Oceans of the world: map, names, description, area, depth, plants and animals. What does the earth look like without water What does the earth look like without seas and oceans

In the past few days, a bizarre animated graphic has been circulating on the Internet depicting a crooked, compressed Earth, supposedly what it would look like “without water.” The problem is that it doesn't. Not this way. No, it's not.

This animation actually shows what a geoid is: it's sort of a way to describe the Earth's gravitational field. The graphics were created by Ales Bezdek in the MATLAB package. Here is how he describes all these bumps and bumps:

“Earth's gravity is not smooth on the surface, it is stronger in some places than in others. This is because the Earth is not a perfect homogeneous ball (that is, the density of its interiors is not uniform), but has more and less dense places. It affects surface gravity."

When you stand on the surface of the Earth, gravity seems to pull you towards the center. But if you stand near a denser region, gravity will pull you a little to the side, further from the center. The viral geoid on the graph shows exactly this picture: on this map, gravity will always pull you perpendicular to the surface depicted.

It sounds strange, but it is true: if you are on the edge of the "hill" depicted on the geoid, you will not be pulled directly to the center of the Earth, but perpendicular to the surface on which you are standing. The graph is heavily distorted to allow you to see the Earth's uneven gravitational field.

Particularly funny in pseudoscience is that it usually becomes viral something that is completely opposite to the truth. How does it happen?

Another way to describe the geoid is to characterize it with the shape of a perfectly fluid object; that is, if its surface can flow freely.

For a perfectly uniform object (say, a large non-rotating water drop in space), the geoid would be a sphere. For the Earth will be what is in the image. In other words, this graph does not depict the Earth without water, it shows what the shape of the Earth would be if its surface were completely covered with water. Everything is quite the opposite.

It's easy enough to come to the conclusion that the solid surface of the Earth under the oceans looks like this. Take a look at the scale on the graph; it shows differences from +80 to -80 meters. But this is a tiny fraction of the size of the Earth. In physical reality, even if the Earth were covered in water, it wouldn't be anywhere near as humpbacked as shown. Again, the exaggeration has been done for the sake of clarity.

Think about this too: the deepest place in the Earth's ocean (the Mariana Trench) is 10 kilometers deep. The earth is approximately 13,000 kilometers across. Remove all the water from the surface of the Earth and you will hardly notice the change: the level of the difference between the highest mountain and the lowest point in the ocean will be less than 20 kilometers, one tenth of a percent of the Earth's diameter.

This is what the Earth would look like without water.

You will get such a spherical drop if you drain all the oceans of the Earth (together with atmospheric steam, lakes, polar caps, and so on). Not much compared to the rest of the planet, right? A smaller drop is fresh water on earth, in lakes and rivers; the smallest is fresh water from lakes and rivers.

Check the facts. Trust reliable resources like Hi-News.ru. However, even scientific sites sometimes make mistakes.

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How much do you know about our planet? Have you heard that sometimes time on Earth speeds up, and a second Sun burns inside it?

Editorial website went through the latest science magazines and compiled a selection of the most incredible facts about our planet. Get ready, we will break stereotypes!

We are warmed not only by the sun

For so many years we have believed that our main source of heat is the Sun. As soon as it goes out, all living things will die, and humanity will forever disappear from the face of the Earth.

But it turns out that the temperature of the Earth's core is the same as the surface of the Sun. This is 5,500 °C, but there is a problem: 3,000 km to the core. So far, people have been able to dig deep only 18 km.

Earthquakes speed up time

We've been told all our lives that there are 24 hours in a day. After all, exactly so much is needed for the Earth to complete a complete rotation around its axis. But the planet manages to make this revolution faster. The actual length of a day is 23 hours 56 minutes 4 seconds.

Rotation speed is influenced by various factors. For example, in 2011, after the earthquake in Japan, the Earth began to rotate faster, and the days became shorter by 2 seconds. By 2015, the rotation rate was back to normal.

Dinosaurs trampled a completely different Earth

The land that dinosaurs walked on is different from the one we trample on today. You have probably heard that after a volcanic eruption, the lava cools down, forming islands and land. And this is the first step towards the renewal of the Earth. Magma rises from the depths of the earth to the surface, then cools, forming volcanic rocks.

Is the earth really round?

The planet is flattened at the poles, and there is a huge bulge at the equator between Asia and Australia. So technically, the Earth is still round, but it doesn't look like a ball at all. More like a giant potato.

Humans are not masters of the earth

By 2017, the population exceeded 7.4 billion people. But the truth is that there are more microorganisms in one teaspoon of earth than there are people on the entire globe.

How many bacteria live in water? It is they who can be considered the rulers of the Earth. According to rough estimates of scientists, 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 microbes live next to us.

