Unit V

WATER (OCEAN)
"
CHAPTER
P
lanet Earth is often called water planet
or blue planet, because of abundanceof
water on its surface. The water bodies
cover 71 per cent of the earth’s surface. 60.7
per cent of the total area of the northern
hemisphere and 80.9 per cent of the southern
hemisphere are covered with water. If we take
into account only the water surface of the
earth, then 43 per cent lies in the northern
hemisphere and 57 per cent in the southern
hemisphere.
The earth receives essentially pure water
in droplets condensing from the atmosphere.
Different kinds of water are found in different
geological environments. Over 97 per cent of
all the water on the surface of the earth is in
Fig.14.1 : Hydrological Cycle
Arrows indicate the flow of water.
OCEANS
the oceans, and most of the remainder is in
glaciers.
The largest reservoir of water is the ocean.
Of the total expanse of water bodies, about 93
per cent is covered by four oceans: Pacific,
Atlantic, Indian and Arctic (Appendix V).
HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE
Water from oceans is evaporated and lifted into
the atmosphere. It is eventually condensed
and is returned back to the earth’s surface in
the form of rain, hail, dew, snow or sleet.
Some of the precipitation, after wetting the
foliage and ground, runs off over the surface
to the streams. It is the water that sometimes
causes erosion and is the main contributor to
108
floods. Of the precipitation that soaks into the
ground, some is available for growing plants
and for evaporation. Some reaches the deeper
zones and percolates through springs and
seeps to maintain the streams during dry
period. The streams, in turn, eventually, return
the water back to the oceans where it
originated. It is because of this never ending
circulation that the process has come to be
known as hydrological cycle.
The hydrological cycle is sometimes
expressed mathematically as:
RF = RO + ET
Where RF includes all types of
precipitation, RO is runof f and ET is
evapotranspiration.
Runoff occurs when precipitation, that does
not have an opportunity to infiltrate into soil,
flows across the land surface. However, most
of it enters the stream channel untimately,
which carries it to the oceans. A part of the
precipitation that infiltrates the soil percolates
downward to the water table through springs.
Broadly speaking, runoff is composed of water
from both surface flow and seepage flow. It is
an extremely important segment of
hydrological cycle. Rainwater that reaches the
soil surface is wholly or partly absorbed by
the soil in the process of infiltration. The amount
of rainfall entering the soil depends upon the
rate of rainfall and the infiltration rate of the
soil.
About 4,23,000 cubic kilometres of water
is evaporated each year from the oceans.
About 73,000 cubic kilometres is evaporated
from lakes and land surfaces of the
continents. Most of the water precipitates
back onto the ocean but excess falls on the
land. Because, more snow and rain falls every
year than can be evaporated, about 37,000
cubic kilometres of water drips, seeps and
flows from the land to the sea annually. The
water evaporated from the land is not only
from exposed surfaces of lakes and
streams but also from plants and animals.
Some evaporation and absorption of
water is carried by plant roots which is
transpirated through leaves, termed as
evapotranspiration. The total evaporation is
equalled by total precipitation, of which
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
about1,10,000 cubic kilometres of precipi-
tation falls on the land surface annually,
which if distributed evenly on the entire earth
is 117 cm thick (Table 14.1).
Table 14.1: Fluxes (Amount of Water Involved)
in Hydrological Cycle
Process Km3/Yr Cm/Yr
Precipitation on land 1,10,300 74
Evaporation from land 72,900 49
Runoff from land
(river runoff and direct
ground water discharge to
the ocean: 6 per cent of total
precipitation on the earth) 37,400 25
Precipitation on the oceans 3,85,700 07
Evaporation from the oceans 4,23,100 17
Total precipitaion on the earth 4,96,000 97
Total evaporation on the earth 4,96,000 97
Source : Berner and Berner (1987).
RELIEF OF THE OCEAN FLOOR
Continents and ocean basins are the first
order relief features of the earth. A detailed
relief map of the earth and its oceans shows
immediately that the natural limits of the
continents are much larger and more regular
