Portal:Oceans

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The Oceans Portal
A portal dedicated to oceans, seas, oceanography and related topics

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Introduction

Surface view of the Atlantic Ocean

The ocean is the body of salt water that covers ~70.8% of the Earth. In English, the term ocean also refers to any of the large bodies of water into which the world ocean is conventionally divided. Distinct names are used to identify five different areas of the ocean: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern, and Arctic. The ocean contains 97% of Earth's water and is the primary component of the Earth's hydrosphere, thus the ocean is essential to life on Earth. The ocean influences climate and weather patterns, the carbon cycle, and the water cycle by acting as a huge heat reservoir. (Full article...)

Waves in Pacifica, California

A sea is a large body of salty water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the wider body of seawater. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order sections of the oceanic sea (e.g. the Mediterranean Sea), or certain large, nearly landlocked bodies of water. (Full article...)

Oceanography (from Ancient Greek ὠκεανός (ōkeanós) 'ocean', and γραφή (graphḗ) 'writing'), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics; plate tectonics and seabed geology; and fluxes of various chemical substances and physical properties within the ocean and across its boundaries. These diverse topics reflect multiple disciplines that oceanographers utilize to glean further knowledge of the world ocean, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, geography, geology, hydrology, meteorology and physics. Paleoceanography studies the history of the oceans in the geologic past. An oceanographer is a person who studies many matters concerned with oceans, including marine geology, physics, chemistry, and biology. (Full article...)

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Ernst Haeckel's 96th plate, showing some marine invertebrates. Marine invertebrates have a large variety of body plans, which are currently categorised into over 30 phyla.
Marine invertebrates are the invertebrates that live in marine habitats. Invertebrate is a blanket term that includes all animals apart from the vertebrate members of the chordate phylum. Invertebrates lack a vertebral column, and some have evolved a shell or a hard exoskeleton. As on land and in the air, marine invertebrates have a large variety of body plans, and have been categorised into over 30 phyla. They make up most of the macroscopic life in the oceans. (Full article...)
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The following are images from various ocean-related articles on Wikipedia.

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In the news

28 March 2024 – 2023–24 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
Cyclone Gamane makes landfall in Madagascar, killing at least eleven people and causing widespread flooding, according to local officials. (AP)
28 March 2024 –
A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 crashes into the sea off Sevastopol. The pilot is reported to have safely ejected. (Reuters)
23 March 2024 – Red Sea crisis
A Houthi missile hits Panamanian-flagged, Chinese-owned and operated oil tanker Huang Pu. It suffers minimal damage and a fire on board is quickly extinguished. No casualties are reported, and the vessel resumes its course. (X) (Newsweek) (Marine Log)
12 March 2024 – Piracy off the coast of Somalia
About 20 armed pirates hijack a Bangladeshi bulk carrier in the Indian Ocean that was en route to the United Arab Emirates. The vessel is under the control of the pirates and is heading towards the coast of Somalia. (The National News)
11 March 2024 – Red Sea crisis
Houthi officials say that at least 17 U.S. and British airstrikes across western Yemen, including in Al Hudaydah, have killed eleven people and injured 14 others. (Reuters)

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