What's wrong with space debris

Throughout its existence, man has gone on space travel more than 135 times. And we learned about space debris in orbit: the remains of asteroids, parts of rockets and more than 2,000 satellites that move at a speed of 35 thousand km / h.

Remember the movie "Gravity"? Space debris is a serious hazard to space station crews who operate in outer space.

Where does all this air come from?

The Amazon rainforest covers only 5.5 million square kilometers. km. It produces 20% of the oxygen we breathe. The remaining rainforests are much smaller and are found in Central America, Africa, South Asia and Australia. Their total area is equal to the area of the Amazon forests.

But the value of forests is not that they give off oxygen. They ensure its constant circulation in nature thanks to microorganisms, plants and trees. Every year the area of forests is rapidly decreasing. The reasons for this are global warming and large-scale deforestation.

Gravity on Earth can change

Contrary to what we learned in physics class, the force of gravity on the planet is not the same everywhere. If you, while walking along the equator, are instantly transported to one of the poles, your weight will increase dramatically by 0.5%. In some places on Earth, such as in the Hudson Bay area, the force of gravity is less than usual.

Such anomalies are obtained due to the thin earth's crust, the influence of glaciers and the movements of magma.

southern lights

As you remember, the surface of our planet is as much as 70% covered with water. It might seem that if you remove all the water, then the Earth will become like dried grapes. However, this is not quite true.

Aligning the highest mountains with the deepest sea depressions, you can see that the Earth is covered with a very thin layer of water. And if all the water on Earth is collected in one big ball, then the radius of this ball will be only 700 kilometers. This is even less than the radius of the moon.

The ocean is the largest object and is the part that covers about 71% of our planet's surface. The oceans wash the shores of the continents, have a system of water circulation and have other specific features. The oceans of the world are in constant interaction with everyone.

Map of oceans and continents of the world

Some sources indicate that the World Ocean is divided into 4 oceans, but in 2000 the International Hydrographic Organization singled out the fifth - the Southern Ocean. This article provides a list of all 5 oceans of planet Earth in order - from the largest in area to the smallest, with the name, location on the map and main characteristics.

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean on a map of the Earth / Wikipedia

Due to its large size, the Pacific Ocean has a unique and varied topography. It also plays an important role in shaping the world's weather patterns and the modern economy.

The ocean floor is constantly changing through the movement and subduction of tectonic plates. Currently, the oldest known area of the Pacific Ocean is about 180 million years old.

In terms of geology, the area surrounding the Pacific Ocean is sometimes called. The region has this name because it is the world's largest area of volcanism and earthquakes. The Pacific region is subject to violent geological activity, because much of its floor is in subduction zones, where the boundaries of some tectonic plates are pushed under others after a collision. There are also some hotspot areas where magma from the Earth's mantle is forced out through the Earth's crust, creating underwater volcanoes that can eventually form islands and seamounts.

The Pacific Ocean has a diverse bottom topography, consisting of oceanic ridges and which formed in hot spots below the surface. The relief of the ocean differs significantly from large continents and islands. The deepest point of the Pacific Ocean is called the "Challenger Abyss", it is located in the Mariana Trench, at a depth of almost 11 thousand km. The largest is New Guinea.

The climate of the ocean varies greatly depending on the latitude, the presence of land, and the types of air masses moving over its waters. Ocean surface temperature also plays a role in climate as it affects the availability of moisture in different regions. The climate in the vicinity is humid and warm during most of the year. The far north Pacific and the far south are more temperate, with large seasonal variations in weather patterns. In addition, some regions are dominated by seasonal trade winds that affect the climate. Tropical cyclones and typhoons also form in the Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific Ocean is almost the same as in other oceans of the Earth, with the exception of local temperatures and salinity of the water. The pelagic zone of the ocean is inhabited by marine animals, such as fish, marine and. Organisms and scavengers live at the bottom. Habitats can be found in sunny shallow areas of the ocean near the coast. The Pacific Ocean is the environment that hosts the greatest variety of living organisms on the planet.

Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean on a map of the Earth / Wikipedia

The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest ocean on Earth with a total area (including adjacent seas) of 106.46 million km². It occupies about 22% of the planet's surface area. The ocean has an elongated S-shape and extends between North and South America in the west, as well as , and - in the east. It connects to the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Southern Ocean to the south. The average depth of the Atlantic Ocean is 3,926 m, and the deepest point is located in the Puerto Rico Ocean Trench, at a depth of 8,605 m. The Atlantic Ocean has the highest salinity of any ocean in the world.

Its climate is characterized by warm or cool water, which circulates in different currents. Water depth and winds also have a significant effect on ocean surface weather. Severe Atlantic hurricanes are known to develop off the coast of Cape Verde in Africa, heading towards the Caribbean from August to November.

