Northeast Atlantic Ocean. Message about the Atlantic Ocean

Secrets of the Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean has been known to human civilization since time immemorial. It was here, according to ancient legends, that the mysterious island of Atlantis was located, which sank under the water seventeen thousand years ago. A warlike and courageous people (the Atlanteans) lived on it, and the god Poseidon reigned over it along with his wife Kleito. Their eldest son's name was Atlan. In his honor, the boundless sea washing this land was named Atlantic.

Atlantic Ocean

The mysterious civilization sank into oblivion, the sea was renamed the ocean, but the name remained the same. The secrets of the Atlantic Ocean have not disappeared anywhere. Over the centuries, there have been no fewer of them. But before you get acquainted with everything unusual and mysterious, you need to get a general idea of ​​the majestic waters that simultaneously wash the shores of hot Africa, the lands of old Europe, and the distant rocky coast of the American continent, covered in the haze of fairy tales.

Nowadays, the Atlantic Ocean is the name given to a huge body of water on planet Earth, which accounts for 25% of the volume of the World Ocean. Its area is almost 92 million km², together with the adjacent seas and the Atlantic part of the Southern Ocean. From north to south, the waters of the Atlantic stretch for 15.5 thousand km, and from west to east, in the narrowest part (from Brazil to Liberia), they have a width of 2.8 thousand km.

If we take the distance of the Atlantic waters from the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico to the eastern coast of the Black Sea, then there will be a completely different figure - 13.5 thousand km. The depth of the ocean is also a big difference. Its average value is 3600 m, and the maximum is recorded in the Puerto Rico trench and corresponds to 8742 meters.

The floor of the Atlantic is divided lengthwise into two parts by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It exactly follows the contours of a huge reservoir and stretches in a wide, winding mountainous chain: from the north - from the Reykjanes Ridge (Iceland), to the African-Antarctic Ridge in the south (Bouvet Island), going beyond the distribution of Arctic ice.

To the right and left of the ridge there are scattered basins, trenches, faults, and small ridges that make the topography of the ocean floor very complex and confusing. The coastline (especially in northern latitudes) also has a complex structure. It is heavily indented by small bays and has vast water areas that extend deep into the land and form seas. An integral part are the numerous straits in the coastal zone of the continents, as well as straits and channels connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean.

The Atlantic Ocean washes the shores of 96 state entities. Its property includes 14 seas and 4 large bays. The richly diverse climate in these geographical and geological parts of the earth's surface is provided by numerous surface currents. They flow freely in all directions and are divided into warm and cold.

In northern latitudes, up to the equator, the North Trade Wind, Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Currents dominate. They carry warm waters and delight the surrounding world with a mild climate and high temperatures. This cannot be said about the Labrador and Canary currents. The latter are classified as cold and create frosty and slushy weather in the adjacent lands.

South of the equator the picture is the same. The warm South Trade Wind, Guinea and Brazilian Currents rule here. The cold Western Winds and the Bengal Winds try to be in no way inferior to their more humane colleagues and also make their feasible negative contribution to the formation of the climate of the southern hemisphere. In general, the average temperature on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean is plus 16° Celsius. At the equator it can reach up to 28° Celsius. But in the northern latitudes it is very cold - here the water freezes.

Icebergs of the Atlantic

From what has been said, it is not difficult to guess that the waters of the Atlantic are squeezed from the north and south by eternal giant ice crusts. True, regarding eternity, it’s a little overkill, since very large blocks of ice often break off from them and begin to slowly drift towards the equator. These blocks are called icebergs, and they move north of Greenland up to 40° N. sh, and in the south from Antarctica to 40° S. w. Their remains are also observed closer to the equator, reaching 31-35° southern and northern latitudes.

Very large sizes are a loose concept. More specifically, there are icebergs whose length is tens of kilometers, and whose area sometimes exceeds 1000 km². These ice floes can travel across the ocean for years, hiding their true size under the water surface.

The fact is that a mountain of ice shines blue above the water, which corresponds to only 10% of the total volume of the iceberg. The remaining 90% of this block is hidden in the ocean depths due to the fact that the density of ice does not exceed 940 kg/m³, and the density of sea water on the surface ranges from 1000 to 1028 kg/m³. The usual, average height of an iceberg, as a rule, corresponds to 28-30 meters, while its underwater part is slightly more than 100-120 meters.

Meeting such a sea traveler was never a joy for ships. It poses the greatest danger already in adulthood. By this time, the iceberg has melted significantly, its center of gravity has shifted, and the huge ice block turns over. Its underwater part is above the water. It does not shine blue, but is a dark blue ice cap, which, especially in poor visibility conditions, is very difficult to distinguish on the surface of the ocean.

The sinking of the Titanic

A typical example of the treachery of floating ice blocks is the sinking of the Titanic, which occurred on the night of April 14-15, 1912. It sank 2 hours 40 minutes after colliding with an iceberg in the northern waters of the Atlantic Ocean (41° 43′ 55″ N, 49° 56′ 45″ E). This resulted in the death of 1,496 passengers and crew members.

True, we must immediately make a reservation: attributing everything to a “lost” iceberg is rather imprudent. This shipwreck is still one of the greatest mysteries of the Atlantic Ocean today. There is still no clue to the reasons for the tragedy, although there are a great many different theories and assumptions.

It is assumed that the largest passenger ship in the world (length 269 m, width 28.2 m, displacement 46,300 tons) collided with an iceberg, which was of venerable age and had apparently capsized more than once in the water. Its dark surface did not give any reflections; it merged with the water surface of the ocean, so it was very difficult to notice the huge floating ice block in a timely manner. The culprit of the tragedy was recognized only when he was 450 meters from the ship, and not 4-6 km away, as usually happens in such situations.

The sinking of the Titanic caused a lot of noise. It was a world sensation at the beginning of the second decade of the twentieth century. The main thing that amazed everyone was how such a huge and reliable ship could sink so quickly, dragging hundreds and hundreds of unfortunate people with it to the bottom. Nowadays, many researchers tend to see the true causes of the terrible tragedy not in the ill-fated iceberg (although few deny its indirect role), but in completely other factors, which for some reason, at one time, were hidden from the general public.

