Oceanic waters: what are, characteristics and importance

The Oceanic waters They are one of the most important and outstanding biological components on planet Earth since its formation millions of years ago. At present they correspond to the water masses of greater volume of the planet, and are formed by the water of the five great oceans that constitute it: The Pacific Ocean (188 million km² surface), The Atlantic (94 million km surface² ), The Indian (surface of 74 million km² ), The Antarctic (20 million km² of surface) and The Arctic Ocean (14 million km² of surface).

In oceanic waters, three elements are of vital importance for the proper functioning of these incredible and amazing ecosystems:

• The sea currents: They move through the action of the wind, following their direction and with more or less movement according to the force of these winds. In addition, the famous Coriolis effect (determined by the sense of rotation of the Earth), establishes that marine currents turn in the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the south. There are different sea currents, which are attributed names from countries and continental areas in which they are, such as the currents of the Canary Islands (Spain-Morocco), the California current (USA) and the Eastern Australian current. All these currents occur near the surface of the oceans and often influence the climatic conditions of the continental areas with which they limit.
• The waves: Main constituent elements of the marine currents, the waves give life to the waters that reach the coasts, which suffer the constant erosion that the force of the waves generates when molding the coastal terrestrial surfaces. Below you can see a brief video about the waves.
• The tides: caused by the force of gravity of the moon and the sun, the tides mark the rhythms of rise and descent of the oceanic waters that bathe the coasts, beaches and cliffs of the coastal regions around the world.

In the next sections we will see in more detail what other characteristics define the oceanic waters, as well as their importance and the role they play in the balance of the planet as a “all”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x33Optsinpk

The General characteristics of all the oceans of the world They include concrete elements and properties of these waters, such as:

• Average depth of about 3,900 meters, depending on the oceanic relief that defines the area.
• Temperatures ranging between 12 and 30 ° C in the surface layers of tempered waters, and between 6 and -1ºC below that layer.
• The salinity of the oceans, represented by the amount of sodium chloride dissolved in the water, constitutes 90% of the chemical components that appear dissolved in the oceanic waters. This chemical composition is complemented by some elements such as magnesium, sulfur, potassium and calcium.
• Directly related to their salinity, the density of the oceanic waters is greater than that of the sweet waters, reaching densities of more than 1,000 kilograms per m³. This high characteristic density of oceanic waters can be easily appreciated with the ability of materials and organisms to float in these dense waters and salinas.
• Oceanic waters have a characteristic blue color, due, among other reasons, to the absorption of photons of the red light spectrum that the water molecules carry out when receiving the incident sun rays, which reflect in blue tones.

Source of innumerable riches and surprising biodiversity, oceanic waters constitute one of the most important and precious goods by many of the living organisms that we inhabit the Earth.

Oceanic waters are responsible for transporting them The nutrientsboth vegetable and animals, which need different communities and populations of animals in each of the coastal regions of the planet. This fact is possible thanks to sea ​​currents that make oceanic waters in habitats in constant movement and balance.

Another of the main values ​​of these waters is due to the important role they play in the Thermoregulation of the planetthen, globally, ocean waters self -regulate the amounts of carbon dioxide and oxygen present in the atmosphere (by action of phytoplankton), in addition to keep the life cycle in balance of millions of species of animals, plants, invertebrates and all kinds of microorganisms.

Regarding the importance they have within anthropic ecosystems, its function stands out as Nexus among the different continents of the planet, facilitating the transport of all types of marine goods, ships and vessels.

Due to the great importance of oceans for life on the planet, it is vital to learn how to avoid contamination of seas and oceans and, therefore, here we give you information about it.

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