The time when the supercontinent Pangea broke up, about 130 million years ago, was the beginning of the formation of the Atlantic Ocean. Geologists have determined that it is the second youngest of the world's five oceans. This ocean has played a very important role in connecting the Old World with the newly explored America since the late 15th century.

The main feature of the floor of the Atlantic Ocean is an underwater mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which extends from Iceland in the north to approximately 58°S. sh. and has a maximum width of about 1600 km. The water depth above the ridge is less than 2,700 meters in most places, and several mountain peaks of the ridge rise above the water to form islands.

The Atlantic Ocean flows into the Pacific Ocean, however they are not always the same due to water temperature, ocean currents, sunlight, nutrients, salinity, etc. The Atlantic Ocean has coastal and open ocean habitats. Its coastal areas are located along the coastlines and extend to the continental shelves. Marine life is usually concentrated in the upper layers of the ocean waters, and closer to the coast there are coral reefs, algae forests and sea grasses.

The Atlantic Ocean is of great modern importance. The construction of the Panama Canal, located in Central America, allowed large ships to pass through the waterways, from Asia across the Pacific Ocean to the east coast of North and South America across the Atlantic Ocean. This led to a revival of trade between Europe, Asia, South America and North America. In addition, there are deposits of gas, oil and precious stones at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean on a map of the Earth / Wikipedia

The Indian Ocean is the third largest ocean on the planet and has an area of 70.56 million km². It is located between Africa, Asia, Australia and the Southern Ocean. The Indian Ocean has an average depth of 3,963 m, and the Sunda Trench is the deepest trench, with a maximum depth of 7,258 m. The Indian Ocean occupies about 20% of the area of the World Ocean.

The formation of this ocean is a consequence of the breakup of the Gondwana supercontinent, which began about 180 million years ago. 36 million years ago, the Indian Ocean assumed its current configuration. Although it first opened about 140 million years ago, almost all Indian Ocean basins are less than 80 million years old.

It is landlocked and does not extend into arctic waters. It has fewer islands and narrower continental shelves compared to the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Below the surface layers, especially in the north, the ocean water is extremely low in oxygen.

The climate of the Indian Ocean varies considerably from north to south. For example, monsoons dominate in the northern part, above the equator. From October to April, strong northeasterly winds are observed, while from May to October - southerly and western ones. The Indian Ocean also has the warmest weather of all five oceans in the world.

The ocean depths contain about 40% of the world's offshore oil, and seven countries currently produce from this ocean.

The Seychelles is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean consisting of 115 islands and most of them are granitic islands and coral islands. On granitic islands, most of the species are endemic, and coral islands have a coral reef ecosystem, where the biodiversity of marine life is greatest. The Indian Ocean has an island fauna that includes sea turtles, seabirds and many other exotic animals. Much of the marine life in the Indian Ocean is endemic.

The entire marine ecosystem of the Indian Ocean is facing species decline as water temperatures continue to rise, which in turn results in a 20% decline in phytoplankton, on which the marine food chain is highly dependent.

South ocean

Southern Ocean on a map of the Earth/Wikipedia

In 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization singled out the fifth, youngest ocean in the world - the Southern Ocean - from the southern regions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. The New Southern Ocean completely surrounds and extends from its coast north to 60°S. sh. The Southern Ocean is by far the fourth largest of the world's five oceans, only larger than the Arctic Ocean.

In recent years, a large amount of oceanographic research has focused on ocean currents, first due to El Niño and then due to the wider interest in global warming. One of the studies determined that currents near Antarctica isolate the Southern Ocean as a separate one, so it was identified as a separate, fifth ocean.

The area of the Southern Ocean is approximately 20.3 million km². The deepest point is 7,235 meters deep and is located in the South Sandwich Trench.

The water temperature in the Southern Ocean varies from -2° C to +10° C. It also contains the largest and most powerful cold surface current on Earth - the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which moves eastward and is 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers.

Despite the allocation of this new ocean, it is likely that the discussion about the number of oceans will continue in the future. After all, there is only one "World Ocean" since all 5 (or 4) oceans on our planet are interconnected with each other.

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean on the map of the Earth / Wikipedia

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five oceans and has an area of 14.06 million km². Its average depth is 1205 m, and the deepest point is in the underwater Nansen Basin, at a depth of 4665 m. The Arctic Ocean is located between Europe, Asia and North America. In addition, most of its waters are north of the Arctic Circle. located in the center of the Arctic Ocean.

While located on a continent, the North Pole is covered in water. For most of the year, the Arctic Ocean is almost completely covered by drifting polar ice, which is about three meters thick. This glacier usually melts during the summer months, but only partially.

Due to its small size, many oceanographers do not consider it an ocean. Instead, some scientists suggest that it is a sea that is mostly enclosed by continents. Others believe that this is a partially closed coastal body of the Atlantic Ocean. These theories are not widely held, and the International Hydrographic Organization considers the Arctic Ocean one of the world's five oceans.