Versions, guesses, assumptions

The official conclusion of the commission investigating the disaster was unequivocal - the ice of the Atlantic turned out to be stronger than steel. He ripped open the underwater hull of the Titanic like a tin can. The wound was terrible: its length reached 100 meters, and out of sixteen waterproof compartments, six were damaged. This turned out to be enough for the proud Briton to sink to the bottom and become silent forever at enormous depths, taking with him human lives and colossal material values ​​to the sea soil.

The sinking of the Titanic

The sinking of the Titanic

Such a verdict is not convincing for a specialist, and even a person far from shipbuilding understands that the supporting hull of a huge liner plowing the oceans cannot in any way resemble a tin can. The melted ice of the old iceberg also does not have sufficient hardness, which, judging by the conclusion, should have exceeded the strength of a diamond, in order to pierce the steel plating of a multi-ton passenger ship for tens of meters.

You can build various assumptions and hypotheses for as long as you like, but only practical research can give answers to all questions. In this situation, given the depth at which the Titanic lay, exploration work became possible no earlier than the 80s of the 20th century. It was by this time that deep-sea vehicles appeared, capable of staying at a depth of 4 kilometers for a long time.

The first such sign was the expedition of the American oceanographer Robert Ballard, which arrived at the site of the tragedy on the ship Knor in September 1985. It was armed with the Argo deep-sea towed complex. It was he who determined the depth of the remains of the Titanic. The water thickness in this place was 3,750 meters. The ship lay on the seabed, split into two parts, the distance between them was approximately 600 meters.

No visible damage was found that caused the death of the ocean liner. Robert Ballard believed that they were hidden by the soil in which the multi-ton structure was stuck. The laceration on the Titanic’s hull was not found during the second expedition organized by the American scientist in 1986.

French and American specialists followed the beaten path. In the summer of 1987, they arrived in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and spent two long months at the scene of the disaster. Using the deep-sea submersible Nautilus, researchers recovered from the bottom more than 900 objects on board the sunken ship. These were samples of ship utensils, some of which ended up in museums, and some were distributed to private collections.

Survey of the Titanic

Submersible explores the sunken Titanic

Finally, in 1991, the ship Akademik Mstislav Keldysh arrived at the site of the sinking of the Titanic. On board was an international research expedition led by Canadian geologist-oceanographer Steve Blask. The expedition had at its disposal two autonomous underwater vehicles, Mir-1 and Mir-2. The researchers made 38 dives on them. The ship's hull was examined, a sample of the side plating was taken, film, video and photography were taken.

Despite all efforts, a ragged hole several tens of meters long was not found. But we managed to find a hole, the size of which did not exceed a square meter, and numerous cracks were noticed along the lines of the rivets.

A steel fragment that broke off from the Titanic's hull was sent for testing. It was tested for metal fragility - the conclusion was not reassuring: the prototype was strikingly fragile. This could be attributed to the long 80 years on the seabed, which significantly affected the properties of the steel. Therefore, for the objectivity of the picture, a similar piece of metal, preserved at the shipyard since 1911, was tested. The result was almost the same.

It's hard to believe, but the Titanic's hull did not meet regulatory requirements. It was made from a material high in sulfur compounds. The latter gave the steel structure high fragility, which, in combination with ice water, made it very fragile.

If the body were made of steel that met all standards and requirements, then after contact with an iceberg, it would bend, but retain its integrity. In this situation, the ship hit an iceberg on its starboard side - and the impact was of little force, but the fragile hull of the Titanic could not withstand it either. It split along the rivet lines below the waterline. Ice water poured into the resulting holes, which instantly filled the lower compartments and, most likely, caused the explosion of the hot steam boilers.

The huge ship began to rapidly plunge into the waters of the Atlantic. According to eyewitnesses, at first the Titanic sank on an even keel, which indicates that the lower compartments filled with water evenly. Then the bow trim appeared. The stern began to rise upward, reached a vertical position, and the multi-ton colossus very quickly sank to the bottom. Already at great depths, due to high pressure, the Titanic split into two parts, which were pulled along the ocean floor for more than 500 meters.

Who benefited from the sinking of the Titanic?

It turns out that this disaster has nothing to do with the mysteries of the Atlantic Ocean: everything seems to be clear. No, there is no need to rush to conclusions. As already mentioned, there are many versions of the death of the ocean liner, and among them there is not one that can be called the ultimate truth. There are many other assumptions, opinions of very authoritative people who consider the cause of the terrible catastrophe from a completely different angle.

So to this day there is a version that the culprit of the accident was the White Star Line company itself, the owner of the ship. It was its leaders who initially planned the construction of the Titanic with gross violations of all possible norms and rules. The purpose of this grandiose fraud was to obtain huge insurance that could improve the company's precarious financial position and save it from complete collapse.

That is why the ocean liner, despite warnings about icebergs from ships in the same area, sailed at the maximum possible speed (20.5 miles per hour). The captain of the ship had one task - to provoke a collision of the Titanic with a huge floating ice floe.

Most likely, no one could even imagine such a number of dead people, since according to all calculations it turned out that the ship would sink for a long time. The main focus was on rescue ships, which had to have enough time to get to the scene of the tragedy and have time to save all the passengers and valuables on board. However, unpredictable fate made its own adjustments to the original scenario.

In addition to this rather dubious and unsteady version, there is another. This is a fire in a coal bunker. During long-term storage, the lower layers of coal begin to smolder, releasing explosive gas. The temperature gradually increases, and the concentration of gas vapor increases. In such a situation, an explosion can occur from a normal shock. The collision with the iceberg was the detonator that caused a huge surge of energy that tore and destroyed the entire lower part of the ship.

In a word, even today there is no consensus on the causes of the terrible tragedy. Only the remains of a ship resting at great depths can reveal this secret of the Atlantic Ocean. Their scrupulous study by dozens of specialists is possible only under normal earthly conditions. To do this, you need to raise the Titanic from the bottom of a huge reservoir.

