Man has set his sights on space with all his might, science fiction writers are already drawing pictures of the exploration of other planets, and sometimes not everyone knows what is “under our feet”. And if the land has been more or less studied, then practically nothing is known about the depths of the waters. And not everyone can answer the simple question of what the ocean is. Let's patch up holes in education and deal with concepts and definitions.
What is it, the ocean, how is it different from other bodies of water
Almost a third of the planet's surface (seventy-one percent) is water. It forms the oceans. It, in turn, is divided into smaller parts. We all know them very well: seas and bays, rivers and straits are its parts. The largest are the oceans. By definition, these are masses of water between continents. There are four of them in total (although some scholars tend to think that there are five). The warmest is the Indian Ocean. The largest is Quiet. The Arctic Ocean is mostly covered with glaciers. Atlantic - characterized by strong currents. The fifth, unrecognized ocean, is presumably located in the South Pole region. It is not distinguished on the globe and maps. Imagine what the ocean iseasier if you look at the image of the planet from orbit. This is a huge space covered with blue water and white ice. Its attributes: location between continents, incredible size.
Historical performances
In ancient times, people had no idea how much water there was on the planet. And the development of these spaces was unrealistic without high technology and modern equipment. In ancient Greece, the answer to the question of what an ocean is is the waters surrounding the known world. More often they were represented in the form of a river flowing around the Earth. Their level of shipping did not allow traveling between the continents, which means that it was impossible to compile real data on the greatness of the ocean expanses. The ideas of mankind began to gradually change with the development of shipbuilding. Already by the seventeenth century, the first understanding of the real size of the oceans had matured. Although there is evidence that ancient people knew much more about the planet, they just failed to save this information. Proof of this is the Mercator map, which is over five hundred years old.
Modern views
Scientists believe that the future of mankind is directly related to the oceans. When asked what the ocean is, they lead an endless story about its inexhaustible resources. For example, the water itself. This is a source of mineral elements, of which it contains more than seventy-five. Magnesium and iodine, cadmium and gold, bromine and table s alt can be isolated from it. And there will still be fresh water. The liquid reserves are so great that it is hard to imagine. On theeach inhabitant of the planet has a volume equal to 270 million cubic meters. These are approximately two Mozhaisk reservoirs, which are near Moscow. The bottom of the ocean is a source of energy. Most of the gas and oil is produced on the continental shelf. The reserves of these substances, according to scientists, are huge. In the last century, reserves of ferromanganese nodules were discovered. This allows you to think about the extraction of thirty types of metals. The oceans are also a source of energy. It can be obtained from tides, currents. Scientists have calculated that there are now twenty-five places on the planet where it is worth building such stations. The shores of the White, Okhotsk and Barents Seas are considered the best.
Biodiversity
The incredibly rapid growth of the world's population made scientists think about the need to develop food resources. Many turned their eyes towards the oceans. There swims and breeds an incredible variety of all kinds of creatures. Fish accounts for about 14 percent. Most of it is occupied by algae. And their use in food is also possible, although not yet common. Now attention has shifted to the development of ocean farms. They are trying to breed all kinds of marine useful living creatures. The direction is considered promising. At present, mainly oysters and mussels, kelp are artificially grown. Work on the development of mariculture areas is carried out by all countries. All that is known about the biosphere of the oceans is the coastal regions. More than eighty percent are unexplored, which allows humanityhave high hopes for their oceanic future. There are constantly reports of the discovery of new species of living organisms in the depths, as the development of technology makes it possible to study the seabed in more detail.
Ecology of the oceans
Technogenic human activity affects the state of the oceans. Andthe perniciousness of actions often leads to irreparable trouble. For example, a lot of fuel oil and oil gets into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Efficient cleaning technologies do not yet exist. Such catastrophes destroy all life, harm the ecosystem. In addition, often the cause of pollution of the oceans is human activity on land. So, so much fertilizer flows from the fields into the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov that it is considered the dirtiest on the planet. The B altic and Mediterranean Seas suffer from oil. The Persian Gulf generally turned into an oil waste dump for some time due to the military conflict unleashed on its territory.
Protecting the surface of the ocean from human activities is of particular importance now. This must be done if we want our descendants to know what the ocean is too!