The Arctic Ocean has the lowest water salinity of any of the Earth's oceans due to the low evaporation rate and fresh water coming from streams and rivers that feed the ocean, diluting the salt concentration in the water.

The polar climate dominates this ocean. Consequently, winters exhibit relatively stable weather with low temperatures. The best known characteristics of this climate are polar nights and polar days.

It is believed that the Arctic Ocean may contain about 25% of the total natural gas and oil reserves on our planet. Geologists have also established that there are significant deposits of gold and other minerals. The abundance of several species of fish and seals also make the region attractive to the fishing industry.

There are several animal habitats in the Arctic Ocean, including endangered mammals and fish. The region's vulnerable ecosystem is one of the factors that make the fauna so sensitive to climate change. Some of these species are endemic and irreplaceable. The summer months bring an abundance of phytoplankton which, in turn, feeds the base, which eventually ends up with large terrestrial and marine mammals.

Recent developments in technology are enabling scientists to explore the depths of the world's oceans in new ways. These studies are needed to help scientists study and possibly prevent the catastrophic effects of climate change in these areas, as well as to discover new types of living organisms.

Recently, an increasing number of people believe that the planet Earth without water looks like this:

and call this form GEOID. This information spread like a virus on the Internet and many people believed in it. That is what made me study this information more carefully.

For reference:

Geoid(from ancient Greek γῆ - Earth and other Greek εἶδος - view) - the equipotential surface of the earth's gravity field (level surface), approximately coinciding with the average water level of the World Ocean in an undisturbed state and conditionally continued under the continents. The term "geoid" was proposed in 1873 by the German mathematician Johann Benedikt Listing to refer to a geometric figure, more accurately than an ellipsoid of revolution, that reflects the unique shape of the planet Earth. The geoid is the surface relative to which the height above sea level is measured. An accurate knowledge of the geoid is necessary, in particular, in navigation - to determine the height above sea level based on geodetic (ellipsoidal) height, directly measured by GPS receivers, as well as in physical oceanology - to determine the heights of the sea surface. Some authors designate the concept described above by the term not “geoid”, but “main level surface”, while the geoid itself is defined as a 3-dimensional body bounded by this surface.

Deviations of the geoid (EGM96) from the idealized figure of the Earth (the WGS 84 ellipsoid).

It can be seen that the ocean surface diverges from the ellipsoid: for example, in the north of the Indian Ocean it is lowered by ~100 meters, and in the western Pacific it is raised by ~80 meters. This is exactly what the digital color scale shows, located to the right of the figure presented at the beginning of the article.

But what does our planet look like if we remove water from it? What does it look like earth figure? earth figure- a term for the shape of the earth's surface. Depending on the definition of the figure of the Earth, various coordinate systems are established. This representation of our planet is well suited for problems in which the calculation accuracy does not exceed 0.5%. In reality, the Earth is not a perfect sphere. Due to the daily rotation, it is flattened from the poles; the heights of the continents are different; the shape of the surface is also distorted by tidal deformations. In geodesy and astronautics, an ellipsoid of revolution or geoid is usually chosen to describe the figure of the Earth.

In a rough approximation, we can assume that the planet Earth has the shape of a ball with an average diameter of 12.742.6 km or 12.742.600 meters. Considering that the highest mountain on the planet Everest has a "height" 8.848 meters above "sea level", and the "deepest" Mariana Trench has "depth" 10.994 ± 40 meters below "sea level", then it can be argued that the total deviation from "sea level" is 19.842 ± 40 meters or about 0,16%

That is why the planet Earth without water looks something like this:

The picture above shows two drops:

A large drop is the volume of all the oceans of the planet Earth (together with atmospheric steam, lakes, polar caps, and so on).
A small drop is fresh water on earth, in lakes and rivers.

I understand that it is desirable to check all the facts. However, I myself have given here a lot of data that I trusted at the time of writing this article more than I did not trust them (data from wikipedia.org, photos from various sources ...) and have no desire to check them (droplet size in the figure).

And to believe what I have written or not is the prerogative of my reader.

What this animation actually shows is that the Earth is a geoid: it's sort of a way to describe the Earth's gravitational field. The graphics were created by Ales Bezdek in the MATLAB package. Here is how he describes all these bumps and bumps:

“The earth is not smooth on the surface; in some places it is stronger than in others. This is because the Earth is not a perfect homogeneous ball (that is, the density of its interiors is not uniform), but has more and less dense places. It affects surface gravity."

Particularly funny in pseudoscience is that it usually becomes viral something that is completely opposite to the truth. How does it happen?

Another way to describe the geoid is to characterize it with the shape of a perfectly fluid object; that is, if its surface can flow freely.

This is what the Earth would look like without water.

Check the facts. However, even scientific sites sometimes make mistakes.