It covers an area of 93.363 million square kilometers, accounting for about 25.4% of the ocean area, accounting for about half of the Pacific Ocean, making it the second ocean in the world.
Scope: The southern Atlantic Ocean borders Antarctica; To the north, the northernmost part of Norway-Iceland-the southern end of Greenland-south of davis strait-the dividing line between the port of Burwell in Labrador Peninsula and the Arctic Ocean; The southwest is bounded by the Pacific Ocean, and the longitude passes through Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. The southeast is bounded by the Indian Ocean, and the longitude passes through Cape Aguilar in South Africa. The outline of the Atlantic Ocean is slightly S-shaped.
The average depth is 3627 meters. The deepest part is the Puerto Rico Trench 9212m in the north of Puerto Rico Island.
According to the wind direction, ocean current, temperature and other conditions of the Atlantic Ocean, the geographical division usually takes 5 north latitude as the dividing line between the South and North Atlantic. The land boundary of the Atlantic Ocean in the northern hemisphere is much longer than that in the southern hemisphere, and the coast is tortuous, many of which belong to oceans and bays.
Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, North Sea, Baltic Sea, Bay of Biscay, Gulf of Guinea, Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay, Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Weddell Sea, the sargasso sea, etc.
Important islands and archipelagos: Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Newfoundland, Cuba, Hispaniola and many archipelagos in the Caribbean and Mediterranean, and a small part of Greenland is also located in the Atlantic Ocean.
One of the characteristics of submarine topography in natural environment is the large continental shelf area, which is mainly distributed in the coastal areas of Europe and North America. 80.2% is in the deep water area above 2000 meters,1.1.0% is in the water area between 200 and 2000 meters, and the continental shelf accounts for 8.7%, which is larger than the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Secondly, there is a mid-Atlantic ridge in the middle of the ocean floor, which is about 15000 km long from Iceland to Bouvet Island. In the equatorial region, it is cut off by a narrow water saddle, generally about 3000 meters above the water surface, and part of it protrudes out of the water surface to form a series of islands. The entire ridge winds in an S-shape, dividing the Atlantic Ocean into two deep-water basins extending parallel to the ridge. The East China Sea Basin is shallower than the West China Sea Basin, and the depth is generally less than 6000m. The West Sea Basin is deep, and most of the deep-sea trenches are in the West Sea Basin. In the southern hemisphere, the main body of the mid-Atlantic ridge extends eastward and westward, and there are many lateral ridge branches, such as Walvis Ridge on the southwest coast of Africa and Rio Grande Ridge on the east coast of South America. At the southern end of the mid-Atlantic ridge, south of Bouvet Island is an area with a water depth of more than 5,000 meters, which is called the Atlantic-Indian Ocean Basin. The South Sandwich Trench is 8428 meters deep, which is the deepest point in the South Atlantic. The northern end of the mid-Atlantic Ridge gradually rises, and the water depth between Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands and shetland islands is less than 600 meters. There are many underwater shoals in the East Atlantic, especially in the tropical and subtropical regions of the northern hemisphere.
Climate The climate of the Atlantic Ocean is very different from north to south, and there are also differences between east and west. The annual temperature is not high, which is below 1℃ in equatorial region, below 5℃ in subtropical region, below 10℃ in northern latitude and below 60℃ in southern latitude, only exceeding 25℃ in the northwest and southernmost part of the ocean. Northeastern trade winds prevail in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean and southeast trade winds prevail in the southern part. The temperate zonal belt is located in the transition zone between cold and warm airflow and westerly belt, and the wind force is the largest. There are many storms between 40-60 degrees north and south latitude; From May to June, hurricanes often occur in the tropical areas of the northern hemisphere. The precipitation in the Atlantic Ocean is 500- 1000 mm at high latitudes, 1000- 1500 mm at mid latitudes,1000 mm from east to west in subtropical and tropical regions, and over 20000 mm in equatorial regions. The average sea surface temperature near the equator of the Atlantic Ocean is about 25-27℃, and it is colder in the east than in the west between 30 north and south latitude, but the opposite is true to the north of 30 north latitude. In the Atlantic Ocean, the summer ice floes in the southern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere can reach about 40 degrees north and south latitude respectively.
The Atlantic ocean currents form two circulation systems: the northern circulation runs clockwise and consists of the northern equatorial warm current, the Antilles warm current, the Gulf of Mexico warm current and the Canary cold current, among which the Gulf of Mexico warm current extends to the North Atlantic warm current and goes deep into the Arctic Ocean; The circulation in the south is anticlockwise, which consists of the South Equatorial Warm Current, the Brazil Warm Current, the west wind drift and Benguela Cold Current. There is an equatorial countercurrent between the two circulations, which reaches the Gulf of Guinea from west to east and is called the Guinea Warm Current.
Marine resources Fisheries are rich in marine resources. Newfoundland and Beihai in the northwest and northeast are the main fishing grounds, rich in herring, cod, sardines, mackerel, hairscales and so on. Others include oysters, mussels, crayfish, crabs and various algae. The marine catch accounts for about 1/3-2/5 of the world. Whales, seals and krill are produced near the Antarctic continent, and the catch of marine animals is also very large.
