georgia , South Sandwich, South Orkney, Falkland Islands.

Bottom relief.

In addition to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, there are two main submarine mountain ranges in the South Atlantic. The whale ridge extends from the southwestern tip of Angola to the island. Tristan da Cunha, where it joins the Mid-Atlantic. The Rio de Janeiro Ridge stretches from the Tristan da Cunha Islands to the city of Rio de Janeiro and consists of groups of individual underwater hills.

Currents.

The major current systems in the South Atlantic Ocean move counterclockwise. The South Trade Wind Current is directed to the west. At the protrusion of the eastern coast of Brazil, it splits into two branches: the northern one carries water along the northern coast of South America to the Caribbean, and the southern one, the warm Brazil Current, moves south along the coast of Brazil and joins the Western Winds Current, or Antarctic Current, which heads east , and then to the northeast. Part of this cold current separates and carries its waters north along the African coast, forming the cold Benguela Current; the latter eventually joins the South Trade Wind Current. The warm Guinea Current moves south along the coast of Northwest Africa into the Gulf of Guinea.

Atlantic Ocean, part of the World Ocean bounded by Europe and Africa to the east and North and South America to the west. Its name supposedly comes from the Atlas Mountains in northern Africa or from the mythical lost continent of Atlantis. The Atlantic Ocean is second in size only to the Pacific; its area is approximately 91.56 million km2 It is distinguished from other oceans by its highly rugged coastline, forming numerous seas and bays, especially in the northern part. In addition, the total area of ​​river basins flowing into this ocean or its marginal seas is significantly larger than that of rivers flowing into any other ocean. Another difference of the Atlantic Ocean is the relatively small number of islands and the complex bottom topography, which, thanks to underwater ridges and rises, forms many separate basins. North Atlantic Ocean Boundaries and Coastline. The Atlantic Ocean is divided into northern and southern parts, the border between which is conventionally drawn along the equator. From an oceanographic point of view, however, the southern part of the ocean should include the equatorial countercurrent, located at 5-8° N. w. The northern border is usually drawn along the Arctic Circle. In some places this boundary is marked by underwater ridges. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Atlantic Ocean has a highly indented coastline. Its relatively narrow northern part is connected to the Arctic Ocean by three narrow straits. In the northeast, the 360 ​​km wide Davis Strait (at the latitude of the Arctic Circle) connects it with the Baffin Sea, which belongs to the Arctic Ocean. In the central part, between Greenland and Iceland, there is the Denmark Strait, at its narrowest point only 287 km wide. Finally, in the northeast, between Iceland and Norway, there is the Norwegian Sea, approx. 1220 km. In the east, two water areas protruding deeply into the land are separated from the Atlantic Ocean. The more northern of them begins with the North Sea, which to the east passes into the Baltic Sea with the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. To the south there is a system of inland seas of the Mediterranean and Black Seas with a total length of approx. 4000 km. In the Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the ocean with the Mediterranean Sea, there are two oppositely directed currents, one below the other. The current moving from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean occupies a lower position, since Mediterranean waters, due to more intense evaporation from the surface, are characterized by greater salinity and, consequently, greater density.

In the tropical zone in the southwest of the North Atlantic are the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, connected to the ocean by the Strait of Florida. The coast of North America is indented by small bays (Pamlico, Barnegat, Chesapeake, Delaware and Long Island Sound); to the northwest are the Bays of Fundy and St. Lawrence, the Strait of Belle Isle, Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay. Islands. The largest islands are concentrated in the northern part of the ocean; these are the British Isles, Iceland, Newfoundland, Cuba, Haiti (Hispaniola) and Puerto Rico. On the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean there are several groups of small islands of the Azores, Canaries, and Cape Verde. Similar groups exist in the western part of the ocean. Examples include the Bahamas, Florida Keys and Lesser Antilles. The Greater and Lesser Antilles archipelagos form an island arc surrounding the eastern Caribbean Sea. In the Pacific Ocean, such island arcs are characteristic of areas of crustal deformation. Deep-sea trenches are located along the convex side of the arc. Bottom relief. The Atlantic Ocean basin is bordered by a shelf, the width of which varies. The shelf is cut through by deep gorges so-called. underwater canyons. Their origin is still controversial. One theory is that the canyons were cut by rivers when sea levels were lower than they are today. Another theory connects their formation with the activity of turbidity currents. It has been suggested that turbidity currents are the main agent responsible for the deposition of sediment on the ocean floor and that they are the ones that cut submarine canyons. The bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean has a complex, rugged topography formed by a combination of underwater ridges, hills, basins and gorges. Much of the ocean floor, from depths of about 60 m to several kilometers, is covered with thin, dark blue or bluish-green muddy sediments. A relatively small area is occupied by rocky outcrops and areas of gravel, pebble and sandy deposits, as well as deep-sea red clays. Telephone and telegraph cables were laid on the shelf in the North Atlantic Ocean to connect North America with Northwestern Europe. Here, the area of ​​the North Atlantic shelf is home to industrial fishing areas that are among the most productive in the world. In the central part of the Atlantic Ocean, almost repeating the contours of the coastlines, there is a huge underwater mountain range approx. 16 thousand km, known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

