OCEANS

The oceans cover 70.8 percent of planet Earth. By far the largest of the four oceans, the Pacific Ocean covers nearly one-third of the globe.

All the continents could be placed into the Pacific Ocean, and there would still be room left over. Average depth is 13,000 feet.

The hourglass shaped Atlantic Ocean covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth's surface and is the second largest of the 4 oceans. It extends from the North Pole southward for 10,000 miles to the Antarctic continent.

Average depth of the Atlantic Ocean is 12,000 feet. The greatest depth is 28,374 feet (Puerto Rico Trench).

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge divides the sea floor nearly through the center and stretches from the polar regions of the North to Antarctica in the South.

The Mid Atlantic Ridge was created by the splitting apart of the super continent of Pangaea 190 million years ago.

The Indian Ocean stretches southward from India to Antarctica. It is triangular and bordered by Africa, Asia, Antarctica, and, Australia.

The average depth of the Indian Ocean is about 12,750 feet. The deepest part is 24,440 feet in the Java Trench. The Indian Ocean, like the Atlantic Ocean is divided by a mid- ocean ridge that separates the basin into nearly equal portions.

u u Centered approximately on the North Pole, the ARCTIC Ocean is the smallest of the world's oceans.

ARCTIC OCEAN u u Maximum depth is 18,050 feet. u u The Arctic Ocean is divided into two nearly equal basins: The Eurasia basin & the Amerasia basin.

ARCTIC OCEAN u u The Arctic Ocean is surrounded by landmasses of Eurasia, North America, and Greenland, and is unlike the other three oceans because of the perennial ice cover.