than a conventional map shows. Modern
study of the topography of the ocean floors was
greatly advanced through the work of Bruce
C. Heezen of the Lamont-Doherty Geological
Observatory at Columbia University. Heezen,
in 1959, set up a system of submarine
landform classification. According to him, the
topographic features of the ocean basins fall
into three major divisions : (i) the continental
margins; (ii) the ocean-basin floors; and (iii) the
mid-oceanic ridges.
The Continental Margins
The continental margins consist of two major
submarine features, the continental shelf
and the continental slope (Fig.14.2). The
continental shelf fringes the continents in
widths from a few kilometres to 300
kilometres. Major rivers after meeting the sea
continue to maintain their flow in the
OCEANS
Fig.14.2 : Features of the Coastal Ocean Floor
Observe the location of delta and canyon formation.
continental shelf after mixing with the sea
water. The flow of water excavates the shelf.
This results in the formation of submarine
canyons which can be compared to the deep
gullies on the land surface. Sediments carried
from the steeper slopes of the continental shelf
in the vicinity of a river delta built up a
submarine fan or cone. Along their seaward
margins, the continental shelves give way to
continental slopes. The slope is abruptly
replaced by the continental rise, a surface of
much gentler slope decreasing in steepness
toward the ocean-basin floor. The continental
rise generally, has a moderate to low relief.
The continental shelf with depths upto 200
m occupies about 7.6 per cent of the ocean’s
area. The continental slope spreads from 200
m to 2,500 m deep. With a complex relief, it
comprises 15 per cent of the ocean area.
Submarine canyons are striking features of
the continental shelf and the continental slope.
They are deep valleys with steep slopes that
form long concave profiles. Some canyons are
dendritic in appearance. The continental
margins are characterised by some small
marine features, namely banks, shoals and
reefs. A bank is more or less a flat topped
elevation. Because of relatively shallow depth,
it is used for fishing. A reef is an organic
deposit made by living or dead coral
organisms.
The Ocean-Basin Floor
The ocean basin is an extensive region of the
basin floor, generally, lying at a depth ranging
109
between 2,500 and 6,000 m. It covers about
76.2 per cent of the ocean’s area. The ocean-
basin floor contains three types of features — (i)
abyssal plain and hills; (ii) oceanic rise; and
(iii) seamounts.
An abyssal plain is an area of the deep
ocean floor having a flat bottom with a very
faint slope. Characteristically, situated at the
foot of the continental rise, the abyssal plain
is present in all ocean basins. Abyssal plains
are sur faces for med by long continued
deposition of very fine sediments and,
therefore, has a nearly per fect flatness.
Abyssal hills are small hills rising to heights
of a few tens of metres to a few hundred metres
above the ocean-basin floor.
The Oceanic rise is an area hundreds of
kilometres in breadth over which the surface
rises several hundred metres above the
surrounding abyssal plains. Within the rise,
the relief may range from subdued to very
rugged. The Bermuda is a good example of
oceanic rise. Seamounts are the isolated peaks
that rise 1,000 m or more above the sea floor.
Many of the seamounts are conspicuously flat
topped and extremely steep sided, named as
guyot.
The Mid-Oceanic Ridge
One of the most remarkable of the major
discoveries coming out of oceanographic
explorations of the mid-twentieth century was
the charting of a great submarine mountain
chain extending for a total length of some
64,000 km, known as the mid-oceanic ridge.
The ridge runs down the middle of the North
and the South Atlantic ocean basins, into the
Indian ocean basin, then passes between
Australia and Antarctica to enter the South
Pacific basin. The ridge in its entirety is a belt,
2,000 to 2,400 km wide in which the surface
rises through a series of steps from abyssal
plains on each side.
The parts of the ocean, deeper than 6,000 m,
form trenches. They occur here and there, but
most of them are confined to the margins of the
Pacific Ocean. They occupy only 1.2 per cent
area of the ocean.
110
TEMPERATURE STRUCTURE OF OCEANS
Temperature of water determines its density
and also influences the availability of various
