Sea

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.

The salinity of water bodies varies widely, being lower near the surface and the mouths of large
rivers and higher in the depths of the ocean; however, the relative proportions of dissolved salts vary
little across the oceans. The most abundant solid dissolved in seawater is sodium chloride. The water
also contains salts of magnesium, calcium, potassium, and mercury, amongst many other elements,
some in minute concentrations. A wide variety of organisms, including bacteria, protists, algae,
plants, fungi, and animals live in the seas, which offers a wide range of marine habitats and
ecosystems, ranging vertically from the sunlit surface and shoreline to the great depths and
pressures of the cold, dark abyssal zone, and in latitude from the cold waters under polar ice caps to
the warm waters of coral reefs in tropical regions. Many of the major groups of organisms evolved in
the sea and life may have started there.

The ocean moderates Earth's climate and has important roles in the water, carbon, and nitrogen
cycles. The surface of water interacts with the atmosphere, exchanging properties such as particles
and temperature, as well as currents. Surface currents are the water currents that are produced by
the atmosphere's currents and its winds blowing over the surface of the water, producing wind
waves, setting up through drag slow but stable circulations of water, as in the case of the ocean
sustaining deep-sea ocean currents. Deep-sea currents, known together as the global conveyor belt,
carry cold water from near the poles to every ocean and significantly influence Earth's climate. Tides,
the generally twice-daily rise and fall of sea levels, are caused by Earth's rotation and the
gravitational effects of the Moon and, to a lesser extent, of the Sun. Tides may have a very high range
in bays or estuaries. Submarine earthquakes arising from tectonic plate movements under the
oceans can lead to destructive tsunamis, as can volcanoes, huge landslides, or the impact of large
meteorites.

The seas have been an integral element for humans throughout history and culture. Humans
harnessing and studying the seas have been recorded since ancient times and evidenced well into
prehistory, while its modern scientific study is called oceanography and maritime space is governed
by the law of the sea, with admiralty law regulating human interactions at sea. The seas provide
substantial supplies of food for humans, mainly fish, but also shellfish, mammals and seaweed,
whether caught by fishermen or farmed underwater. Other human uses of the seas include trade,
travel, mineral extraction, power generation, warfare, and leisure activities such as swimming,
sailing, and scuba diving. Many of these activities create marine pollution.

Definition

Further information: List of seas on Earth

Oceans and marginal seas as defined by the International Maritime Organization

The sea is the interconnected system of all the Earth's oceanic waters, including the Atlantic, Pacific,
Indian, Southern and Arctic Oceans.[1] However, the word "sea" can also be used for many specific,
much smaller bodies of seawater, such as the North Sea or the Red Sea. There is no sharp distinction
between seas and oceans, though generally seas are smaller, and are often partly (as marginal seas
or particularly as a mediterranean sea) or wholly (as inland seas) enclosed by land.[2] However, an
exception to this is the Sargasso Sea which has no coastline and lies within a circular current, the
North Atlantic Gyre.[3]: 90 Seas are generally larger than lakes and contain salt water, but the Sea of
Galilee is a freshwater lake.[4][a] The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea states that all
of the ocean is "sea".[8][9][b]

Legal definition

The law of the sea has at its center the definition of the boundaries of the ocean, clarifying its
application in marginal seas. But what bodies of water other than the sea the law applies to is being
crucially negotiated in the case of the Caspian Sea and its status as "sea", basically revolving around
the issue of the Caspian Sea about either being factually an oceanic sea or only a saline body of
water and therefore solely a sea in the sense of the common use of the word, like all other saltwater
lakes called sea.[citation needed]

Physical science

Composite images of the Earth created by NASA in 2001

Further information: Ocean § Physical properties, and Physical oceanography

Earth is the only known planet with seas of liquid water on its surface,[3]: 22 although Mars
possesses ice caps and similar planets in other solar systems may have oceans.[11] Earth's
1,335,000,000 cubic kilometers (320,000,000 cu mi) of sea contain about 97.2 percent of its known
water[12][c] and covers approximately 71 percent of its surface.[3]: 7 [17] Another 2.15% of Earth's
water is frozen, found in the sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean, the ice cap covering Antarctica and its
adjacent seas, and various glaciers and surface deposits around the world. The remainder (about
0.65% of the whole) form underground reservoirs or various stages of the water cycle, containing the
freshwater encountered and used by most terrestrial life: vapor in the air, the clouds it slowly forms,
the rain falling from them, and the lakes and rivers spontaneously formed as its waters flow again
and again to the sea.[12]