Technically this is extremely difficult to achieve. As for the financial side of the issue, the picture is different. Although such work will cost crazy amounts of money, it will more than pay off. After all, we must not forget that the ship contains gold bars worth 10 million pounds sterling. Jewelry, diamonds, and jewelry of the richest people in the world who sailed on this ship are also kept here. Fragments of the Titanic's hull, the remains of the interior, and dishes will go out of auction with a bang at fabulous prices.

If we consider the unfortunate Titanic as a source of material wealth, then he is by no means alone. The bottom of the Atlantic Ocean is the Klondike, Eldorado. Here lies a huge number of ships that are simply filled with precious metals, diamonds, and other valuables that can make anyone who gets their hands rich. This is precisely the whole question: breaking through the thickness of ocean waters is an impossible task not only for individual adventurers, but also for serious companies and reputable financial structures.

Underwater ship graveyards

At the beginning of the 21st century, there are many companies specializing in the search for sunken ships. The game is worth the candle, since according to experts, at least 80,000 ships from all countries and peoples that have been shipwrecked over the past 400 years rest on the bottom of the Atlantic alone, with valuables worth $600 billion on board.

One of these companies, the American company Odyssey, discovered a Spanish sailing ship in the Canary Islands in 2007. On board there were 500 thousand ancient gold and silver coins. Their total weight reached 17 tons, and the cost was 500 million dollars. This is 100 million dollars more than the wealth that was recovered in 1985 from a Spanish galleon that sank off the coast of Florida in the twenties of the 17th century.

The lion's share of all the valuables that sank to the bottom of the ocean in the 16th and first half of the 17th centuries rested precisely on Spanish ships, which in a continuous caravan carried gold, silver, precious stones and products made from them to Europe from America.

In theory, goods obtained in this way cannot be the property of the state. The Spanish government thought differently. At the beginning of the 21st century, it declared 800 Spanish ships that sank in the 16th-18th centuries, carrying illegally acquired utensils, a national treasure. The monetary equivalent of all this wealth is estimated at 130 billion dollars.

Underwater treasures are available to search teams in the coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean. Here, as a rule, ships sank after hitting shoals or reefs. In the vast expanses of water, where at least 3000 meters lie under the keel, galleons, brigantines, frigates carrying cargo, and then steamships, motor ships, yachts, battleships sank to the bottom, experiencing all the power and force of ocean storms (the height of the waves in the Atlantic often reaches 10-15 meters) or the treachery and cruelty of pirate ships and enemy submarines during the years of hostilities.

The ratio of ships that have sunk in coastal areas and in the open ocean over the past 400 years is 85 to 15. That is, it turns out that the closer to the shore, the more dangerous. Only every seventh ship perished in the vast and majestic expanses of the Atlantic Ocean, the rest of the floating craft sank in the sight of native or foreign shores, which, as they say, were just a stone's throw away.

One of the largest underwater cemeteries is the English Channel. Its length is 560 km, its width in the west is 240 km, in the east 32 km, and the average depth is 63 m. Only in some places the depth exceeds this mark and reaches 170 m. There are many shallows and fogs are frequent. Countless ships rest at the bottom of the strait, especially in its western part.

The waters around Cape Hatteras (North Carolina, USA) are not far behind in the number of shipwrecks. Here there is a long narrow spit, the eastern ledge of which is actually the ill-fated cape. This place is characterized by countless shoals, constant storms, fogs, and strong currents. Vessels that dare to approach these shores expose themselves to very real danger - the manifestation of carelessness, frivolity and ignoring the directions almost always leads to tragic consequences.

Bermuda Triangle

Perhaps the most intriguing secret of the Atlantic Ocean can be called the Bermuda Triangle. Its peaks lie on the southern tip of Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. It is part of the so-called Devil's Belt, of which the Devil's Triangle, located in the Pacific waters around Miyake Island (Japan), is also a part.

The excitement around this seemingly unremarkable place arose in the second half of the 20th century. Previously, for hundreds of years, everything seemed to be normal. The ships decorously crossed this expanse of ocean, and the crews on them had no idea what mortal danger they were exposing themselves to.

The year 1950 put an end to such outrageous frivolity. It was then that a short article by Associated Press correspondent Edward Johnson was published. It was not even an article, but a thin brochure published in Florida in a small edition. Its name was “Bermuda Triangle”, and the facts presented in it told about the mysterious disappearances of ships and planes in the Bermuda area.

Bermuda Triangle

It did not attract the attention of the public in any way, but apparently forced the attention of certain people who feed on sensations and bestsellers. However, it took almost 15 years before Vincent Gladdis’s article entitled “The Deadly Bermuda Triangle” saw the light of day. It was published in 1964 in a spiritualist magazine. With a short break, a book by the same author, “Invisible Horizons,” was published. In it, a whole chapter was already devoted to the mysterious section of the ocean.

A more detailed, solid and capacious work was presented to readers ten years later. The author of this bestseller, simply and succinctly called “The Bermuda Triangle,” was Charles Berlitz. It provided a lot of data about the mysterious disappearances of ships and aircraft, and also described incomprehensible phenomena associated with changes in the properties of time and space. Reputable publishing houses from different countries reprinted this book, and in a short time, tens of millions of citizens living in different parts of the planet learned about the Bermuda Triangle.

In any business, there will always be corrosive skeptics, whom do not feed with bread, but let the fly in the ointment spoil the barrel of honey. A blow to such a successfully and dynamically spreading sensation was dealt already in the next 1975 by the American journalist Lawrence David Kusche. This gentleman left no stone unturned from all the arguments and statements of Charles Berlitz on the pages of his book “The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle Solved.”

To the credit of the author, the content of the book is by no means unsubstantiated criticism, which would be based on envy of a more successful and cunning colleague, but a serious study based on a painstaking study of documents and eyewitness accounts. It was on the basis of factual material that many errors, inaccuracies, and sometimes outright hoaxes in the work of Charles Berlitz were identified.