species of marine organisms that could live
suspended in the upper water layers. The
study of surface and sub-surface water
temperature is important both for plant and
500 m
1000 m
(1000 to
1500 m)
Fig.14.3 : Schematic Diagram of Vertical
Changes in Sea Temperature and Salinity
N S
Fig.14.4 : Typical Changes in Temperature and Salinity in Oceans in Low and Middle Latitudes
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
animal lives in coastal areas as well as in
oceans. The temperature structure of oceans
over middle and low latitudes can be described
as a three-layer system from surface to the
bottom (Fig.14.3).
The first layer represents the top layer of
warm oceanic water and it is about 500 m thick
with temperature ranging between 20 o and
25o C. This layer within the tropics is present
throughout the year but in mid latitudes it
develops only during summer. The second layer
called thermocline layer (Fig.14.4) lies below the
first layer and is characterised by rapid
decrease in temperature with increasing depth.
The thermocline is 500 to 1,000 m thick. In low
latitudes, temperature declines gradually, from
5° C below the thermocline to about 1° C at
depths of around 4,000 m. The third layer is
very cold and extends up to the deep ocean
floor. In the Arctic and Antarctic latitudes, the
surface water temperatures are close to 0o C
and so the temperature change with depth is
very slight. Here, only one layer of cold water
exists, which is present from surface to deep
ocean floor.
The major source of temperature of the
oceanic water is the sun. The following factors
affect the distribution of temperature of the
ocean water: latitude, unequal distribution of
land and water, prevailing wind, ocean
currents, and minor factors like submarine
ridges, local weather conditions, and shape
and size of the sea.
On an average, the temperature of the
surface water of the oceans is 26.7 o C; it
OCEANS
decreases gradually from the equator to the
poles. The oceans in the northern hemisphere
record relatively high average temperature
than in the southern hemisphere. The highest
temperature is not recorded at the equator,
but a little north of it (Fig. 14.5). The average
annual temperature of all the oceans is
17.2o C. The average annual temperature for
the northern hemisphere is 19.4o C and for the
southern hemisphere is 16.1o C.
The Pacific Ocean
The Pacific is the largest ocean. It covers about
one-third of area of the earth, which is more
than the entire land area of the world. Though
the average depth of the Pacific Ocean is
4,572 m only, it is the deepest of all the oceans.
The Mariana trench is 11,034 m deep from sea
level. It is dotted with over 20,000 islands,
which are mostly of coral and volcanic origin.
The floor of the Pacific Ocean is fairly
uniform with broad rises and depressions
(Fig.14.6). There is a significant difference in
the extent and characteristics of the
continental shelves on the easter n and
western coasts of the Pacific. Along the eastern
coast of Australia and Asia, the shelves are
broad and extensive, from 160 to 1,600 km
Fig.14.5 : Distribution of Surface Temperature in Oceans
111
in width. Several islands like Kuriles, Japan,
Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, etc are
located on the continental shelves. The
continental shelves on the western coasts of
Americas are less extensive, about 80 km only
on an average.
The Pacific Ocean does not have a mid
oceanic ridge, but there are a few scattered
ridges of local importance. Some of them are
the East Pacific Rise called the Albatross
Plateau, the South East Pacific Plateau, the
Pacific — Antarctic Ridge, the Chile Rise, the
Lord Howo Rise, the Hawaiian Ridge etc. Some
important ocean basins of the Pacific are the
Philippine basin, the Figi basin, the East
Australian basin, the Peru basin, the South-
western Pacific basin, the Central Pacific basin
etc. Some of the trenches of this ocean are the
Aleutian, the Kuril, the Japan, the Bonin, the
Mindanao, the Mariana, the Tonga, the
Kermadec, and the Atacama.
The Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic is about half the size of the Pacific
Ocean and covers about one-sixth of the
earth’s area. Resembling ‘S’ in shape, the
ocean is bounded on the west by North
America and South America, and on the east
112 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Bering Sea