This ridge divides the ocean into two approximately equal parts. Most of the peaks of this underwater ridge do not reach the ocean surface and are located at a depth of at least 1.5 km. Some of the highest peaks rise above sea level and form the islands of the Azores in the North Atlantic and Tristan da Cunha in the South. In the south, the ridge skirts the coast of Africa and continues further north into the Indian Ocean. A rift zone stretches along the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Currents. Surface currents in the North Atlantic Ocean move clockwise. The main elements of this large system are the northward warm Gulf Stream, as well as the North Atlantic, Canary and North Trade Wind (Equatorial) Currents. The Gulf Stream follows from the Strait of Florida and the island. Cuba north along the US coast and approximately 40° N. w. deviates to the northeast, changing its name to the North Atlantic Current. This current is divided into two branches, one of which follows northeast along the coast of Norway and further into the Arctic Ocean. It is thanks to it that the climate of Norway and all of northwestern Europe is much warmer than would be expected at latitudes corresponding to the area extending from Nova Scotia to southern Greenland. The second branch turns south and further southwest along the coast of Africa, forming the cold Canary Current. This current moves southwest and joins the North Trade Wind Current, which heads west towards the West Indies, where it merges with the Gulf Stream. To the north of the North Trade Wind Current there is an area of ​​stagnant waters, teeming with algae, known as the Sargasso Sea. The cold Labrador Current runs along the North Atlantic coast of North America from north to south, coming from Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea and cooling the shores of New England. South Atlantic Ocean. Borders and coastline. Some experts refer to the Atlantic Ocean in the south all the water space up to the Antarctic ice sheet; others take the southern limit of the Atlantic to be an imaginary line connecting Cape Horn in South America with the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. The coastline in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean is much less indented than in the northern part; there are also no inland seas through which the influence of the ocean could penetrate deep into the continents of Africa and South America. The only large bay on the African coast is the Gulf of Guinea.

On the coast of South America, large bays are also few in number. The southernmost tip of this continent, Tierra del Fuego, has an indented coastline bordered by numerous small islands. Islands. There are no large islands in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean, but there are isolated isolated islands, such as Fernando de Noronha, Ascension, Sao Paulo, St. Helena, the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, and in the extreme south of Bouvet, South Georgia, South Sandwich, South Orkney, Falkland Islands. Bottom relief. In addition to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, there are two main submarine mountain ranges in the South Atlantic. The whale ridge extends from the southwestern tip of Angola to the island. Tristan da Cunha, where it joins the Mid-Atlantic. The Rio de Janeiro Ridge stretches from the Tristan da Cunha Islands to the city of Rio de Janeiro and consists of groups of individual underwater hills. Currents. The major current systems in the South Atlantic Ocean move counterclockwise. The South Trade Wind Current is directed to the west. At the protrusion of the eastern coast of Brazil, it splits into two branches: the northern one carries water along the northern coast of South America to the Caribbean, and the southern one, the warm Brazil Current, moves south along the coast of Brazil and joins the Western Winds Current, or Antarctic Current, which heads east , and then to the northeast. Part of this cold current separates and carries its waters north along the African coast, forming the cold Benguela Current; the latter eventually joins the South Trade Wind Current. The warm Guinea Current moves south along the coast of Northwest Africa into the Guinea Gulf

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• The process of formation of land surface relief and ocean floor

And observations carried out by astronauts from low-Earth orbit. Along with mid-ocean ridges, oceanic deep-sea trenches are an important feature of the topography of the ocean floor. Our diagram shows that they stretch along the western, northern and eastern edges of the Pacific Ocean, ...




