Ocean

The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of 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, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern, and Arctic. Seawater covers approximately 361,000,000 km² 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. Oceanographers divide the ocean into different vertical and horizontal zones based on physical and biological conditions. The pelagic zone consists of the water column from surface to ocean floor throughout the open ocean. The water column is further categorized in other zones depending on depth and on how much light is present.

Read more in the app

Meltwater is causing Antarctic glaciers to flow faster toward the ocean - EurekAlert!

Millions of fossil whale bones found in deep-ocean ‘necropolis’

Giant Whale Graveyard Found in The Ocean Is Like a Drowned City of The Dead

Hidden Coral World The Size of Vatican City Found Deep Beneath The Ocean

From the ocean, the robotic arm inspired by the octopus - EurekAlert!

NASA Satellites Help Map Ocean Nutrient Stress

A Surprising Discovery Inside Fish Could Change What We Know About the Ocean

Scientists map the ocean’s invisible workforce - EurekAlert!

New study improves scientists’ ability to reconstruct how the climate and ocean circulation changed in the past - EurekAlert!

The ocean's health may depend on a tiny microbe inside fish

Scientists find groundbreaking potential for tissue regrowth and immortality in the ocean - EurekAlert!

Headline: The ocean's pharmacy: scientists chart a new path for marine peptide drug discovery - EurekAlert!

Solar farm on the ocean outperforms land-based solar in Taiwan

A real Mr. Snuffleupagus? Meet the ocean’s strangest new fish species

Mars may have once had an ocean and this chaotic valley is a big clue

From ocean to gut: The bacteria that shape both human health and marine carbon cycling - EurekAlert!

In Venice, an Ocean-Inspired Exhibition Takes Visitors Under the Sea

Scientists finally explain how the Twelve Apostles rose from the ocean

Scientists discovered a mysterious ‘golden orb’ two miles beneath the surface of the ocean. Now they’ve worked out what it is