Aieutian
Kuril Trench
Trench

Japan Trench Mendocino

Seascarp
Bonin Trench
Hawaiian
Ridge
Mindanao Mariana
South Trench Trench
China Central Pacific
Basin East
Basin Pacific Albatross
Basin Plateau
Equator

Austral
Seamount
Coral Sea Chain

Tonga South East

Trench Pacific Plateau Atacama
Lord
Trench
Howe
Rise Kermadec Albatross
Trench Cordillera
Chile
Tasman Ridge
Pacfic
Basin South Western
Below 3600m. Antarctic
Pacific Basin Ridge
Ocean deep

Fig.14.6 : Major Relief Features of the Pacific Ocean

by Europe and Africa (Fig. 14.7). To the south it
extends upto Antarctica and in the north it is
bounded by Greenland and Iceland.
The continental shelf spreads all around the
Atlantic Ocean, though its width varies greatly.
Off the coast of Africa, it is 80-160 km wide but
off the north east coast of North America and
northwest Europe, it is 250-400 km in width.
A number of marginal seas like the Gulf of
Mexico, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the
Norwegian, the Hudson Bay, the Baltic and the
North Seas are located in the Atlantic Ocean.
The mid-Atlantic ridge, running from north
to south in ‘S’ form is about 14,450 km long
and about 4,000 metres high. The ridge has a
broad fracture in the middle and slopes on
both sides gently. The mid oceanic ridge in the
North Atlantic is known as the Dolphin ridge,
and that in the South Atlantic as the Challenger
ridge. A number of islands are located on the
ridge.
The mid-Atlantic ridge divides the ocean into
two major basins, namely the East and the West
Atlantic basins. Some other basins in the
Atlantic are the North American basin, the
Labrador basin, the Guiana basin, the Brazil
basin, the Argentina basin, the Agulhas basin,
the Angola basin, the West European basin
etc. The important trenches of the Atlantic
ocean are the Cayman, the Puerto Rico, and
the South Sandwich.
The Indian Ocean
Smaller than the Pacific and the Atlantic, the
Indian Ocean is bounded on the north by
Asia, on the west by Africa, on the east by Asia
and Australia and on the south by Antarctica
(Fig.14.8). The average depth of the ocean is
4,000 m. The continental shelves of the
Indian Ocean have a wide variation. It is
extensive along the margins of the Arabian Sea
OCEANS 113

Wyville
Thomson
Ridge

→
Telegraph
Plateau

→
West
European
Grand
Basin
Banks

Dolphin Azores
North
Ridge Is
American
Basin Madeiro
Bermuda
Canary Is
Cayman Puerto
Trench Rico
Trench
Cape Verde
Is

Guiana
Basin

Equator
Romanche
Deep

Ascension Angola
Is St.Helena
Basin
Brazil
Basin
Challenger
Ridge

Tristan
da Walvis
Cunna Ridge
Argentine
Basin
Agulhas
Basin

Falk
Below 3600m. land South
Is Sandwich
Ocean deeps Trench

Fig.14.7 : Major Relief Features of the Atlantic Ocean

114 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Andaman-Nicobar
Ridge
Arabian
Basin

Socotra
Chagos
Ridge Sri Lanka
Carlsberg
Ridge
Zanzibar
Lakshadweep
Seychelles
Chagos Ridge
Ridge Sunda
Central Basin Trench
Mauritius
Madagascar
Reunion
Mascarene Basin
West
South Australian
Madagascar
Basin
Ridge

