Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second biggest ocean in the world. The total area of the ocean is approximately 106,400,000 square kilometers (41,100,000 square miles), and it covers roughly 20 % of the surface of the earth and approximately 29 % of the water surface area of the earth. The initial part of its name mentions in the Atlas of Greek myths, making the word Atlantic as the "Sea of Atlas".

The oldest recognized mention of "Atlantic" is in the Histories of Herodotus about 450 BC. The expression Ethiopic Ocean, which is anchored in Ethiopia, was exploited to the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean as behind as the middle part of the 19th century. Earlier than Europeans revealed other oceans, their word "ocean" was identical with the waters away from the Strait of Gibraltar that are currently recognized as the Atlantic. The before time Greeks supposed the Atlantic Ocean to be an enormous river surrounding the world.

The Atlantic Ocean absorbs an extended, S-formed basin enlarging longitudinally between Africa and Eurasia to the east, and the Americas to its western side. As a single element of the unified worldwide ocean, the Atlantic Ocean is connected to the Arctic Ocean in the north, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest, and the Southern part of the Ocean in the south. The ocean is subdivided by the equator into the South Atlantic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean. The expression "Central Atlantic" mentions the area between Africa and South America north of the Equator, while a part of the North Atlantic Ocean geographically, its nature is extremely different to the waters to the north between Europe and North America.

History

The Atlantic Ocean emerges to be the second most juvenile among the five oceans. It did not subsist before 130 million years ago, when the continents that shaped from the fragment of the inherited great continent Pangaea were drifting separately. The Atlantic has been widely investigated because of the earliest colonies along its seashores.

The Portuguese, the Vikings, and the Spaniards were the most well-known among early voyagers. European study quickly accelerated after Columbus, and loads of fresh trade routes were time-honored. Consequently, the Atlantic Ocean turned out and continued to be the major artery between the Americas and Europe, which is called as the transatlantic trade. Scientific studies on the Atlantic Ocean include the German Meteor expedition, the Challenger expedition, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of the Columbia University and the Navy Hydrographic Office of the United States.

Climate

The climate of the Atlantic Ocean is inclined by the temperatures of the water currents and surface waters in addition to the winds. Due to the huge capacity of the ocean to store and discharge heat, maritime types of weather are more reasonable and have less severe seasonal differences than inland types of weather. Rainfall can be estimated from the air temperature from water temperatures and the coastal weather information.

The oceans are the chief resource of the atmospheric dampness that is acquired during evaporation. Climatic regions diverge with latitude; the hottest regions extend across the Atlantic Ocean, north of the equator. The coldest regions are in lofty latitudes, with the coldest areas, corresponding to the regions covered by ocean ice. Ocean currents control the climate of the Atlantic Ocean through transporting hot and cold waters to other areas. The winds, which are warmed or cooled while blowing over these ocean currents control neighboring land areas.