Facts About the Atlantic Ocean

by admin on Saturday, March 13, 2010 15:13.

  • The Atlantic Ocean is the world’s second largest ocean, with an area of 82 million sq km. It covers about one-fifth of the world’s surface.
  • At its widest point, between Spain and Mexico, the Atlantic is 9600 km across.
  • The Atlantic was named by the ancient Romans after the Atlas Mountains of North Africa.
  • There are very few islands in the main part of the Atlantic Ocean. Most lie close to the continents.
  • On average, the Atlantic is about 3660 m deep.
  • The damp, cool climate of the northern Atlantic frequently turns its waters steely grey.
  • The deepest point in the Atlantic is the Puerto Rico Trench off Puerto Rico, which is 8648 m deep.
  • The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a great undersea ridge which splits the sea-bed in half. Along this ridge, the Atlantic. is growing wider by 2-4 cm every year.
  • Islands in the mid-Atlantic are volcanoes that lie along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, such as the Azores and Ascension Island.
  • The Sargasso Sea is a huge area of water in the western Atlantic. It is famous for its floating seaweed.
  • The Atlantic is a youngish ocean, about 150 million years old.
  • The Atlantic Ocean provides around a quarter of the world’s catch of fish

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 3:13 pm and is filed under Interesting Facts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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