Prince
Edward South
Crozet Ridge Australian
Amstardam-St. Paul Basin
Plateau

South Indian Basin

Below 3600m.
Ocean deep

Fig.14.8 : Major Relief Features of the Indian Ocean

and the Bay of Bengal. It is also extensive along
the eastern coast of Africa and around,
Madagascar. Here it is about 640 km wide, but
along the coast of Java and Sumatra it is
comparatively narrow (160km). It is also
narr ow along the norther n coast of
Antarctica. In comparison to the Pacific and
the Atlantic Oceans the marginal seas in the
Indian Ocean are less in number. Some
significant marginal seas are the Mozambique
Channel, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the
Andaman Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of
Bengal etc. The mid-Indian Oceanic ridge
extends from the southern tip of the Indian
Peninsula in the north to Antarctica in the
south. It forms a continuous chain of
highlands. The central ridge near the Indian
Peninsula has a width of about 320 km and
in the south between 30 o S and 50 o S, it is
1,600 km. The important ridges of the Indian
Ocean are the Socotra-Chagos ridge, the
Lakshadweep Chagos ridge, Seychelles ridge,
Andaman – Nicobar ridge and the Prince
Edward Crozet ridge.
OCEANS
The mid-Indian Oceanic and other ridges
divide the Indian Ocean into a number of
ocean basins. They are the Oman basin, the
Arabian basin, the Somali basin, the
Agulhas–Natal basin, the Atlantic–Indian–
Antar ctic basin, the Easter n Indian-
Antarctic basin, the west Australian basin
etc.
There are very few trenches in the Indian
Ocean. The Java or Sunda trench (7,450 m)
is the deepest. The important deep sea plains
of the Indian Ocean are the Somali, the Sri
Lankan and the Indian abyssal plains. Sixty
per cent of the abyssal plains in this ocean
range in height from 3,600 to 5,400 m.
SALINITY OF SEA WATER
The sea water is saline. The total weight of salt
dissolved in the sea is 48,000 million million
tones (mmt). Of these, sodium chloride, or
common salt, accounts for 38,000mmt,
sulphate for 3,000 mmt, magnesium for 1,600
mmt, potassium for 480 mmt and bromide for
83 mmt. The amazing thing about this
solution is not the quantities of salts but the
consistency of their ratio. The sea water may
be less saline or more saline depending upon
the extent of evaporation, river discharge and
precipitation, but the salt composition
remains invariable.
Dittmar during his Challenger Expedition
(1884) reported the existence of 47 types of
salts in sea water, out of which seven are most
important (Table 14.2).
Chlorine, sulphate, carbonic acid, bromine
and boric acid are among the volatile
Table 14.2 Significant Salt in Sea Water
Salts
1. Sodium Chloride (NaCl)
2. Magnesium Chloride (MgCl2)
3. Magnesium Sulphate (MgSo4)
4. Calcium Sulphate (CaSo4)
5. Potassium Sulphate (K2So4)
6. Calcuim carbonate (CaCo3)
7. Magnesium Bromide (MgBr2)
Total
115
substances that are thought to have entered the
atmosphere and the hydrosphere. Sodium,
magnesium, calcium and potassium have
been derived from igneous rocks. The average
time that an element remains dissolved in the
ocean before removal is known as residence
time. Sodium has very low rate of chemical
reaction in the marine environment and
remains longer in the oceans than other
elements. Thus, it is reflected in its predominant
concentration. Calcium enters the oceans in the
largest percentage but is relatively easily
removed as calcium carbonate to become
sedimentary deposit. Silicon, released in large
amounts has an extremely short residence
time. The silicon, therefore, is present in small
amounts in sea water.
The proportions in which various chemical
elements are present in relation to one another
in sea water are remarkably, constant
throughout all oceans. The salinity of water
which is the total weight of dissolved solids to
weight of water, is a variable quantity, differing
in value from place to place over the oceans and
at various depths. The average salinity is 35 per
thousand , i.e. 35 grams of salt per 1,000 grams
of sea water. The relationship of salinity to
depth is analogous with the three layer
temperature system. A shallow surface layer
of uniformly high salinity (35.0 to 36.5 per
thousand) corresponds with the uniformly
warm layer. Below this layer is a zone of rapid
decrease in salinity, the halocline (Fig. 14.3)
which corresponds with the thermocline.
Below the halocline, differences in salinity are
very small and salinity lies in the range of 34.6
Amount (per thousand gm.) Percentage
27.213 77.8
3.807 10.9
1.658 4.7
1.260 3.6
0.863 2.5
0.123 0.3
0.076 0.2
35.000 100.0
116
to 34.9 per thousand for most of the ocean
body. Thus, the salinity decreases with
increasing depth.
There is a wide range of variation in the
spatial distribution of salinity in the oceans
and seas. The factors that control distribution
of salinity in oceans are the rate of
evaporation, precipitation, discharge of rivers,
atmospheric pressure, wind direction and
circulation of oceanic water.
Salinity in seawater varies from place to
place and also temporally. At the equator, the
salinity is somewhat lower due to abundant
rains, greater cloudiness and low rate of
evaporation. In latitudes about 20o in both the
hemispheres, where evaporation is more
intense and precipitation is lower, salinity is
greater. In the temperate latitudes, where
evaporation is less and rains are more
abundant, salinity is lower (Fig. 14.9). In the
Red Sea where no river flows, the salinity is
from 40 to 41 per thousand. In the Black Sea
in which numerous rivers discharge, the
salinity is 17 to 18 per thousand. In the White
Sea, it is between 25 and 26 per thousand,
Fig.14.9 : Distribution of Surface Water Salinity in Oceans
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
while in the Baltic Sea it is 3 to 4 per thousand
on an average.
The salinity of inland seas and lakes is very
high because of regular supply of salt by rivers
flowing into them. Evaporation makes them
more saline as it carries very little salt with it.
Very high salinity is found in Lake Van, Turkey
(330 per thousand), Dead Sea (240 per
thousand) and Great Salt lake, USA (220 per
thousand).
ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF OCEANS
The marine environment provides rich source
of animal and plant life. The coastal
inhabitants depend mostly on the marine
animal life for trade and sustenance. The plant
and animal life is also used in the preparation
of medicines and cosmetics. Besides, the
continental margins are being exploited for
mineral production. The shallow continental
shelves and inland seas are best known for
placer deposits (economic minerals
transported as sediment by river action) of
platinum, gold and tin. The continental
shelves are also exploited for petroleum
OCEANS 117

