Map Elements&

The 5 Oceans

►Longitude lines run north and south.►Latitude lines run east and west. ►The lines measure distances in

degrees.

LongitudeLatitude

Latitude and Longitude

Where is 0 degrees?►The equator is 0

degree latitude. ►It is an imaginary

belt that runs halfway point between the North Pole and the South Pole.

►The prime meridianis 0 degrees longitude.

►This imaginary line runs through the United Kingdom, France, Spain, western Africa, and Antarctica.

Equator

P

R

I

M

E

MERIDIAN

The Tropics of Cancer & Capricorn

Compass A tool that helps

the user know what direction one is headed.

On a map, a compass or a compass rose helps the user locate these directions.

Shows direct connection between a unit of measurement on the map and the actual distance. For example, each inch on the map represents one mile on Earth. So, a map of a town would show a mile-long strip of fast food joints and auto dealers in one inch.

Scale

THE 5 OCEANS

THE 5 OCEANS• Atlantic• Pacific• Indian• Arctic• Southern

Atlantic Ocean

• 2nd largest ocean (1/5 of Earth’s surface)• Deepest point – Puerto Rico Trench • Spreads along Mid-Atlantic Ridge by 2-4 cm per year• Relatively young – 150 million years old

Physical Characteristics

•Northern portion bordered by most industrialized countries (busiest shipping waterway)

• Some of the richest fishing grounds along continental shelves

• Sargasso Sea (in N. Atlantic) is a huge area of calm, still water, famous for the green brown seaweed that covers its surface

Bonus InformationAtlantic Ocean

• Contains the Caribbean Sea, which holds a great deal of the world’s coral reefs

• Iceland and Ascension Island are parts of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that rise above the water

Bonus InformationAtlantic Ocean

Northern Atlantic Ocean

Pacific OceanPhysical Characteristics

• Largest Ocean (2x the size of Atlantic) – 1/3 of Earth’s surface• Deepest Point – Mariana Trench• Widening at a rate of 12-16 cm at East Pacific Rise (underwater mountain range) each year• Contains more trenches, seamounts, volcanic islands, and hydrothermal vents than any other ocean

Bonus Information

Pacific Ocean

• Some areas are covered with small black lumps, called manganese nodules – which are used for pains, batteries, and steel

• Contains large, narrow fracture zones along the East Pacific Rise

•Philippine Sea is fairly large and contains the Mariana’s Trench (the deepest part of the ocean)•Coral Sea contains the largest coral reef (Great Barrier Reef near Australia)

• San Andreas Fault lies between the Pacific Plate and the N. American Plate

• Sand on some beaches is black, from formation of the island by volcanic activity

Bonus Information

Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Indian Ocean

Physical Characteristics• 3rd largest ocean

• Deepest Point – Java Trench

• Formed 140 million years ago when India, Africa, and Antarctica separated

Indian Ocean

Physical Characteristics•Upside-down Y-shaped mid-ocean ridge

• Mid-ocean ridges separate the ocean bed into several basins, some of which are the flattest places on Earth

Bonus InformationIndian Ocean

• Unique current pattern – monsoon winds change the currents twice a year

• Winter – toward Africa• Summer – toward India

• Contains the saltiest sea (Red Sea) and the warmest sea (Persian Gulf) on Earth

• Home of massive volcanic eruptions

Indian Ocean

Arctic OceanPhysical

Characteristics

• Smallest & Shallowest ocean

• Only ocean almost entirely surrounded by land (Europe, Asia, Greenland, & North America)

• Waters are covered by a thick sheet of ice for most of the year

Bonus Information

Arctic Ocean

• North Pole lies in the middle of a raft of ice, not on top of solid land

•Unusually wide areas of continental shelf under the ice (accounts for shallow depth)

• Summer days are extremely long, winter days are very short

•

•Littered with icebergs (Greenland itself lies under an enormous ice cap)

•Wildlife exists only around the edges

•The International Date Line crosses the Chukchi Sea from NW to SE. This is also wear many polar bears are found.•Contains the Beaufort Sea which has significant resources of petroleum and natural gas under its shelf

Arctic Ocean

Bonus Information

Arctic Ocean

Southern Ocean

Physical Characteristics• 4th Largest and surrounds only the continent of Antarctica

• Defined as waters South of 60° S latitude

• Has the coldest and windiest climate on earth• Winter - -22° F with winds reaching 190 mph• Summer – near 32° F or just above

Southern Ocean

•Massive weight of ice (which covers all but 5% of the land) pushes most of the land below sea level, though some peaks do break the surface

• Previously unofficially known as the Antarctic Ocean.(Officially named “Southern” in 2000)

• Fringed with ice even at the height of summer

• East Wind Drift current flows counterclock-wise around the land, and the West Wind Drift flows clockwise…which sweep waters extremely far

Bonus InformationSouthern Ocean

•Teems with plankton, which attracts many other types of wildlife

•Contains the Ross Sea - contain a number of rookeries of Adélie and Emperor penguins. And is one of the last stretches of seas on Earth that remains relatively unaffected by human activities. Because of this, it is remains almost totally free from pollution, overfishing and the introduction of invasive species.

Southern Ocean