The scientific study of water and Earth's water cycle is hydrology; hydrodynamics studies the physics
of water in motion. The more recent study of the sea in particular is oceanography. This began as the
study of the shape of the ocean's currents[18] but has since expanded into a large and
multidisciplinary field:[19] it examines the properties of seawater; studies waves, tides, and currents;
charts coastlines and maps the seabeds; and studies marine life.[20] The subfield dealing with the
sea's motion, its forces, and the forces acting upon it is known as physical oceanography.[21] Marine
biology (biological oceanography) studies the plants, animals, and other organisms inhabiting marine
ecosystems. Both are informed by chemical oceanography, which studies the behavior of elements
and molecules within the oceans: particularly, at the moment, the ocean's role in the carbon cycle
and carbon dioxide's role in the increasing acidification of seawater. Marine and maritime geography
charts the shape and shaping of the sea, while marine geology (geological oceanography) has
provided evidence of continental drift and the composition and structure of the Earth, clarified the
process of sedimentation, and assisted the study of volcanism and earthquakes.[19]

Seawater

Main article: Seawater

Global salinity map

Salinity map taken from the Aquarius Spacecraft. The rainbow colours represent salinity levels: red =
40 ‰, purple = 30 ‰

Salinity

A characteristic of seawater is that it is salty. Salinity is usually measured in parts per thousand (‰ or
per mil), and the open ocean has about 35 grams (1.2 oz) solids per litre, a salinity of 35 ‰. The
Mediterranean Sea is slightly higher at 38 ‰,[22] while the salinity of the northern Red Sea can
reach 41‰.[23] In contrast, some landlocked hypersaline lakes have a much higher salinity, for
example, the Dead Sea has 300 grams (11 oz) dissolved solids per litre (300 ‰).

While the constituents of table salt (sodium and chloride) make up about 85 percent of the solids in
solution, there are also other metal ions such as magnesium and calcium, and negative ions including
sulphate, carbonate, and bromide. Despite variations in the levels of salinity in different seas, the
relative composition of the dissolved salts is stable throughout the world's oceans.[24][25] Seawater
is too saline for humans to drink safely, as the kidneys cannot excrete urine as salty as seawater.[26]

Major solutes in seawater (3.5% salinity)[25]

Solute Concentration (‰) % of total salts

Chloride 19.3 55

Sodium 10.8 30.6

Sulphate 2.7 7.7

Magnesium 1.3 3.7

Calcium0.41 1.2

Potassium 0.40 1.1

Bicarbonate 0.10 0.4

Bromide 0.07 0.2

Carbonate 0.01 0.05

Strontium 0.01 0.04

Borate 0.01 0.01

Fluoride 0.001 <0.01

All other solutes <0.001 <0.01

Although the amount of salt in the ocean remains relatively constant within the scale of millions of
years, various factors affect the salinity of a body of water.[27] Evaporation and by-product of ice
formation (known as "brine rejection") increase salinity, whereas precipitation, sea ice melt, and
runoff from land reduce it.[27] The Baltic Sea, for example, has many rivers flowing into it, and thus
the sea could be considered as brackish.[28] Meanwhile, the Red Sea is very salty due to its high
evaporation rate.[29]

Temperature

Sea temperature depends on the amount of solar radiation falling on its surface. In the tropics, with
the sun nearly overhead, the temperature of the surface layers can rise to over 30 °C (86 °F) while
near the poles the temperature in equilibrium with the sea ice is about −2 °C (28 °F). There is a
continuous circulation of water in the oceans. Warm surface currents cool as they move away from
the tropics, and the water becomes denser and sinks. The cold water moves back towards the
equator as a deep sea current, driven by changes in the temperature and density of the water, before
eventually welling up again towards the surface. Deep seawater has a temperature between −2 °C
(28 °F) and 5 °C (41 °F) in all parts of the globe.[30]

Seawater with a typical salinity of 35 ‰[31] has a freezing point of about −1.8 °C (28.8 °F).[32] When
its temperature becomes low enough, ice crystals form on the surface. These break into small pieces
and coalesce into flat discs that form a thick suspension known as frazil. In calm conditions, this
freezes into a thin flat sheet known as nilas, which thickens as new ice forms on its underside. In
more turbulent seas, frazil crystals join into flat discs known as pancakes. These slide under each
other and coalesce to form floes. In the process of freezing, salt water and air are trapped between
the ice crystals. Nilas may have a salinity of 12–15 ‰, but by the time the sea ice is one year old, this
falls to 4–6 ‰.[33]

pH value

Further information: Ocean acidification and Seawater § pH value

Seawater is slightly alkaline and had an average pH of about 8.2 over the past 300 million years.[34]
More recently, climate change has resulted in an increase of the carbon dioxide content of the
atmosphere; about 30–40% of the added CO2 is absorbed by the oceans, forming carbonic acid and
lowering the pH (now below 8.1[34]) through a process called ocean acidification.[35][36][37] The
extent of further ocean chemistry changes, including ocean pH, will depend on climate change
mitigation efforts taken by nations and their governments.[38]
Oxygen concentration

Further information: Ocean deoxygenation and Ocean stratification

The amount of oxygen found in seawater depends primarily on the plants growing in it. These are
mainly algae, including phytoplankton, with some vascular plants such as seagrasses. In daylight, the
photosynthetic activity of these plants produces oxygen, which dissolves in the seawater and is used
by marine animals. At night, photosynthesis stops, and the amount of dissolved oxygen declines. In
the deep sea, where insufficient light penetrates for plants to grow, there is very little dissolved
oxygen. In its absence, organic material is broken down by anaerobic bacteria producing hydrogen
sulphide.[39]

