Atlantic Ocean at Great Depths

The Atlantic Ocean is Earth's second-largest ocean. It covers approximately a fifth of the earth's surface. The name Atlantic Ocean came from Greek mythology; it means the "Sea of Atlas".

The Atlantic Ocean is second only to the Pacific in size. With its neighboring seas it occupies an area of about 41,100,000 square miles. The land that drains to the Atlantic is approxcimately four times that of either the Pacific or Indian oceans. The Atlantic Ocean has a volume of approximately 354,700,000 km³. 3,332m is the average depth of the Atlantic coean. The greatest depth in the Puerto Rico Trench is 8,605 m.

Due to it's large area the Climate of the Atlantic Ocean varies greatly from one part to the next. The climate of adjacent land areas is directly influenced by the temperatures of the surface waters and water currents as well as the winds blowing across the Ocean. Because the Ocean can retain heat so well, maritime climates are always moderate and free of extreme season variations. Climatic zones vary with the latitude; the warmest climatic zones span across the Atlantic above the equator. The coldest zones are in the highest latitudes, with the coldest regions corresponding to the areas covered by sea ice. Ocean currents contribute to climatic control by moving warm and cold waters to other regions. Adjacent land areas are affected by the winds that are cooled or warmed when blowing over these currents.

Feel free to reprint this article as long as you keep the following caption and author biography in tact with all hyperlinks.

Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of Pixibot. Which is a great web directory and information center for information on all types of topics.

Related News and Articles From Google


Boating Business

Strong trading from Fountaine Pajot
Boating Business, UK - Dec 30, 2008
RESULT: Fountaine Pajot has just revealed its 2008 figures and it looks like the multihull builder could give Gordon Brown a lesson or two about prudence

Like this story? Share it with Yahoo! Buzz
USA Today - Dec 15, 2008
It's Monday, Cruise Loggers, and that means it's once again time for our "Reader Tip of the Week" feature -- a chance for you, the readers of the Cruise Log

Hurtigruten Introduces Robust Roster Of Savings, Including Two-For
TravelVideo.tv (press release) - Dec 22, 2008
Hurtigruten is a world leader in exploration cruising sailing to the most remote of destinations including Antarctica, Greenland and the Arctic's

Sail World

Sailors Leap for their Lives from Doomed Yacht
Sail World, Australia - Dec 25, 2008
Two sailors escaped their 44 foot cruising sailing boat by jumping into the surf just as it was pounding ashore this week at Imperial Beach near San Diego,