Prepared by: Alberca, Novine Criselle Mae T.

1. 5 OCEANS OF THE WORLD
1. PACIFIC OCEAN
 The largest and the deepest of the world’s five oceans.
 It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded
by Asia and Oceania in the west and the Americas in the east.
 Important access waterways include: LA PEROUSE, TSUGARU, TSUSHIMA, TAIWAN, SINGAPORE
and TORRES STRAITS.
 In Spring 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization delimits the portion of the Pacific
Ocean (60 degrees of South) which is now the SOUTHERN OCEAN.
 The planetary air pressure systems and resultant wind patterns exhibit remarkable uniformity in the south
and east; trade winds and westerly winds are well-developed patterns, modified by seasonal fluctuations.
 From June – October, tropical cyclones may form south of Mexico and affect the areas of Mexico and Central
America. The Western Pacific is monsoonal. Tropical cyclones (typhoons) may strike Southeast and East of
Asia from May to December.
2. ATLANTIC OCEAN
 Second largest ocean among the five major oceans of the world.
 Strategic important access waterways include; Kiel Canal (Germany), Oresund (Denmark-Sweden),
Bosporus (Turkey), Strait of Gibraltar (Morocco-Spain), St Lawrence Seaway (Canada-US).
 Total area of 76. 792 M square km.
 The climate tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cape Verde and move Westward
into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December but are most frequent from August to
November.
 Terrain consists of surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait and coastal portions
of the Baltic Sea form October to June.
 Clockwise warm-water gyre in the Northern Atlantic, counter clockwise warm-water gyre in the Southern
Atlantic. The ocean floor is dominated by the Mid- Atlantic Ridge, a rugged North-South Centerline for the
entire Atlantic ocean.
3. INDIAN OCEAN
 Third largest among the 5 oceans of the world.
 Strategic important access waterways include: Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen),
Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia).
 Total area of 68. 556 M square km.
 Its terrain consist of surface dominated by counter clockwise gyre in the southern Indian ocean; unique
reversal currents in the northern Indian Ocean; low atmospheric pressure over southwest Asia from hot,
rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents while
high pressure over Northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and
northeast-to-southwest winds and currents, ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian ocean Ridge and
subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and Northeast Ridge
4. ARCTIC OCEAN
 The smallest of the world’s five oceans.
 The two important seasonal waterways include: Northwest passage (US and Canada) and Northern Sea
Route (Norway and Russia)
 Total area is 15.056 M square km.
 Its climate is characterized by persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters
characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies.
 Summer characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow
 The terrain consists of central surface coveredby a perennial drifting polar icepack that, on average is about 3
m thick. The icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during
the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf.
5. SOUTHERN OCEAN
 Southern Ocean also called Antarctic Ocean, the southern portions of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans
and their tributary seas surrounding Antarctica. Unbroken by any other continental landmass, the
Southern Ocean’s narrowest constriction is the Drake Passage, 600 miles (about 1,000 km) wide,
between South America and the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
 The structure of the ocean floor includes a continental shelf usually less than 160 miles (about 260 km) wide
that attains its maximum width of more than 1,600 miles (2,600 km) in the vicinity of the Weddell and Ross
seas.