The conclusion of Lawrence David Kushe's book is clear: nothing mysterious, supernatural, or inexplicable is happening in the Bermuda Triangle. The statistics of tragedies in this part of the Atlantic Ocean correspond to similar data in any other place of the huge body of water. Mysterious disappearances of material objects are fictitious, and stories about ships abandoned by crews, about lost time, about instantaneous movement in space for hundreds of kilometers are a myth.

Critics of anomalous phenomena are sober-minded people. In order to convince them of something, you need to provide ironclad evidence of this phenomenon. But in everyday life everything is not so simple. What lies beyond the real cannot be explained from the point of view of the laws of physics, mechanics or chemistry. Rather, human imagination and belief in the mysterious and unusual dominate here.

By the way, many paranormal phenomena occurring in the Bermuda Triangle can be interpreted as a direct consequence of ordinary banal processes occurring in the waters of the Atlantic. For example, the mysterious disappearance of sea vessels has a simple explanation related to methane emissions. This gas escapes from gas hydrate deposits located on the seabed and saturates the water. The density of the latter drops sharply. A ship caught in such a section of the ocean instantly sinks.

The methane released is not limited to the aquatic environment. It rises into the air and also reduces its density. This can lead to the loss of aircraft, which is almost impossible to explain to people on the ground. We must not forget that the gas dissipates very quickly in both water and air. That is, he is a killer who leaves no traces behind.

Anomalies over time can be explained by increased magnetic field activity in the Bermuda Triangle area. Airplane passengers who find themselves in a cluster of magnetic forces can verify their influence by looking at the hands of their watches that have stopped or slowed down. After some time, the negative factor disappears, the clocks begin to run normally again, but everyone, without exception, is behind by the same number of minutes. This gives rise to the false belief that the plane disappeared into another dimension.

If we talk about ships found in the ocean that did not have a single crew member, then the blame can be laid on infrasound, which occurs on the water surface under certain conditions. The human brain, heart, and other organs of his body - they all have their own vibration frequency. If some of them coincide with the frequency of infrasound, then the resulting resonance can mercilessly hit people’s psyches, plunge them into horror and panic, force them to jump overboard and die in the water.

All the arguments presented look quite convincing and realistic. But we must not forget that this is not evidence, but only speculation. Supporters of the paranormal version can also present to the public their vision of the problem, which will be no less convincing and will find many adherents.

Where is the truth? Probably, as always, in the middle. A sober look, combined with faith in the unusual and supernatural, will be more productive in solving the mysteries of not only the Bermuda Triangle, but also other mysteries of the Atlantic Ocean, of which there are a great many both on its surface and in the dark depths.

Based on factruz material

Geographical location and size. The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest body of water on our planet. Its area is 91.7 million km2, average depth is 3926 m, maximum depth is 8742 m, water volume is 337 million km3.

The name of the ocean was given by the ancient Greeks after the mythical Atlas, who supposedly stood at the edge of the earth and held the vault of heaven on his shoulders.

From the Arctic Circle to the shores of Antarctica, the Atlantic Ocean extends for 16,000 km. At its narrowest point between Cape San Roqui in South America and the coast of Sierra Leone in Africa, its width does not exceed 2900 km, and where the Atlantic seas extend deep into the land, for example, between the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern shores of the Black Sea, its width reaches 13,000 km. In the south, it is connected by wide channels to the Pacific and Indian oceans, and in the north - to the Arctic.

The islands in the Atlantic Ocean are just offshore. their area is up to 1 million km 2. However, there are few of them in the open ocean. The six largest islands - Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Newfoundland - occupy more than 700 thousand km 2. Large archipelagos are located off the coast of Central America. These are primarily the Greater and Lesser Antilles and Bermuda. Many archipelagos in the southern ocean. These include the South Orkney, South Sandwich and South Scottish Islands. In addition, there are several groups of small islands of volcanic origin in the ocean: the Canaries, Azores, Cape Verde, Madeira, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha. The volcanic islands also include Iceland and some islands from the Lesser Angels group.

The Atlantic seas, including many inland and shelf ones, make up about 11% of the ocean area. their development is facilitated by the geological structure of the continents, the main tectonic components of which are located perpendicular to the Atlantic basin. Thus, the Baltic, Northern, Mediterranean, Black, Azov, Caribbean seas with the Gulf of Mexico, Weddell and Lazarev seas are associated with tectonic depressions.

The Great Mediterranean is divided into a number of seas: Ligurian, Tyrrhenian, Adriatic, Ionian, Aegean. Sometimes in old maritime and historical literature there are names of seas of the Mediterranean that are not indicated on modern maps: Alboranovo (between the Iberian Peninsula and Africa), Balearic (between Spain and the Balearic Islands), Iberian (between the Balearic Islands and Africa), Sardinian (between the island of Sardinia and Balearic Islands), Sicilian (between Sicily and Africa), Levantske (between the islands of Crete Cyprus), Phoenician (east of the meridian of the island of Cyprus) and some others. Within the Atlantic basin there are dwarf seas: Marmara, Irish and others.

The Atlantic Ocean ranks third in average depth after the Pacific and Indian. Depths of 3000-6000 m account for 80% of its area. A characteristic feature of the ocean bathymetry is that the shelf’s share is 8.5% of the total bottom area. It is largest in the northern part of the basin - along the coasts of Europe and North America - and reaches a width of hundreds of kilometers. In the southern part it is much smaller, and off the coast of Brazil and Africa it is several tens of kilometers. The shelf topography is characterized by troughs and banks.

An important element of the Atlantic floor is the large underwater Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which stretches in the middle of the ocean from north to south for almost 17,000 km. It is shaped like the Latin letter S and has a width of more than 1000 km. This is a relatively young mountain structure. In many places it is dissected by longitudinal gorges and numerous transverse faults. These faults divide it into separate blocks and have shifted in the latitudinal direction for hundreds of kilometers. In the axial zone of the spine, a narrow (30-60 km) and deep (1-2 km) longitudinal rift lobes were identified.

At the equator, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is intersected by the Romanche Trench (7856 m), which divides it into the North Atlantic and mid-Atlantic ridges.

