The Atlantic Ocean (map added below) is an integral part of the World Ocean. It is considered the most studied reservoir by people on our planet. It occupies the second place in its area, losing the first only to the Pacific. The Atlantic Ocean covers an area of 91.66 million square meters. km, while the Pacific - at 178.684 million square meters. km As we can see, these numbers are quite impressive.
Description of the geographical position of the Atlantic Ocean
Meridionally, the ocean stretches for 13 thousand km. In the north, it washes the coast of. Greenland, Canada and parts of Europe, connects with the waters of the Arctic Ocean. In the south, the Atlantic Ocean reaches the shores of Antarctica itself. Sometimes the southern part of the Atlantic, from about 35 ° S. w. up to 60 ° S sh., belong to a separate, southern, water area. But its existence is still a moot point.
The greatest width of the Atlantic Ocean is 6,700 km. In the east, it washes the western coast of Africa, Europe, connects to the Indian Ocean along the border from metro Igolny to Queen Maud Land (in Antarctica). In the west, brings its waters to the shores of South and North America, through the Drake Strait connecting with the Pacific.
The geographical position of the Atlantic Ocean is such that it unites with all other large reservoirs of the planet, and also washes the shores of all continents except Australia.
Briefly about the ocean
The area of the Atlantic is more than 91 million square meters. km As a percentage, it accounts for 25% of all waters of the oceans. Of the total water area, 16% are in the bays and seas. The latter are only 16. The Sargasso, Mediterranean and Caribbean are the largest seas of which the Atlantic Ocean consists. The map added below also displays the largest bays. This is the Mexican, Guinean, Gulf of Maine. The Atlantic Ocean is rich in islands and archipelagos. Most significant in area: British, Greater Falkland, Iceland, Newfoundland, Greater Antilles, Bahamas, etc.
The average depths of the ocean are in the region of 3,500-4,000 m. The maximum is the Puerto Rico trench, its length is 1,754 km, its width is 97 km, and the greatest depth in this place reaches 8,742 m.
Relief
Studying the geographical position of the Atlantic Ocean, it is necessary to pay attention to the relief of the bottom. This pond is considered quite young on planet Earth. Such a conclusion can be made on the basis of the relief of its bottom. Conditionally, it can be divided into three parts. Across the entire center of the bottom of the Atlantic, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge stretches from the south to the north - the oceanic ridge that separates the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. It is large enough, sometimes even rises to the surface in the form of islands. A vivid example of this is the island of Iceland.
An ocean formed in the Mesozoic period. Presumably - during the split of the ancient continent of Pangea into two continents, Laurasia and Gondwana. On both sides of the Mid-Atlantic Range lies the ocean bed - the most calm and uniform bottom topography. Closer to the continents in the relief, continental margins stand out. They are represented by accumulation plains composed of a thick layer of bottom sediments. The ocean shelf is not very wide, its longest is 400 km (near the North and Baltic Seas).
The geographical position of the Atlantic Ocean determines some features. For example, a frequent occurrence for a given water area is its seismic activity, underwater volcanoes. And this, in turn, causes severe hurricanes, tsunamis and typhoons, tropical storms and tornadoes. It was in these waters that the most powerful catastrophic hurricanes of the planet were played: Katrina (2005), Ivan (2004), Sandy (2012).
Climate features
The geographical position of the Atlantic Ocean is determined by the length from the very north to the very south of the planet. Thanks to this, it passes through all the climatic zones of the Earth. Accordingly, the climate of the ocean in its different regions varies. Most of the water area is located in temperate and subtropical climatic latitudes. The basis of weather conditions here are winds - westerly and trade winds. In the northern region of the ocean, a cyclone originates, which determines the weather of the entire Northern hemisphere of the planet. In the Arctic and Antarctic latitudes, frequent occurrence is drifting ice floes and icebergs.
Currents
Active movement of water flows occurs in the ocean in the meridional direction. Powerful currents are formed: the Gulf Stream, the current of the West winds, the North and South trade winds, the Canary, Brazil.
States with access to the waters of the Atlantic
As we said above, the geographical location of the Atlantic Ocean allows its waters to wash almost all the continents of the planet. That is why it covers the coast of many state and countries.
- In North America, all states: Canada, the USA, Mexico, island and small countries - have access to the Atlantic coast.
- On the continent of South America, Atlantic coast is washed by the coast of Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Paraguay.
- African countries with access to the Atlantic Ocean are Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Morocco, Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon and others.
- The European countries with access to the ocean are Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, and Denmark.
In this article, we examined in detail the features of the geographical position of the Atlantic Ocean.