It is likely that the final separation of the Eurasian and North American lithospheric plates occurred along this system, and the water space connecting the Atlantic with the Arctic Ocean can be considered as a transition zone between them. In some cases, it is even singled out as a special region...




And flooding of the coastal zone, additional pollution of sea waters with harmful substances coming from the catchment area. In quantitative terms, Russia's water resources are composed of static (centuries-old) reserves and annually renewable ones. The first ones are conventionally considered unchanged and constant during...




In the 1950s, the phenomena of periodic magnetic field inversion over the past 4 million years offered an original explanation for the origin of the axes of symmetrical linear magnetic anomalies of the oceans. The main idea of ​​the Vine-Matthews hypothesis is as follows (Fig. 1). During the process of spreading in the rift zone...




Connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, it is about 1000 km wide, and the Strait of Gibraltar, connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, is no wider than 14 km at its narrowest point. So, the World Ocean, as part of the hydrosphere, consists of oceans, seas, bays and straits. They are all connected. IN...



• History of some geographical discoveries in the Atlantic Ocean and the Norwegian-Greenland basin

A dissected ridge, which is one of the links in the system of mid-ocean ridges of the World Ocean (3). A major geographical discovery was the establishment of the continuation of the Mona Ridge into the Arctic Basin, which was previously unknown. The work of PINRO expeditions in 1960-1961 showed that...

The Atlantic Ocean is second in size only to the Pacific Ocean, its area is approximately 91.56 million km². It is distinguished from other oceans by its highly rugged coastline, forming numerous seas and bays, especially in the northern part. In addition, the total area of ​​river basins flowing into this ocean or its marginal seas is significantly larger than that of rivers flowing into any other ocean. Another difference of the Atlantic Ocean is the relatively small number of islands and the complex bottom topography, which, thanks to underwater ridges and rises, forms many separate basins.

North Atlantic Ocean

Borders and coastline. The Atlantic Ocean is divided into northern and southern parts, the border between which is conventionally drawn along the equator. From an oceanographic point of view, however, the southern part of the ocean should include the equatorial countercurrent, located at 5-8° N latitude. The northern border is usually drawn along the Arctic Circle. In some places this boundary is marked by underwater ridges.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Atlantic Ocean has a highly indented coastline. Its relatively narrow northern part is connected to the Arctic Ocean by three narrow straits. In the northeast, the 360 ​​km wide Davis Strait (at the latitude of the Arctic Circle) connects it with the Baffin Sea, which belongs to the Arctic Ocean. In the central part, between Greenland and Iceland, there is the Denmark Strait, at its narrowest point only 287 km wide. Finally, in the northeast, between Iceland and Norway, there is the Norwegian Sea, approx. 1220 km. In the east, two water areas protruding deeply into the land are separated from the Atlantic Ocean. The more northern of them begins with the North Sea, which to the east passes into the Baltic Sea with the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. To the south there is a system of inland seas - the Mediterranean and the Black - with a total length of approx. 4000 km. In the Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the ocean with the Mediterranean Sea, there are two oppositely directed currents, one below the other. The current moving from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean occupies a lower position, since Mediterranean waters, due to more intense evaporation from the surface, are characterized by greater salinity and, consequently, greater density.

In the tropical zone in the southwest of the North Atlantic are the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, connected to the ocean by the Strait of Florida. The coast of North America is indented by small bays (Pamlico, Barnegat, Chesapeake, Delaware and Long Island Sound); to the northwest are the Bays of Fundy and St. Lawrence, the Strait of Belle Isle, Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay.

The largest islands are concentrated in the northern part of the ocean; these are the British Isles, Iceland, Newfoundland, Cuba, Haiti (Hispaniola) and Puerto Rico. On the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean there are several groups of small islands - the Azores, Canary Islands, and Cape Verde. Similar groups exist in the western part of the ocean. Examples include the Bahamas, Florida Keys and Lesser Antilles. The Greater and Lesser Antilles archipelagos form an island arc surrounding the eastern Caribbean Sea. In the Pacific Ocean, such island arcs are characteristic of areas of crustal deformation. Deep-sea trenches are located along the convex side of the arc.

