ABSTRACT
There are five major oceans of the world. From largest to smallest, these include the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic oceans; together with their adjacent seas, they cover ~71% of the earth’s surface (~3.62 × 108 km2) and have a volume of ~1.34 × 109 km3. The surface area, volume, and average depth of the Pacific Ocean exceed all others, amounting to 1.66 × 108 km2, 6.96 × 108 km3, and 4.19 × 103 m, respectively. The Pacific Ocean constitutes more than 50% of the world’s ocean environment, and it occupies more than one-third of the earth’s surface. The Atlantic Ocean, with dimensions about half of those of the Pacific Ocean, has a surface area, volume, and depth of 8.41 × 107 km2, 3.23 × 108 km3, and 3.84 × 103 m, respectively. Somewhat smaller, the Indian Ocean has a surface area, volume, and depth of 7.34 × 107 km2, 2.84 × 108 km3, and 3.87 × 103 m, respectively. The Southern and Arctic Oceans are much smaller. The surface area, volume and depth of the Southern Ocean are 2.20 × 107 km2, 7.18 × 107 km3, and 3.270 × 103 m, respectively, and those of the Arctic Ocean are 1.56 × 107 km2, 1.88 × 107 km3, and 1.21 × 103 m, respectively. 1–5