The North Atlantic Ridge is much lower. The depths above it are 2000-4000 m, only in some places there are isolated rises. At noon, the Atlantic Ridge is much higher and more dissected. In many places the depth above it is less than 2000 m and even 1000 m. In some places the spine rises above the water in the form of volcanic islands (Ascension, Tristan da Cunha, Gough, Bouvet).

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is symmetrical relative to the coast, therefore it divides the bottom into two equal parts - western and eastern, and a number of perpendicular elevations that branch off from it (Bermuda, Rio Grande, RocOl, Canary, Madeira, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone ridges , Whale, etc.), create deep-sea basins. In the western part of the ocean, the average depths are greater (5500-6000 m) than in the eastern part (4000-5000 m).

In the western part there are such basins - Labrador, Newfoundland, North American, Brazilian and Argentine, in the eastern - Northern European, Iberian, Canary, Cape Verde, Angel and Cape. The basins of the Eastern Atlantic are shallower and less separated. In the extreme south of the ocean, the South Angel and African-Antarctic ridges separate the Antarctic Basin from other African ones.

The relief of the ocean floor is quite complex. In the continental parts of the deep-sea basins there are abyssal plains. These are small flat areas covered with a thickness (3-3.5 km) of sedimentary deposits. Closer to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at depths of 5.5-6.0 km there is a zone of abyssal hills. In addition, there are thousands of rare volcanic mountains in the ocean, over the tops of which there are still several hundred meters of water.

Bottom sediments. More than 67% of the ocean floor is covered with biogenic limestone mud, consisting of microscopic limestone shells of foraminifera, skeletons of coral polyps, bryozoans, radiolarians and sponges. At great depths (more than 4.5 km) there is a lot of red clay with manganese nodules. At shallow depths, along continents, there are terrigenous and coral organic deposits. In the open ocean, along the northern trade wind, starting from the coast of Africa, aeolian sediments brought by winds from the Sahara are widespread. Around Antarctica, and in the Northern Hemisphere - along the islands of Greenland, Newfoundland, and Labrador, the majority are terrigenous iceberg deposits.

There is a certain pattern in the distribution of sediments: in cold zones - terrigenous icebergs, they are replaced by biogenic siliceous material, in temperate and tropical zones - carbonates.

Climate. The ocean, stretching from the Arctic to the Southern Arctic Circle, crosses almost all climatic zones. It is dominated by the Icelandic minimum, the North Atlantic and South Atlantic maximums, between which there is an equatorial depression. There is a sub-Antarctic low pressure band in the far south.

These centers of atmospheric action, together with the Greenland and Antarctic highs, determine the general circulation of the atmosphere over the ocean. From both tropical areas of high pressure in the equatorial depression, westerly winds blow - trade winds; in temperate latitudes they sometimes acquire storm force. Further north of the equator, tropical cyclones arise in the summer and autumn and often turn into hurricanes. Most of them are over the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

In tropical and subtropical latitudes near continents, monsoon phenomena are common, but in general they are not characteristic of the ocean.

Water circulation Currents are closely related to the general circulation of the atmosphere, but their movement is also influenced by the configuration of continental coasts. Therefore, in the Atlantic Ocean, developed submeridional flows are stronger than in any other. In the upper stratum of the ocean, four large-scale gyres are distinguished: northern cyclonic (north of 45 ° N), anticyclonic of the Northern Hemisphere (5-45 ° N), anticyclonic of the Southern Hemisphere (5-45 ° S) and Antarctic Polar Current (40-50°S). On the western periphery of these gyres there are narrow but quite strong currents with a speed of 2-6 km / h: Labrador, Gulf Stream, Angel, Guiana, Brazil. In the central and eastern parts of these gyres, the currents are relatively weak, except in the equatorial zone.

Near the islands of Cape Verde, a local cyclonic gyre is formed, which contributes to the rise of deep waters enriched with oxygen and nutrients. These gyre systems are separated by hydrological fronts that arise when warm and cold currents meet or in a divergence zone.

Hydrological features of surface waters. One of the most important hydrological characteristics of water is its temperature. Throughout the ocean, the average temperature of surface waters is + 16.5 ° C, but the South Atlantic is 6 ° C colder than the North. The thermal equator, whose average temperature is +26.7 ° C, is between 5 ° and 10 ° C. w. To the south and north of it, the temperature gradually decreases, and the pattern of its distribution has a zonal character. In places of submeridional currents and rising deep waters, this pattern is violated. Temperature contrasts are especially sharp along the eastern shores of North America, where warm and cold currents meet.

The water in the Atlantic Ocean is saltier compared to others, since evaporation (1040 mm) exceeds precipitation (780 mm) and part of the evaporated water is transferred to the continents. The highest salinity (37.5 ‰) is in subtropical and tropical latitudes, where areas of high atmospheric pressure with hot and clear weather prevail. The lowest salinity (33 ‰) is in the coastal waters of Antarctica due to their release from melting ice.

The hydrochemical characteristics of the Atlantic Ocean are almost the same as in the others, since there is a constant exchange of water between them. But the intensity of accumulation of nutrients at intermediate and greater depths is less here, because this process is hampered by intense mixing of water in both vertical and horizontal directions. Warm surface waters at low latitudes are oversaturated with calcium carbonate, which marine organisms need for their internal and external skeletons, as well as shells. Here there is the highest concentration of phosphorus and nitrogen compounds and not enough oxygen.

The content of dissolved oxygen is highest in subpolar latitudes (7-8 ml/l). Very oxygen-poor (2 ml/l) intermediate waters of tropical latitudes, which lie at depths of 250-750 m. In the upwelling zone. along the western coast of Africa, as a result of photosynthesis, the amount of oxygen increases to 10 ml/l. The cold waters of the Arctic and Antarctic are characterized by a large amount of silicic acid, which is necessary for the creation of diatom skeletons.

Water masses. Bottom waters are formed from the surface waters of the Arctic and Antarctic when they cool to -1.8 ° C and sink to the bottom. In some places they move very quickly (up to 1.6 km/h) and are capable of eroding bottom sediments, transporting suspended material, creating underwater valleys and large bottom accumulative plains. Cold, low-salinity bottom Antarctic waters are mixed by the bottom of the basins up to 42 ° N. w.

