Atlantic Ocean

Oceans

Population

N/A

Area

85.133 km²

GDP

N/A

GDP Per Capita

N/A

Background

The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five ocean basins (after the Pacific Ocean, but larger than the Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). The Kiel Canal (Germany), Oresund (Denmark-Sweden), Bosporus (Turkey), Strait of Gibraltar (Morocco-Spain), and the Saint Lawrence Seaway (Canada-US) are important strategic access waterways. The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth world ocean basin, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Atlantic Ocean south of 60 degrees south latitude. For convenience and because of its immense size, the Atlantic Ocean is often divided at the Equator and designated as the North Atlantic Ocean and the South Atlantic Ocean.

Geography14

Location

body of water between Africa, Europe, the Arctic Ocean, the Americas, and the Southern Ocean

Geographic coordinates

0 00 N, 25 00 W

Map references

Map of the world oceans

Area

total : 85.133 million sq km

Area - comparative

about 7.5 times the size of the US

Coastline

111,866 km

Climate

tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cabo Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December but are most frequent from August to November

Ocean volume

ocean volume: 310,410,900 cu km
percent of World Ocean total volume: 23.3%

Major ocean currents

clockwise North Atlantic Gyre consists of the northward flowing, warm Gulf Stream in the west, the eastward flowing North Atlantic Current in the north, the southward flowing cold Canary Current in the east, and the westward flowing North Equatorial Current in the south; the counterclockwise South Atlantic Gyre composed of the southward flowing warm Brazil Current in the west, the eastward flowing South Atlantic Current in the south, the northward flowing cold Benguela Current in the east, and the westward flowing South Equatorial Current in the north

Bathymetry

continental shelf

the passive margins of the Atlantic Ocean provide for wide continental shelves in North America, Northwest Europe, and the southern coast of South America

the following are examples of features on the continental shelf of the Atlantic Ocean:

Blake Plateau (Figure 5)
Celtic Shelf (Figure 2)
Dogger Bank (Figure 2)
Flemish Cap (Figure 2)
Falkland Plateau (Figure 3)
Grand Banks of Newfoundland (Figure 2)
Great Bahama Bank (Figure 5)
Little Bahama Bank (Figure 5)
Tunisian Plateau (Figure 4)
Yucatán Shelf (Figure 5)

continental slope

the following are examples of features on the continental slope of the Atlantic Ocean:

Amazon Cone (Figure 3)
Congo Fan (Figure 3)
Hudson Canyon (Figure 5)
Mississippi Fan (Figure 5)

abyssal plains

the following are examples of features on the abyssal plains of the Atlantic Ocean:

Angola Basin (Figure 3)
Agulhas Basin (Figure 3)
Argentine Basin (Figure 3)
Brazil Basin (Figure 3)
Canary Basin (Figure 2)
Cape Basin (Figure 3)
Colombia Basin (Figure 2)
Labrador Basin (Figure 2)
Mexico Basin (Figure 2)
Newfoundland Basin (Figure 2)
North American Basin (Figure 2)
Venezuela Basin (Figure 2)
West European Basin (Figure 2)

mid-ocean ridge

the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone displaces the mid-ocean ridge 350 km to the west, separating the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from the Reykjanes Ridge; the Romanche Fracture Zone, located near the equator, offsets the Mid-Atlantic Ridge 900 km and is considered the dividing line between the North and South Atlantic Oceans

the following are examples of mid-ocean ridges on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean:

East Mediterranean Ridge (Figure 4)
Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Figures 2, 3)
Reykjanes Ridge (Figure 2)

undersea terrain features

the following are examples of undersea terrain features on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean:

Bermuda Rise (Figure 2)
Cape Verde Plateau (Figure 2)
New England Seamounts (Figure 2)
Rio Grande Plateau (Figure 3)
Rockall Plateau (Figure 2)

ocean trenches

the following are examples of ocean trenches on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean:

Cayman Trench (Caribbean Sea) (Figure 2)
Hellenic Trench (Mediterranean Sea) (Figure 4)
Puerto Rico Trench (Figure 2) - deepest point in the Atlantic
South Sandwich Trench (South Atlantic) (Figure 3)

atolls

Rocas Atoll (Brazil) is the only atoll in the South Atlantic

Elevation

highest point: sea level
lowest point: Puerto Rico Trench -8,605 m
mean depth: -3,646 m
ocean zones: the ocean is divided into three zones based on depth and light level; sunlight entering the water may travel about 1,000 m into the oceans under the right conditions, but there is rarely any significant light below 200 m

euphotic zone: the upper 200 m (656 ft) is also called "sunlight" zone; only a small amount of light penetrates beyond this depth

dysphotic zone: between 200 m (656 ft) and 1,000 m (3,280 ft), and also called the twilight zone; the intensity of light rapidly dissipates as depth increases, and photosynthesis is no longer possible

aphotic zone: below 1,000 m (3,280 ft) and also called the midnight zone; sunlight does not penetrate to these depths

Natural resources

oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones

Natural hazards

icebergs common in Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from February to August and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme northern Atlantic from October to May; persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to September; hurricanes (May to December)

Geography - note

major chokepoints include the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar, access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic straits include the Strait of Dover, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage, The Sound (Oresund), and Windward Passage; the equator divides the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean

Government1

Country name

etymology: name derives from the ancient Greek description of the waters beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, Atlantis thalassa, meaning "Sea of Atlas"

Transportation1

Transportation - note

Kiel Canal and Saint Lawrence Seaway are two important waterways; significant domestic commercial and recreational use of Intracoastal Waterway on central and south Atlantic seaboard and Gulf of America coast of US

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