The world ocean
Look at a globe from the top or the bottom. You will see that all the
oceans are really joined to one another and form a single body of water.
More than three-quarters of our world is covered with water. Most of
this water forms what we call the ocean. Although we have given special
names to parts of the ocean, it is actually one huge body of water.
The earth’s continents are simply big \”islands” surrounded by the water
of this one world ocean.
The part of the ocean that lies between North and South America and
Europe and Africa is called the Atlantic Ocean. The part that’s between
North and South America and Asia is called the Pacific Ocean. The part
between Africa and Australia, and south of India, is the Indian Ocean.
There is an Arctic Ocean at the top of the world. And the waters at the
bottom of the world are sometimes called the Antarctic Ocean. All of
these \”oceans” are really connected to each other.
The ocean is often called the sea. And people sometimes speak of \”the
seven seas.” But the word sea really means a body of water that is
smaller than an ocean, or part of an ocean—such as the Mediterranean
Sea. Even so, whether we call it \”the ocean” or \”the sea,” we really
mean that single great body of water that covers three-quarters of the
earth’s surface.
The ocean is warm in some places and cold in others. It is filled with
dissolved minerals of all kinds, especially salt. And it is the home of
a huge number of animals of all kinds—from some of the tiniest of all
creatures to the very biggest that have ever lived.
