Ocean Facts

In our Ocean Facts for Kids you will learn about the oceans of the world. Did you know that Oceans cover more than 71% of the Earth's surface? There are five Oceans covering the surface of our globe: The Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean as well as the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean. You will find the three biggest oceans on the world map below. Read here some interesting facts on all of the World's Oceans and learn more about them.

Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the biggest ocean of the world and covers more than 30% of the Earth's surface. The name "Pacific" come from the Latin word: "pacificus" which means peaceful. So Pacific Ocean means peaceful ocean. The lowest known point on earth is called Challenger Deep and is located in the Pacific Ocean near Guam in the Philippine Sea and . The depth recorded is 10,920m or 35,827 feet. The largest coral reef in the world is located off the Australian coast and is called the Great Barrier Reef. The ring of fire is also located in the Pacific Ocean.

Top Ten Facts about the Pacific Ocean

1. Location: Where is the Pacific Ocean? The Pacific Ocean is located between Americas to the East of the Pacific Ocean basin and the Asian and Australian continents to the West as you can see on the map of the Pacific Ocean below: The Equator divides the Pacific Ocean into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. 2. Name: What does pacific mean? Pacific means "peaceful", coming from the Latin "pace" for peace and the Pacific Ocean got its name from the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 who called its waters "mar pacifico" which means peaceful sea. 3. Size: How big is the Pacific Ocean? The Pacific is the biggest ocean on earth and covers more than 30% of the earths surface. With a surface of

169,479,000sqkm/65,436,200sqmiles it provides almost half of the Earths water area. Did you know that the size of the Pacific Ocean is bigger than the total size of the landmass of all the continents together? 4. Depth: How deep is the Pacific Ocean? The Pacific is not only the biggest but also the deepest ocean with the deepest trenches. The average depth is about 3,800 m. The Challenger Deep in the Marina Trench, which is located to the West of the Philippines and north of New Guinea, is the deepest point in the Pacific Ocean with 10,920m/35,827ft. It is the lowest part of the earth crust and was formed by the collision of two tectonic plates. Why is it called Challenger Deep? Because it was researched by the HMS Challenger in 1875. 5. Volcanoes: What is the ring of fire? Most of the volcanoes (actually 75%) on earth are located in the Pacific Ocean basin, the volcanoes actually form a ring around the basin and therefore it is called the ring of fire. Many earthquakes happen in this area due to volcanic activity and then ocean plate moves under the tectonic plates of the continents as well. Tsunamis, which cause terrible destruction when hitting the land, happen especially in this area. 6. Temperature: How warm are the waters of the Pacific Ocean? The temperatures of the Pacific Ocean depend on the location. The nearer to the Equator the warm the water tends to be. So some regions the water is up to 30degC/86F, while near to the poles the water temperature decreases to freezing point. The lowest temperature measured was -2degC. 7. Islands in the Pacific: Most of the Islands of the world are found in the Pacific Ocean. There are actually more than 25,000 islands in the Pacific and most of them are found south of the Equator in the Southern Pacific. Did you know that Indonesia consists of 17,508 islands; Japan consists of around 3,000 islands? 8. Pacific Ocean Facts: Atolls are coral islands in the ocean which are surrounded by a lagoon. Most of the worlds atolls are situated in the Pacific ocean. As atolls are only found in warm ocean water, the southern most atoll is the Coral Sea Islands to the West of the Barrier Reef in Australia.

9. Archipelagos: Many beautiful groups of islands are found in the Pacific Oceans. These islands form an archipelago, like the Fiji Archepelago or the Hawaiian Archipelago. The largest countries consisting mainly of archipelagos or clusters of islands are located in the Pacific Ocean: These are Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines and New Zealand. Actually Indonesia is the largest archipelagic state in the world. 10. Pacific Ocean Facts: The Great Barrier Reef: The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest reef in the world stretching over more than 2,300km/1,429miles and including more than 1,000 islands. It was proclaimed in 1981 a World Heritage Site and is now a protected area. Corals, tiny marine animals, also form many atolls in the Pacific Oceans. Did you know that most of the worlds supply of fish is caught in the Pacific?

Atlantic Ocean Facts for Kids

The Atlantic is the second biggest ocean in the world and is between the continents of America and Europe and Africa. The Atlantic Ocean is about half the size of the Pacific Ocean and covers roughly 20% of the Earth's surface. However it is growing in size as it is spreading along the Mid-Atlantic Coasts. Did you know that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the longest mountain range on Earth? It spreads from Iceland to Antarctica beneath the Atlantic.

Indian Ocean Facts for Kids

The Indian Ocean is located between Africa and Austral-Asia. The waters of the Indian Ocean provides the largest breeding grounds of the world for humpback whales and also a fish which was thought to be extinct was discovered there: the Coelacanth is found in the warm waters off the Comoro islands between Mozambique and Madagascar. The Northern Indian Ocean also is the most important transport route for oil as it connects the oil-rich countries of the Middle East Each with Asia. Every day tankers are carrying a cargo of 17 million barrels of crude oil from the Persian Gulf on its waters.

Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is located around the North Pole across the Arctic circle. There are many polar bears living on the Arctic ice. The Lion's mane jellyfish can also be found in the Arctic Ocean's waters. It grows up to 2.4m or 8 feet across and lives on plankton and fishes. Did you know that the Arctic Ocean's ice covers are shrinking by 8% every ten years? Many Arctic ground features are named after early Arctic explorers, like Nansen Basin or Mendeleyev Ridge.

Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean is located around the South Pole across the Antarctic circle in the Southern Hemisphere off Antarctica. The Southern Ocean is the home of Emperor Penguins and Wandering Albatrosses.