resources. Exploration of the deep ocean floor
as a source of minerals is still in an early stage.
The manganese nodules found on ocean floors
are regarded as the major source of this
mineral in future. The nodules will also be the
source of nickel, copper and cobalt.
• The deepest part of the ocean is the
Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. It is
11,034 m deep below the sea level.
• The tallest sea mount is situated between
Samoa and New Zealand which is 8,690 m
high from the surrounding ocean floor.

EXERCISES

Review Questions
1. Answer the following questions:
(i) Why is the earth called blue planet?
(ii) Define continental shelf.
(iii) What are oceanic deeps?
(iv) How is hydrological cycle expressed mathematically?
(v) What are seamounts?
(vi) What is an abyssal plain?
2. Distinguish between:
(i) Continental shelf and continental slope;
(ii) Bank and reef;
(iii) First and third layers of the oceanic water;
(iv) Thermocline and halocline.
3. Write short notes on the following:
(i) Continental rise;
(ii) Mid oceanic ridge;
(iii) Ocean basins;
(iv) Submarine canyons.
4. Describe relief of the Indian Ocean floor.
5. Prepare a map of the Atlantic ocean floor, mentioning ocean basins and mid–Atlantic ridges.

Project work
On maps of different oceans show major relief features and colour them. Also prepare a list of
different features under the following heads:
• Mid-oceanic ridges;
• Ocean basins;
• Seamounts;
• Trenches.