On the bottom waters lie deep waters, which, sinking, are formed from cold surface waters at subpolar latitudes. At lower latitudes the cooling is not as strong as at high latitudes, so water in these latitudes is less dense and does not sink to great depths. The waters of these latitudes form intermediate waters. One of the centers of formation of intermediate waters is the Mediterranean Sea. Highly mineralized waters in subtropical latitudes are even less dense during their winter cooling to + 18 ° C. They form subsurface waters.

According to the physical and chemical properties, the content of oxygen and phosphates on the ocean surface determines the types of water masses: equatorial, tropical, subtropical, subpolar and polar.

Equatorial water masses are located between the equatorial and subequatorial hydrological fronts. These waters are characterized by high temperature (+25, + 27 ° C), moderate salinity (34-35 ‰), minimal density, high oxygen content (3.0-4.5 ml / l) and phosphates (0.5 1 .0 µg-atom/l).

Tropical and subtropical water masses are formed in the region of tropical atmospheric anticyclones. They are separated from subpolar water masses by subarctic and subantarctic fronts. Here the highest salinity (36-37 ‰), high transparency, low content of nutrients, oxygen (2-3 ml / l), poor organic world. These are oceanic deserts.

Subpolar water masses form in temperate latitudes. They are separated from the polar ones by the Arctic and Antarctic fronts. These waters have intense heat exchange with the atmosphere, and therefore significant variability in physical properties both in space and time. They are saturated with oxygen and phosphates and have normal salinity.

Polar water masses are cold. their temperatures are close to the freezing point, they are characterized by high density, had salinity (32-33 ‰), high oxygen content (5-7 ml / l) and phosphates (1.5-2.0 μg-atom / l).

The organic world of the Atlantic Ocean is significantly inferior in number of species to the Pacific or Indian Oceans. This is due to its youth, long-term isolation from the Indian and Pacific oceans, and the strong influence of the cold climate in the Quaternary period. Warm and cold currents and vertical mixing in the upwelling zone also affected the distribution of organisms. In high latitudes, where there are more cold currents, and in low latitudes, where there is upwelling, the species composition of the fauna is poor, but in terms of the number of fish and animals it is much richer than in other oceans. In general, organic life in the Atlantic Ocean is quantitatively rich due to the widespread development of the shelf. For this reason, among fish, including industrial fish, there are a lot of bottom and benthic representatives.

Donna flora of the Atlantic is similar to the Pacific, although there are fewer of its species. The phytobenthos of the northern part of the ocean is characterized by brown algae, mainly fucoids, kelp and alaria, as well as red algae. In the tropical zone, green (haulerpa) and red algae are common, among which there are more limestone lithothamnias, and among brown ones - Sargasso. In the southern part of the ocean, among the bottom vegetation there is only kelp.

Zoobenthos is represented mainly by octopuses, corals, crustaceans, echinoderms and specific species of fish. Many are also sponges and hydroids.

Plankton has more than 245 plant species and 2000 animal species. The phytoplankton is dominated by peril and nee, cocolithophores, and diatoms. Diatoms have a clearly defined zonation: their maximum number develops in the temperate latitudes of both hemispheres, but the main species of the Northern Hemisphere are somewhat different from the southern ones. The highest density of diatoms is in the Western Winds current zone.

Nekton is slightly poorer in species composition than Pacific HIV. It does not contain the simple forms of horseshoe crabs of some species of ancient fish and sea serpents. However, the species composition of fish in the Atlantic Ocean is richer than in the Pacific.

Zoning is clearly evident in the distribution of benthos, plankton and nekton. The number of species and total biomass vary zonally. There are many species of cetaceans and seals in the Antarctic sector of the Atlantic.

In the subantarctic zone and the adjacent strip of water in the temperate zone, biomass reaches a maximum, but in terms of the number of species it is inferior to the tropics. Zooplankton is dominated by krill, NEKTON by whales and pinnipeds, and among fish by notothenia.

In the tropical zone, zooplankton is represented by numerous species of foraminifera and pteropods, several species of radiolarians, copepods, squids, and octopuses. The nekton contains different types of fish, among which mackerel, tuna, sardines are of industrial importance, and in cold waters - anchovies. The tropical and subtropical zones are characterized by corals that develop better in the western part of the zone, especially in the Sargasso Sea, than in the eastern part.

Temperate latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere are characterized by a large number of individuals, although with an insignificant species composition. The most important commercial fish are herring, cod, haddock, halibut, and sea bass. Zooplankton are characterized by copepods and foraminifera. Most of them are in the Newfoundland Bank and the Norwegian Sea. The average biomass of zooplankton here is greater than at the corresponding latitudes of the Pacific Ocean.

Arctic latitudes rich in fish. There is a lot of cod and herring off Iceland, on the banks of the Faroe Islands, and near Norway. Whales and seals live in Greenland waters. On the cliffs of the high banks there are “bird colonies”.

There are four biogeographical regions in the Atlantic Ocean: Arctic, which includes the water spaces adjacent to Greenland and Labrador; North Atlantic, which covers the temperate latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere; Tropical-Atlantic, which is located at tropical and equatorial latitudes; Antarctic, covering the entire Antarctic circumpolar current.

What continents and countries are washed by the Atlantic Ocean, you will learn from this article.

Atlantic Ocean is the second largest ocean on the planet. It is located in the north between Iceland and Greenland, in the east between Africa and Europe, in the west between South and North America, and Antarctica in the south. The area of ​​the Atlantic Ocean is 91.6 million km². About ¼ of the part falls on inland seas. The average water salinity is 35 ‰. The coastline is heavily indented into regional waters.

Note that the Atlantic Ocean did not appear on the planet immediately. Many million years ago, both Americas, Europe, Africa and Antarctica represented a single land mass. A very important process has been taking place on Earth over the past 40 million years - the opening of the ocean basin. Then the land was divided into modern continents. The opening of the ocean basin continues to this day.

What continents is washed by the Atlantic Ocean?

