Ocean
hideAn ocean (from Greek Ωκεανός, Okeanos (Oceanus)) is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface (an area of some 361 million square kilometers) is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas. More than half of this area is over 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) deep. Average oceanic salinity is around 35 parts per thousand (ppt) (3.5%), and nearly all seawater has a salinity in the range of 30 to 38 ppt.
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News tagged with ocean
Understanding ocean climate
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
21 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
High-resolution computer simulations performed by scientists at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) are helping to understand the inflow of North Atlantic water to the Arctic Ocean and how ...
Study: Earth more sensitive to carbon dioxide than previously thought
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 06, 2009 |
3.2 / 5 (37) |
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In the long term, the Earth's temperature may be 30-50% more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide than has previously been estimated, reports a new study published in Nature Geoscience this week.
Giant iceberg spotted south of Australia
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 09, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (14) |
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A monster iceberg nearly twice the size of Hong Kong island has been spotted drifting towards Australia in what scientists Wednesday called a once-in-a-century event.
Oceans' Uptake of Manmade Carbon May Be Slowing
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 09, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (20) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The oceans play a key role in regulating climate, absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans put into the air. Now, the first year-by-year accounting of this mechanism ...
Blue whales singing with deeper voices
Dec 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Blue whales, the largest animals on earth, are singing with deeper voices every year, but scientists are unsure of the reason.
What's so funny about global warming?
21 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
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Ian Leung has wanted to do something about global warming for almost two decades. Ever since he switched careers in 1991 from science advisor to the Ontario Ministry of Environment to pursue a career as an actor, the environment-and ...
Robot completes first underwater crossing of Atlantic Ocean
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 09, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (11) |
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Spain on Wednesday handed back to the United States a robot which last week completed the first underwater crossing of the Atlantic Ocean to help monitor climate change by tracking temperatures.
NASA's TRMM satellite sees Tropical Storm Cleo form in southern Indian Ocean
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 08, 2009 |
2 / 5 (3) |
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The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite captured the birth of Tropical Storm Cleo in the southern Indian Ocean today, December 7.
Study on land plant fossils shows Paleoasian Ocean disappeared about 251 million years ago
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 08, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (3) |
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A latest discovery of land plant fossils from Heilongjiang, Northeast China shows that the Siberian Plate sutured with the North China Plate at the end of the Permian, and resulted in the final closure of the Paleoasian Ocean ...
System 97W's 'castle wall' breached, and opened up to dissipation
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 04, 2009 |
not rated yet |
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The "walls" of System 97W have been breached, and residents in the Western Pacific Ocean no longer have a tropical cyclone to worry about today. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center cancelled their "formation ...
Rocket launches Air Force satellite from Fla.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 06, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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(AP) -- A rocket carrying an Air Force satellite that will be used by the military has launched from Cape Canaveral.
