General Introduction: Atlantic Ocean
- The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest ocean, accounting for about one-fifth of the earth’s surface. The name of the ocean comes from the Greek myth “Atlas Sea”.
- The earliest mention of this name in the history of Herodotus dates back to 450 BC.
- The ocean occupies a slender S-shaped basin that extends in the north-south direction and is divided into the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic by an equatorial counter-current at about 8 degrees north latitude.
- The Atlantic Ocean is bounded by America’s in the west and Europe and Africa in the east.
- It is connected to the Arctic Ocean in the north, the Drake Strait to the south, and the Pacific Ocean. The Panama Canal provides an artificial connection between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
- In the east, the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans is the 20-degree east meridian, extending south from Cape Agulhas to Antarctica.
- There is a straight line between the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic, from Greenland to northwestern Iceland, then from northeastern Iceland to the southernmost tip of Spitsbergen, and then to the Northern Cape in northern Norway.
- The Atlantic Ocean occupies about 20% of the earth’s surface, second only to the Pacific Ocean in area. Adjacent to the sea, it has an area of
approximately 106,400,000 square kilometers (41,100,000 square miles); without them, its area is 82,400,000 square kilometers (31,800,000 square miles). - The land area flowing in the Atlantic is four times larger than the Pacific Ocean or the Indian Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean has an area of
354,700,000 cubic kilometers (85,100,000 cubic miles) with the adjacent oceans and 323,600,000 cubic kilometers (77,640,000 cubic miles) without them. - The average depth of the Atlantic Ocean is 3,338 meters (10,932 feet); Without them, it is 3,926 meters (12,881 feet). Maximum depth, 8,605 meters (28,232 feet), in the Puerto Rico Trench.
- The width of the Atlantic between Brazil and Liberia varies from 2.7 kilometers (1,770 miles) to about 4,830 kilometers (3,000 miles) between the United States and North Africa.
Atlantic Ocean Bottom
- The main feature of the lower bathymetry (land) of the Atlantic Ocean is the submarine mountain range called the Central Atlantic Crest.
- It extends north from Iceland to a latitude of 58 ° south and has a maximum width of about 1,600 kilometers.
- The Great Rift Valley also extends to the summit for most of its length. The depth of water above the mountains is in most places less than 2,700 meters (6,900 feet) and several mountain peaks rise above the water to form islands.
- The South Atlantic Ocean has an additional submarine peak, the Valvis Ridge. The Mid-Atlantic Range divides the Atlantic Ocean into two large basins, with an average depth of 3,700 to 5,500 meters (12,000 to 18,000 feet).
- The transverse ridges that run between the continents and the mid-Atlantic states divide the seabed into numerous basins. Some of the largest basins are Guyana in the North Atlantic, North America, Cape Verde, and the Canaris Basin.
- The largest basins in the South Atlantic are Angola, Cape, Argentina, and Brazil. The seabed is considered to be quite flat, although there is the presence of many types of cement and some people.
- Several depths or trenches are also found on the ocean floor. The ditch in Puerto Rico, in the North Atlantic, is the deepest.
- The Laurentian Abyss is located off the east coast of Canada. In the South Atlantic, the South Sandwich Trench reaches a depth of 8,428 meters (27,651 ft).
- A third major trench, the Romanche trench, is located near the equator and reaches a depth of approximately 7,454 meters (24,455 ft). Shelves along the edges of the continents make up about 11% of the bottom topography. A few deep canals cross the continental ascent.
- Oceanic sediments are composed of terrigenous, pelagic, and authigenic material. Deep areas include sand, mud, and rock fragments formed by erosion, weather, and mountain formation on the ground and then washed away to the sea.
- These items are found mainly on the shelves of continents and are rich from the mouths of large rivers or on the shores of the desert.
- Pelagic deposits, which contain fossils that live under the sea, include red soils and globigerina, pteropod, and siliceous oozes. Between engulfing most parts of the ocean and having a thickness of 60 to 3,300 meters (200 to 11,000 feet), these are dense in conversion belts and succession areas. Otogenic deposits contain substances such as manganese nodules. These occur where the contamination progresses slowly or where the current deposits sort.
Natural Hazard
- Icebergs are common in the Davis Strait, the Strait of Denmark, and the Northwest Atlantic Ocean from February to August, and are viewed south as the islands of Bermuda and Madeira.
- The ships are under superstructure icing in the North Atlantic from October to May. Continuous fog from May to September can be a threat to ships, such as hurricanes north of the Mediterranean (May to December).
- The Bermuda Triangle is considered the site of many aviation and shipping incidents due to unknown and allegedly mysterious reasons, but coast guard records do not support this belief.
Current Environmental Issues
- Endangered species include manatees, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales.
- Drift net fishing is killing dolphins, albatrosses, and other marine birds (patrol, aux), accelerating the decline of fish stocks and contributing to international controversy.
- Municipal pollution outside the eastern United States, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; Oil pollution in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and the North Sea. (Marine Ecosystem)
- Industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.
Economy
- The sea has also made a significant contribution to the development and economy of its neighbors. In addition to its major transatlantic transportation and communication routes.
- The Atlantic continent offers petroleum reserves on the shelves and in some of the richest fishing resources on Earth, especially in alfalfa.
- The major species of fish caught are cod, haddock, hake, herring, and mackerel. The most lucrative areas are Grand Bank of Nifaland, Shelf Area away from Nova Scotia, Georges Bank away from Cape Cod, Bahamas Banks, water around Iceland, Irish Sea, Dogger Bank in the North Sea, and Falkland Bank. Eels, shrimp, and whales are also caught in large quantities.
- All these factors add to the great commercial value of Atlantic. Due to oil spills, marine debris, and the burning of toxic wastes in the ocean threatens the surrounding ocean, there are several international agreements aimed at reducing certain forms of pollution.