The Atlantic Ocean washes all continents except Australia. Namely:

• eastern shores of North America
• eastern coast of South America
• western coast of Africa
• western shores of Eurasia
• northwestern shores of Antarctica

Which countries are washed by the Atlantic Ocean?

The waters of the Atlantic Ocean wash 49 large countries. Here is their complete list in alphabetical order: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Benin, Brazil, Great Britain, Venezuela, Gabon, Haiti, Guyana, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Grenada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Canada, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Liberia, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Republic of the Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal , Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Suriname, USA, Sierra Leone, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, France, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa.

The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest and youngest ocean on Earth, distinguished by its unique topography and natural features.

The best resorts are located on its shores, and the richest resources are hidden in its depths.

History of the study

Long before the advent of our era, the Atlantic was an important trade, economic and military route. The ocean was named after the ancient Greek mythological hero - Atlas. It was first mentioned in the writings of Herodotus.

Christopher Columbus's voyages

Over the course of many centuries, new straits and islands were opened, and disputes were fought over maritime territory and ownership of the islands. But he still discovered the Atlantic, leading the expedition and discovering most of the geographical objects.

Antarctica, and at the same time the southern border of sea waters, was discovered by Russian researchers F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev.

Characteristics of the Atlantic Ocean

The ocean area is 91.6 million km². It, like the Pacific Ocean, washes 5 continents. The volume of water in it is slightly more than a quarter of the World Ocean. It has an interesting elongated shape.

The average depth is 3332 m, the maximum depth is in the Puerto Rico Trench area and is 8742 m.

The maximum water salinity reaches 39% (Mediterranean Sea), in some areas 37%. There are also the most fresh areas with an indicator of 18%.

Geographical location

The Atlantic Ocean washes the shores of Greenland in the north. From the west it touches the eastern coasts of North and South America. In the south there are established borders with the Indian and Pacific oceans.

The waters of the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet here

They are determined along the meridian of Cape Agulhas and Cape Horn, respectively, reaching all the way to the glaciers of Antarctica. In the east, the waters wash Eurasia and Africa.

Currents

Cold currents coming from the Arctic Ocean have a strong influence on water temperature.

Warm currents are trade winds that influence waters near the equator. It is here that the warm Gulf Stream originates, passing through the Caribbean Sea, which makes the climate of the coastal countries of Europe much warmer.

The cold Labrador Current flows along the coast of North America.

Climate and climate zones

The Atlantic Ocean extends to all climate zones. The temperature regime is strongly influenced by westerly winds, trade winds and monsoons in the equator region.

In the tropical and subtropical zones, the average temperature is 20°C; in winter it drops to 10°C. In the tropics, heavy precipitation prevails throughout the year, while in the subtropics it falls to a much greater extent in the summer. Temperatures drop significantly in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Inhabitants of the Atlantic Ocean

Among the flora in the Atlantic Ocean, kelp, corals, red and brown algae are widespread.

There are also more than 240 species of phytoplankton and countless species of fish, the most prominent representatives of which are: tuna, sardines, cod, anchovies, herring, perch (sea bass), halibut, haddock.

Among mammals, you can find several species of whales, the most common being the blue whale. The ocean waters are also inhabited by octopuses, crustaceans, and squids.

The flora and fauna of the ocean is much poorer than that of the Pacific. This is due to their relatively young age and less favorable temperature conditions.

Islands and peninsulas

Some islands were formed as a result of the rise of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge above sea level, such as the Azores and the Tristan da Cunha archipelago.

Tristan da Cunha Island

The most famous and mysterious are Bermuda.

Bermuda

On the territory of the Atlantic Ocean there are: Caribbean, Antilles, Iceland, Malta (state on an island), island. St. Helena - there are 78 of them in total. The Canary Islands, Bahamas, Sicily, Cyprus, Crete and Barbados have become favorite places for tourists to visit.

Straits and seas

The waters of the Atlantic include 16 seas, among which the most famous and largest are: Mediterranean, Caribbean, Sargasso.

Caribbean Sea meets Atlantic Ocean

The Strait of Gibraltar connects the ocean waters with the Mediterranean Sea.

The Strait of Magellan (which runs along Tierra del Fuego and is distinguished by a large number of sharp rocks) and the Drake Passage open into the Pacific Ocean.

Features of nature

The Atlantic Ocean is the youngest on Earth.

A significant part of the waters extends in the tropics and temperate zones, so the animal world is represented in all its diversity, both among mammals and among fish and other sea creatures.

The diversity of plankton species is not great, but only here its biomass per 1 m³ can be so great.

Bottom relief

The main feature of the relief is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, whose length is more than 18,000 km. For a large extent from both sides of the ridge, the bottom is covered with basins that have a flat bottom.

There are also small underwater volcanoes, some of which are active. The bottom is cut by deep gorges, the origin of which is still not precisely known. However, due to age, the relief formations that predominate in other oceans are much less developed here.

Coastline

In some parts the coastline is slightly indented, but the coast there is quite rocky. There are several large water areas, for example, the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of Guinea.

Gulf of Mexico

In the area of ​​North America and the eastern coasts of Europe there are many natural bays, straits, archipelagos and peninsulas.

Minerals

Oil and gas production is carried out in the Atlantic Ocean, which accounts for a decent share of global mineral production.

Also on the shelves of some seas, sulfur, ore, precious stones and metals important for global industry are mined.

Environmental issues

In the 19th century, whale hunting was widespread among sailors in these places for their oil and bristles. As a result, their number was sharply reduced to critical levels, and there is now a ban on whaling.

The waters are heavily polluted due to the use and release of:

• a huge amount of oil into the Gulf in 2010;
• industrial waste;
• city ​​garbage;
• radioactive substances from stations, poisons.

This not only pollutes the water, deteriorates the biosphere and kills all life in the water, but has exactly the same effect on environmental pollution in cities and the consumption of products containing all these substances.

Types of economic activities

The Atlantic Ocean accounts for 4/10 of the fishing volume. It is through it that a huge number of shipping routes pass (the main ones are directed from Europe to North America).

