Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The average depth of the oceans is about 4 km. More precisely the average depth is 3,688 meters (12,100 ft). [72] Nearly half of the world's marine waters are over 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) deep. [27] "Deep ocean," which is anything below 200 meters (660 ft), covers about 66% of Earth's surface. [87]
The deep sea is broadly defined as the ocean depth where light begins to fade, at an approximate depth of 200 m (660 ft) or the point of transition from continental shelves to continental slopes. [1] [2] Conditions within the deep sea are a combination of low temperatures, darkness, and high pressure. [3]
The mass of the oceans is approximately 1.35 × 10 18 metric tons, or about 1/4400 of the total mass of the Earth. The oceans cover an area of 3.618 × 10 8 km 2 with a mean depth of 3,682 m, resulting in an estimated volume of 1.332 × 10 9 km 3. [7]
Its average depth is 4,280 m (14,040 ft; 2,340 fathoms), putting the total water volume at roughly 710,000,000 km 3 (170,000,000 cu mi). [ 1 ] Due to the effects of plate tectonics , the Pacific Ocean is currently shrinking by roughly 2.5 cm (1 in) per year on three sides, roughly averaging 0.52 km 2 (0.20 sq mi) a year.
GEBCO is the only intergovernmental body with a mandate to map the whole ocean floor. At the beginning of the project, only 6 per cent of the world's ocean bottom had been surveyed to today's standards; as of June 2022, the project had recorded 23.4 per cent mapped. About 14,500,000 square kilometres (5,600,000 sq mi) of new bathymetric data ...
All ocean basins collectively cover 71% of the Earth's surface, and together they contain almost 97% of all water on the planet. [1] They have an average depth of almost 4 km (about 2.5 miles). Definitions of boundaries
The greatest ocean depth measured is in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench, at a depth of 10,994 m (36,070 ft) below sea level. Oceanic trenches are a feature of the Earth's distinctive plate tectonics.
The bathymetry of the ocean bottom is marked by fault block ridges, abyssal plains, ocean deeps, and basins. The average depth of the Arctic Ocean is 1,038 m (3,406 ft). [31] The deepest point is Molloy Hole in the Fram Strait, at about 5,550 m (18,210 ft). [32]