Minerals The Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, the Gulf of Guinea and the Mediterranean Sea are rich in submarine oil and natural gas.
Transportation and Atlantic shipping are developed, and the east and west are connected with the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean through Suez Canal and Panama Canal respectively. Seagoing ships can sail all year round, and about 75% of the world's seaports are located in this sea area. Europe and North America mainly have North Atlantic routes; Far East routes between Europe, Asia and Oceania; The mid-Atlantic route between Europe and the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean; South Atlantic route between Europe and the Atlantic coast of South America; The route from western Europe to Cape Town along the Atlantic coast of Africa. The total length of the Atlantic submarine cable is over 200,000 kilometers. The line from the northwest end of Valencia Island in Ireland and Brittany Peninsula in France to the southeast end of Newfoundland Island in Canada, or all the way to the northern end of Nova Scotia Peninsula in Canada, is the main trunk line of the Atlantic submarine cable.
The shipping industry in the Atlantic Ocean is extremely developed. West across the Panama Canal between China and the United States, directly to the Pacific Ocean; You can also bypass Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America, cross the Drake Strait or strait of magellan, and reach the Pacific Ocean. In the east, it crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea, crossed the Suez Canal through the Red Sea, and took a shortcut to the Indian Ocean. You can also bypass the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa and enter the Indian Ocean. The connection between the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean is more convenient than other oceans, and there are many waterways connecting them. There are many international routes in the Atlantic Ocean, connecting Europe, America and coastal countries in Africa, and the cargo volume ranks first in all oceans. Especially in the North Atlantic. The Dover Strait and the English Channel, which connect the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, are the busiest places in the world. There are many ports along the Atlantic coast, mainly including Boston, new york, Baltimore, New Orleans, Havana, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Venice.
The origin of the Atlantic Ocean and its influence in China The word Atlantic Ocean: Daxi comes from the name of Atlas, the Hercules in ancient Greek mythology. Legend has it that Atlas lives in the Atlantic Ocean and can know the depth of any ocean and has great power. 1845, named Atlantic Ocean by the Geographical Society of London.
"Atlantic" is not a translated name, but an authentic place name at home and abroad! Since the Ming Dynasty, China has always taken Leizhou Peninsula to Kalimantan as the boundary when expressing its geographical position, with the East China Sea to the east and the West Sea to the west. This is why we often call the Japanese easterners and the Europeans westerners. In Ming Shenzong, Matteo Ricci came to China to visit Emperor China. In China's way, he said he was an "Atlantic" man on the west side of "Little Western Ocean (as China said at that time)". It can be seen that at that time, we called AtlanticOcean "Atlantic", and there was no other translation of this name.
The English name of the ATLANTICOCEAN is Atlantic Ocean, which was called OCEAMUSATLANTICUS in ancient times. It is named after Atlas, the Hercules in ancient Greek mythology. Atlas can know the depth of any ocean and support pillars to separate heaven and earth. Legend has it that the Atlantic Ocean is where he lives. At first, the Greeks named the mountains in northwest Africa after the god Aras, and later they extended to the ocean outside Gibraltar. 1650, named Dutch geographer Berthad? Vasini (1622- 1650).
The Chinese name "Atlantic" was first recorded in the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, it was customary to divide things from Leizhou Peninsula to kalimantan island, with "West" in the west and "East" in the east. So China used to call Europeans "Westerners" and Japanese "Orientals". At the end of Ming Dynasty, with the increase of geographical knowledge in Europe, the Indian Ocean was renamed "Little Western Ocean" and the sea west of Europe was called "Atlantic Ocean". After the introduction of western geography and maps, translators found it difficult to translate the word Atlantic into suitable Chinese, so they used to translate it into "ATLANTICOCEAN", which has been in use ever since.
Atlantic war, Normandy landing, Jutland naval battle, Dunkirk retreat.
Most seamounts in the other Atlantic Ocean are hidden below 3000 meters, and only a few ridges protrude from the ocean surface to form islands. Most of the islands are concentrated in the northwest of the Caribbean. Columbus mistook North America for India, so he gave them a very inappropriate name "West Indies". Legend has it that the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean is an ancient Atlantis civilization.
The peculiar "S"-shaped coastline of the Atlantic Ocean also inspired German meteorologist Wei Gena to boldly put forward the famous theory of continental drift.
In the North Atlantic, there is also a clockwise circulation, which consists of the North Equatorial Current, the Gulf Warm Current, the North Atlantic Warm Current and the Canary Cold Current. Among them, the Gulf Stream is the largest warm current in the world, and its flow is equivalent to 120 times of the total flow of rivers in the world. Like a huge heating pipe, it supplies huge heat and makes the climate in northwest Europe warm as spring. The circulation in the South Atlantic is counterclockwise, which consists of the South Equatorial Current, the Brazilian Warm Current, the west wind drift and the Benguela Cold Current. Most of the tides in the Atlantic Ocean belong to semidiurnal tides. On the open ocean, the tidal range is not obvious; In nearshore or narrow bays, the tidal range is very large. The tidal range in Bristol Bay on the south coast of Britain is as high as 1 1 m, and that in Fendi Bay in North America is as high as 2 1 m.. The tidal bore in the mouth of Amazon River in South America is even more spectacular than that in Qiantang River in China.