The routes passing through the Atlantic Ocean and the seas located in it lead to the largest ports of great importance in import and export trade. Oil, ore, coal, wood, products and raw materials of the metallurgical industry, and food products are transported through them.

On the shores of the Atlantic Ocean there are many world tourist cities that attract large numbers of people every year.

Interesting facts about the Atlantic Ocean

The most interesting of them:

Conclusion

The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest, but by no means less significant. It is an important source of minerals, the fishing industry, and the most important transport routes pass through it. To briefly summarize, it is worth paying attention to the enormous damage to the ecological and organic component of ocean life caused by humanity.

In the school course on studying the oceans, the Atlantic course is mandatory. This water area is quite interesting, which is why we will pay attention to it in our article. So, here is the characteristics of the Atlantic Ocean according to plan:

1. Hydronym.
2. Highlights.
3. Temperature regime.
4. Salinity of water.
5. Seas and islands of the Atlantic Ocean.
6. Flora and fauna.
7. Minerals.
8. Problems.

You will also find here a brief comparative description of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Hydronym

The Atlantic Ocean, whose characteristics are presented below, received its name thanks to the ancient Greeks, who believed that the mythical hero Atlas held the firmament at the edge of the Earth. The modern name was established in the 16th century, during the time of great navigators and discoveries.

Highlights

The Atlantic Ocean stretches along the globe from north to south from Antarctica to Antarctica, washing 5 continents: Antarctica, North and South America, Eurasia and Africa. Its area is 91.6 million square kilometers. The deepest point of the Atlantic is the Puerto Rican Trench (8742 m), and the average depth is about 3.7 thousand m.

A characteristic feature of the second largest ocean is its elongated shape. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge runs along the Atlantic, dividing the South American, Caribbean and North American continents in the west; in the east - African and Eurasian. The length of the ridge is 16 thousand km, and the width is about 1 km. Lava eruptions and earthquakes often occur here. The discovery of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is associated with the laying of a telegraph cable that connected America and Northern Europe in the mid-19th century.

Temperature

The Northern Trade Wind, Gulf Stream, North Atlantic, Labrador, Canary and others are currents that shape not only the climate, but the entire Atlantic Ocean. The characteristics of the temperature regime show the following dynamics: the average water temperature is about 16.9 °C. Conventionally, the ocean can be divided along the equator into 2 parts: northern and southern, each of which has its own climatic characteristics, thanks to the Gulf Stream. The width of the water area near the equator is the smallest, so the influence of the continents is most noticeable here.

Despite the fact that the Atlantic Ocean is considered warm, its extreme southern and northern parts can reach temperatures of 0 °C and below. Therefore, you can often find drifting icebergs here. Today their movement is tracked by artificial Earth satellites.

Atlantic Ocean: water characteristics

The Atlantic Ocean is the saltiest. The average salt content is 34.5 ppm. Salinity largely depends on precipitation and the influx of fresh water from rivers. The saltiest is in tropical latitudes, because there is almost no precipitation, there is strong evaporation of moisture due to high temperatures, and almost no fresh water flows.

Seas and islands of the Atlantic Ocean

Most of the islands are located near continents, which determines their continental origin: Great Britain, Ireland and others. There are also volcanic ones: the Canary Islands, Iceland. But Bermuda is of coral origin.

The rugged coastline, bays, and seas fully describe the Atlantic Ocean. The characteristics of these reservoirs are very interesting. First of all, let's start with the seas. They are divided into 2 types: internal - Azov, Black, Mediterranean, Baltic, and external - Caribbean and Northern, etc. Also here you can see bays that are not inferior in size to the seas, for example Mexican or Biscay. In the Atlantic Ocean there is an unusual sea that has no shores - the Sargasso. It got its name because of the way its bottom is covered. These algae are covered with air bubbles, which is why they are also called

Flora and fauna

The organic world of the Atlantic is characterized by a diversity of living organisms. Red, brown, green algae and a large number of phytoplankton species (more than 200) grow here. Thousands of animal species live in cold zones, and tens of thousands in warm tropical zones. Whales, seals, fur seals, and a lot of fish swim in the Atlantic Ocean: cod, herring, flounder, sardine, etc. Penguins and frigates live in the northern latitudes. Large aquatic animals, manatees, live off the coast of Africa. They feed on plants, which is why they are also called
Historically, the Atlantic Ocean has become a source of fish for the food industry (2/5 of the world's catch). Whales, walruses, seals and other animals are also hunted here. It satisfies our needs for lobsters, oysters, lobsters, and crabs.

Minerals

The ocean floor is very rich in various species and Canada mines coal here. The Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of Guinea have large reserves of oil and natural gas.

Problems

The increase in anthropogenic influence on the Atlantic Ocean has a negative impact on its inhabitants, and it is no longer able to restore its biological resources on its own. A dangerous situation is observed in the Black and Mediterranean Seas, and the Baltic Sea is considered one of the dirtiest in the world.

Comparative characteristics of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (briefly)

In order to make a brief description of the two oceans, you need to use a clear plan:

• Dimensions of water areas. Atlantic covers an area of ​​more than 91 million square meters. km, Quiet - 178.684 million sq. km. Based on this, certain conclusions can be drawn. The Pacific Ocean is the largest, the Atlantic is the second largest in area.
• Depth. If we compare the depth indicator, then in the Pacific Ocean the average level stops at 3976 m, in the Atlantic - 3736 m. As for the maximum depth, in the first case - 11022 m, in the second - 8742 m.
• Volume of water. According to this criterion, the Atlantic Ocean also remains in second place. His figure is 329.66 million cubic meters. km, when in the Quiet - 710.36 million cubic meters. m.
• Location. The coordinates of the Atlantic Ocean are 0° N. w. 30° W d., washes the following continents and islands: Greenland, Iceland (north), Eurasia, Africa (east), America (west), Antarctica (south). The coordinates of the Pacific Ocean are 009° N. w. 157° W d, located between Antarctica (south), North and South America (east), Australia and Eurasia (west).

Let's sum it up

This article presents a brief description of the Atlantic Ocean, after familiarizing yourself with which you can already have a sufficient understanding of this water area.