The Ocean
The body of salt water covering 70.8% of Earth.
via Wikipedia: Ocean · see source
The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. It contains 97% of Earth's water and is the primary component of Earth's hydrosphere, acting as a huge reservoir of heat for Earth's energy budget, as well as for its carbon cycle and water cycle, forming the basis for climate and weather patterns worldwide. The ocean is essential to life on Earth, harbouring most of Earth's animals and protist life. It originated photosynthesis and therefore Earth's atmospheric oxygen, and still supplies half of it.
Quick Facts
- Area
- 361,000,000 km² / 139,382,885 sq mi (70.8% of Earth's surface area)
- Depth
- 3,688 m / 12,100 ft
- Maximum depth
- 10,935 m / 6.79 mi (Challenger Deep)
- Volume
- 1,370,000,000 km3 (97.5% of Earth's water)
- Temperature low
- -2 °C / 28.4 °F (surface), 1 °C / 33.8 °F (deepest points)
Did You Know?
- The photic zone, where photosynthesis can occur, extends to about 200 m in the open ocean.
- Deep ocean temperatures range between −2 °C (28 °F) and 5 °C (41 °F) in all parts of the ocean.
- The ocean is known to be the habitat of over 230,000 species, but may hold over two million species.
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