It seems that every millimeter of our Earth has already been explored, all the continents and oceans have been explored, but people have new questions all the time. For example, do you know what is the most s alty ocean on the planet? If not, then let's figure it out.
Amazing feature
Each ocean on Earth has its own characteristics. Some of the largest, some of the coldest. What is the s altiest ocean? This question has interested scientists for a long time, and they conducted a series of studies. The Atlantic Ocean is the s altiest. And it is also recognized as the oldest on Earth. No wonder the roots of the name of this ocean go back to ancient myths.
History of the name
According to ancient myth, the god of the seas Poseidon built for himself the city-state of Atlantis. To keep its secrets, the city sank in the waters of the ocean, and with it all the inhabitants. Together with Poseidon, his wife and son Atlas lived in the city, on whose shoulders the vault of heaven was held. In memory of this great hero of myths, the ocean was named the Atlantic.
True, more mundanegeographers believe that the s altiest ocean is named after the mountains located in Africa. These mountains are called Atlas. Today, they still argue about which version is correct.
Why is water s alty
The salinity of ocean waters has been formed over billions of years. Rainwater absorbed and dissolved dust particles that contained s alt, river waters washed mineral deposits, enriching them with s alts, and all this fell into the ocean, from the surface of which water gradually evaporated, but heavier s alts remained. So gradually the waters became s alty. Well, to the question of which ocean is the most s alty in the world, the answer has long been received. Although some scientists wanted to give the palm to the Indian Ocean, not the Atlantic. Its salinity is indeed higher in some areas, but in general the waters are less saline than in the Atlantic.
In the Atlantic Ocean, the salinity of water is distributed almost evenly. Its concentration is slightly higher only in the tropics. Scientists explain this phenomenon by the fact that here more water evaporates than returns in the form of precipitation.
The great secrets of the Atlantic include the presence of fresh underground sources. Fresh water rises from the depths of the ocean to its surface.
Small geographical reference
The Atlantic Ocean is not the largest on Earth. It is inferior in area to the Pacific, but still occupies almost 20% of the planet's surface. The s altiest ocean in the world has an area of over 91 million km2. The average depth of the Atlantic is approximately 3500 m, and the deepest point is 8700 m.
On the world map, the outlines of the ocean resemble a huge letter S. The water body is located between Europe and the African continent, and its eastern part washes the shores of the two American continents. From all of them, s alt enters the waters of the Atlantic, the concentration of which continues to increase.
International Importance and Minerals
The Atlantic is not only the s altiest ocean on Earth, it is also rich in mineral deposits. There are diamonds and gold in the coastal waters of Africa, deposits of iron ore have been found off the coast of Europe. And in the Gulf of Mexico, Guinea and Biscay, gas and oil fields are being developed.
But it's not just minerals that matter. In the case of the Atlantic, location plays a big role. It is not only the s altiest ocean, but also the most explored and the most navigable - there are busy trade routes here.
And on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean there are comfortable resorts. Every year, tourists come here to relax, sunbathe and go scuba diving.
Flora and fauna
Despite the fact that this is the s altiest ocean, the Atlantic is quite rich in flora and fauna. Many species of brown and red algae live here, such as sargassum and latotomnia. And in the tropical zone, a large number of green algae, such as wallonia and caulerpa. There are a lot of Zostera on the European coast of the ocean - this is a type of special sea grass.
Representatives of the faunaAtlantic Ocean - various types of cod and herring fish, notothenia, sea bass, halibut, haddock, tuna, mackerel and sardines. This is not a complete list of underwater inhabitants. All of these species are of great commercial importance. The waters of the Atlantic plow numerous fish fleets and small fishing boats. And in the markets of coastal cities you can always buy fresh fish.
Atlantic Issues
Unfortunately, now scientists are more interested not in which ocean is the most s alty, but in how to save water bodies. Human activities cause great damage to the waters of the Atlantic. Every year the level of pollution is increasing, although the world community is taking measures to reduce pollution.
Pesticides from fields and farmlands get into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, industrial waste and sewage runoff are also dumped here. In addition, there are accidents on oil platforms and on tankers carrying oil. This leads to serious spills of flammable liquid, in which the flora and fauna of the ocean die. But from here humanity receives almost 40% of fish production. How people can treat natural resources with such irresponsibility is hard to explain.
The main thing is that they have already stopped arguing about problems and have begun to look for ways to solve them. This gives hope that the waters of the s altiest ocean will restore their purity and preserve their inhabitants for future generations.
So many mysterious and unknown is fraught with the Atlantic! Maybe one day people will know more about it.ocean and will be able to unravel its secrets, but for now we can only admire its greatness and beauty, content with only a small fraction of the knowledge we have.
