|
List All Cities Southern Ocean Listing cities Southern Ocean database :
|
Description Southern Ocean by rbd.me
|
|
A large body of recent oceanographic research has shown that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), an ocean current that flows from west to east around Antarctica, plays a crucial role in global ocean circulation. The region where the cold waters of the ACC meet and mingle with the warmer waters of the north defines a distinct border - the Antarctic Convergence - which fluctuates with the seasons, but which encompasses a discrete body of water and a unique ecologic region. The Convergence concentrates nutrients, which promotes marine plant life, and which in turn allows for a greater abundance of animal life. In the spring of 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization decided to delimit the waters within the Convergence as a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - by combining the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit and which approximates the extent of the Antarctic Convergence. As such, the Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean). It should be noted that inclusion of the Southern Ocean does not imply recognition of this feature as one of the world's primary oceans by the US Government.
|
|
Location
|
|
body of water between 60 degrees south latitude and Antarctica
|
|
Area - comparative
|
|
slightly more than twice the size of the US
|
|
Natural resources Southern Ocean
|
|
probable large and possible giant oil and gas fields on the continental margin; manganese nodules, possible placer deposits, sand and gravel, fresh water as icebergs; squid, whales, and seals - none exploited; krill, fish
|
|
Population Southern Ocean
|
|
McMurdo, Palmer, and offshore anchorages in Antarctica
|
|
Religions Southern Ocean
|
|
|
|
Languages
|
|
|
|
Education Southern Ocean expenditures
|
|
|
|
Government Southern Ocean type
|
|
|
|
Independence
|
|
|
|
Southern Ocean Economy - overview
|
|
|
|
Investment Southern Ocean
|
|
|
|
Industries Southern Ocean
|
|
|
|
Airports Southern Ocean
|
|
|
|
|
