Portal:Oceans

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Introduction

Surface view of the Atlantic Ocean

The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the world ocean is conventionally divided. Separate names are used to identify five different areas of the ocean: Pacific (the largest), Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic (the smallest). Seawater covers approximately 361,000,000 km2 (139,000,000 sq mi) of the planet. The ocean is the principal component of Earth's hydrosphere, and therefore integral to life on Earth. Acting as a huge heat reservoir, the ocean influences climate and weather patterns, the carbon cycle, and the water cycle. (Full article...)

Waves in Pacifica, California

A sea is a large body of salty water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the wider body of seawater. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order sections of the oceanic sea (e.g. the Mediterranean Sea), or certain large, entirely landlocked, saltwater lakes (e.g. the Caspian Sea). (Full article...)

Oceanography (from Ancient Greek ὠκεανός (ōkeanós) 'ocean', and γραφή (graphḗ) 'writing'), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics; plate tectonics and the geology of the sea floor; and fluxes of various chemical substances and physical properties within the ocean and across its boundaries. These diverse topics reflect multiple disciplines that oceanographers utilize to glean further knowledge of the world ocean, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, climatology, geography, geology, hydrology, meteorology and physics. Paleoceanography studies the history of the oceans in the geologic past. An oceanographer is a person who studies many matters concerned with oceans, including marine geology, physics, chemistry and biology. (Full article...)

Selected article -

Satellite image of South China Sea

The South China Sea, or South East Asian Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luzon, Mindoro and Palawan), and in the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra and the Bangka Belitung Islands, encompassing an area of around 3,500,000 km2 (1,400,000 sq mi). It communicates with the East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait, the Philippine Sea via the Luzon Strait, the Sulu Sea via the straits around Palawan (e.g. the Mindoro and Balabac Straits), the Strait of Malacca via the Singapore Strait, and the Java Sea via the Karimata and Bangka Straits. The Gulf of Thailand and the Gulf of Tonkin are also part of South China Sea. The shallow waters south of the Riau Islands are also known as the Natuna Sea.

South China Sea is a region of tremendous economic and geostrategic importance. One-third of the world's maritime shipping passes through it, carrying over US$3 trillion in trade each year. Huge oil and natural gas reserves are believed to lie beneath its seabed. It also contains lucrative fisheries, which are crucial for the food security of millions in Southeast Asia. (Full article...)
List of selected articles

Interesting facts -

  • The Oceanography Society gives out the Jerlov Award "in Recognition of Contribution Made to the Advancement of Our Knowledge of the Nature and Consequences of Light in the Ocean".

Selected list articles and Marine habitat topics

Tasks


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General images -

The following are images from various ocean-related articles on Wikipedia.

In the news

1 April 2023 –
Professor Alan Jamieson of the University of Western Australia's Minderoo-UWA Deep Sea Research Centre announces that his team has captured footage of a snailfish species, Pseudoliparis belyaevi, swimming at 8,336 metres (27,349 ft) in the Izu–Ogasawara Trench off Japan's southern coast. This is the lowest depth recorded for any fish, and closest to the estimated maximum depth possible for fish to survive. (BBC News)
26 March 2023 – Mediterranean Sea migrant smuggling
At least 29 sub-Saharan Africans are killed when two boats sink off the coast of Tunisia. (France 24)
23 March 2023 – 2023 Tunisia migrant boat disaster
Five people are killed when migrant boats sink off the coast of Sfax, Tunisia. (Reuters)
16 March 2023 – 2022–23 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
Cyclone Freddy
The death toll from Cyclone Freddy increases to over 300, with most of the deaths occurring in Malawi. (Al Jazeera)

WikiProjects

WikiProjects
WikiProjects
  • WikiProject Oceans
  • WikiProject Limnology and Oceanography
  • WikiProject Marine life
  • WikiProject Cetaceans
  • WikiProject Fishes
  • WikiProject Sharks

Related WikiProjects
  • WikiProject Arthropods
  • WikiProject Fisheries and Fishing
  • WikiProject Lakes
  • WikiProject Rivers

Topics


More topics

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories Oceans
Oceans
Categories by sea or ocean
Landforms by sea or ocean
Bays by ocean
Fish by ocean
Shipwrecks by ocean
Volcanism by ocean
Seas
Oceans surrounding Antarctica
Arctic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Submarine cables
Coasts
Ocean currents
Marine energy
Oceans and seas in fiction
Historical oceans
Indian Ocean
Law of the sea
Ocean maps
Marine conservation
Oceanaria
Oceans-related lists
Pacific Ocean
Submarine pipelines
Ocean pollution
Southern Ocean
Works set on oceans
World Ocean


Seas
Seas
Categories by sea or ocean
Seas by country
Seas by continent
Fish by sea
Shipwrecks by sea
Seas of the Arctic Ocean
Seas of the Atlantic Ocean
Sea in culture
Sea and river deities
Oceans and seas in fiction
Seas of Greenland
Seas of the Indian Ocean
Lists of seas
Marginal seas
Marine energy
Maritime transport
Seas of the Pacific Ocean
Bays by sea
Seas of the Southern Ocean


Oceanography
Oceanography
Oceans
Seas
Oceanography awards
Biological oceanography
Chemical oceanography
Oceanographic expeditions
Ocean exploration
Fracture zones
Oceanographic instrumentation
Oceanography journals
Marine biology
Marine geology
Marine geophysicists
Marine meteorology
Maritime culture
Meteorology
Oceanographers
Oceanographic Time-Series
Oceanographical terminology
Oceanography of Canada
Oceanographic organizations
Paleoceanography
Physical oceanography
Research vessels
Sea ice
Underwater diving companies
Underwater diving sites
Underwater explorers
United States Exploring Expedition
Oceanography stubs

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Admiralty law

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