This morning in quiz bowl I had to name the 5 oceans on Earth. I said the usual four: Pacific, Indian, Atlantic, and Artic. My final ocean was a guess: Antartic Ocean. I got the question right but I have always heard that there are four oceans so how does the Antartic fall in there?
Well, if you think about it the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans all meet around Antarctica. I’ve seen the Antarctic Ocean on a few maps and it is usually the area of ocean around Antarctica and south of all other land masses.
The Antarctic Ocean or Southern Ocean is just the portions of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans that lie beyond a certain arbitrary latitude. You get some pretty big waves down there because the “fetch” is potentially unlimited: a wave can travel all the way around the world without encountering land.
You got a bad question, mongrel. There are usually considered to be four oceans, and my handy World Almanac lists only four (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic). These are the only ones with semi-distinct basins. However, if you had to name a fifth ocean, the Antarctic would be it. (But then some people would list as many as seven oceans, with the North and South Atlantic (especially) and possibly the North and South Pacific considered to be separate.) You will however often find “Antarctic Ocean” on maps for the region surrounding Antarctica, but it is not really a distinct body of water.
mongrel_8,
Try this site for more information regarding the Antarctic Ocean.
I wonder:
If mankind were around when Pangaea split apart, would we debate if the Atlantic Straight were an ocean or not? :D:D Or was the Pacific the one true ocean?