The Atlantic Ocean basin is bordered by a shelf, the width of which varies. The shelf is cut through by deep gorges - the so-called. underwater canyons. Their origin is still controversial. One theory is that the canyons were cut by rivers when sea levels were lower than they are today. Another theory connects their formation with the activity of turbidity currents. It has been suggested that turbidity currents are the main agent responsible for the deposition of sediment on the ocean floor and that they are the ones that cut submarine canyons.

The bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean has a complex, rugged topography formed by a combination of underwater ridges, hills, basins and gorges. Most of the ocean floor, from depths of about 60 m to several kilometers, is covered with thin, dark blue or bluish-green muddy sediments. A relatively small area is occupied by rocky outcrops and areas of gravel, pebble and sandy deposits, as well as deep-sea red clays.

Telephone and telegraph cables were laid on the shelf in the North Atlantic Ocean to connect North America with Northwestern Europe. Here, the area of ​​the North Atlantic shelf is home to industrial fishing areas that are among the most productive in the world.

In the central part of the Atlantic Ocean, almost repeating the contours of the coastlines, there is a huge underwater mountain range approx. 16 thousand km, known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This ridge divides the ocean into two approximately equal parts. Most of the peaks of this underwater ridge do not reach the ocean surface and are located at a depth of at least 1.5 km. Some of the highest peaks rise above ocean level and form the islands - the Azores in the North Atlantic and Tristan da Cunha - in the South. In the south, the ridge skirts the coast of Africa and continues further north into the Indian Ocean. A rift zone stretches along the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Surface currents in the North Atlantic Ocean move clockwise. The main elements of this large system are the northward warm Gulf Stream, as well as the North Atlantic, Canary and North Trade Wind (Equatorial) Currents. The Gulf Stream follows from the Strait of Florida and Cuba in a northerly direction along the coast of the United States and approximately 40° N. w. deviates to the northeast, changing its name to the North Atlantic Current. This current is divided into two branches, one of which follows northeast along the coast of Norway and further into the Arctic Ocean. It is thanks to it that the climate of Norway and all of northwestern Europe is much warmer than would be expected at latitudes corresponding to the area extending from Nova Scotia to southern Greenland. The second branch turns south and further southwest along the coast of Africa, forming the cold Canary Current. This current moves southwest and joins the North Trade Wind Current, which heads west towards the West Indies, where it merges with the Gulf Stream. To the north of the North Trade Wind Current there is an area of ​​stagnant waters, teeming with algae, known as the Sargasso Sea. The cold Labrador Current runs along the North Atlantic coast of North America from north to south, coming from Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea and cooling the shores of New England.

South Atlantic Ocean

Some experts refer to the Atlantic Ocean in the south all the water space up to the Antarctic ice sheet; others take the southern limit of the Atlantic to be an imaginary line connecting Cape Horn in South America with the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. The coastline in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean is much less indented than in the northern part; there are also no inland seas through which the influence of the ocean could penetrate deep into the continents of Africa and South America. The only large bay on the African coast is the Gulf of Guinea. On the coast of South America, large bays are also few in number. The southernmost tip of this continent - Tierra del Fuego - has an indented coastline bordered by numerous small islands.

There are no large islands in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean, but there are isolated isolated islands, such as Fernando de Noronha, Ascension, Sao Paulo, St. Helena, the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, and in the extreme south - Bouvet, South Georgia , South Sandwich, South Orkney, Falkland Islands.

In addition to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, there are two main submarine mountain ranges in the South Atlantic. The whale ridge extends from the southwestern tip of Angola to the island. Tristan da Cunha, where it joins the Mid-Atlantic. The Rio de Janeiro Ridge stretches from the Tristan da Cunha Islands to the city of Rio de Janeiro and consists of groups of individual underwater hills.

The major current systems in the South Atlantic Ocean move counterclockwise. The South Trade Wind Current is directed to the west. At the protrusion of the eastern coast of Brazil, it splits into two branches: the northern one carries water along the northern coast of South America to the Caribbean, and the southern one, the warm Brazil Current, moves south along the coast of Brazil and joins the Western Winds Current, or Antarctic Current, which heads east , and then to the northeast. Part of this cold current separates and carries its waters north along the African coast, forming the cold Benguela Current; the latter eventually joins the South Trade Wind Current. The warm Guinea Current moves south along the coast of Northwest Africa into the Gulf of Guinea.