Climate change is likely to reduce levels of oxygen in surface waters since the solubility of oxygen in
water falls at higher temperatures.[40] Ocean deoxygenation is projected to increase hypoxia by
10%, and triple suboxic waters (oxygen concentrations 98% less than the mean surface
concentrations), for each 1 °C of upper-ocean warming.[41]

Light

The amount of light that penetrates the sea depends on the angle of the sun, the weather conditions
and the turbidity of the water. Much light gets reflected at the surface, and red light gets absorbed in
the top few metres. Yellow and green light reach greater depths, and blue and violet light may
penetrate as deep as 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). There is insufficient light for photosynthesis and plant
growth beyond a depth of about 200 metres (660 ft).[42]

Sea level

Main articles: Sea level and Sea level rise

Over most of geologic time, the sea level has been higher than it is today.[3]: 74 The main factor
affecting sea level over time is the result of changes in the oceanic crust, with a downward trend
expected to continue in the very long term.[43] At the last glacial maximum, some 20,000 years ago,
the sea level was about 125 metres (410 ft) lower than in present times (2012).[44]

For at least the last 100 years, sea level has been rising at an average rate of about 1.8 millimetres
(0.071 in) per year.[45] Most of this rise can be attributed to an increase in the temperature of the
sea due to climate change, and the resulting slight thermal expansion of the upper 500 metres (1,600
ft) of water. Additional contributions, as much as one quarter of the total, come from water sources
on land, such as melting snow and glaciers and extraction of groundwater for irrigation and other
agricultural and human needs.[46]

Waves

Duration: 13 seconds.0:13
Movement of molecules as waves pass

Diagram showing wave approaching shore

When the wave enters shallow water, it slows down and its amplitude (height) increases.

Main article: Wind wave

Wind blowing over the surface of a body of water forms waves that are perpendicular to the
direction of the wind. The friction between air and water caused by a gentle breeze on a pond causes
ripples to form. A strong blow over the ocean causes larger waves as the moving air pushes against
the raised ridges of water. The waves reach their maximum height when the rate at which they are
travelling nearly matches the speed of the wind. In open water, when the wind blows continuously as
happens in the Southern Hemisphere in the Roaring Forties, long, organised masses of water called
swell roll across the ocean.[3]: 83–84 [47][48][d] If the wind dies down, the wave formation is
reduced, but already-formed waves continue to travel in their original direction until they meet land.
The size of the waves depends on the fetch, the distance that the wind has blown over the water and
the strength and duration of that wind. When waves meet others coming from different directions,
interference between the two can produce broken, irregular seas.[47] Constructive interference can
cause individual (unexpected) rogue waves much higher than normal.[49] Most waves are less than 3
m (10 ft) high[49] and it is not unusual for strong storms to double or triple that height;[50] offshore
construction such as wind farms and oil platforms use metocean statistics from measurements in
computing the wave forces (due to for instance the hundred-year wave) they are designed against.
[51] Rogue waves, however, have been documented at heights above 25 meters (82 ft).[52][53]

The top of a wave is known as the crest, the lowest point between waves is the trough and the
distance between the crests is the wavelength. The wave is pushed across the surface of the sea by
the wind, but this represents a transfer of energy and not a horizontal movement of water. As waves
approach land and move into shallow water, they change their behavior. If approaching at an angle,
waves may bend (refraction) or wrap rocks and headlands (diffraction). When the wave reaches a
point where its deepest oscillations of the water contact the seabed, they begin to slow down. This
pulls the crests closer together and increases the waves' height, which is called wave shoaling. When
the ratio of the wave's height to the water depth increases above a certain limit, it "breaks", toppling
over in a mass of foaming water.[49] This rushes in a sheet up the beach before retreating into the
sea under the influence of gravity.[47]

Tsunami

Main article: Tsunami

Tsunami in Thailand

The 2004 tsunami in Thailand

A tsunami is an unusual form of wave caused by an infrequent powerful event such as an underwater
earthquake or landslide, a meteorite impact, a volcanic eruption or a collapse of land into the sea.
These events can temporarily lift or lower the surface of the sea in the affected area, usually by a few
feet. The potential energy of the displaced seawater is turned into kinetic energy, creating a shallow
wave, a tsunami, radiating outwards at a velocity proportional to the square root of the depth of the
water and which therefore travels much faster in the open ocean than on a continental shelf.[54] In
the deep open sea, tsunamis have wavelengths of around 80 to 300 miles (130 to 480 km), travel at
speeds of over 600 miles per hour (970 km/h)[55] and usually have a height of less than three feet,
so they often pass unnoticed at this stage.[56] In contrast, ocean surface waves caused by winds
have wavelengths of a few hundred feet, travel at up to 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) and are up to
45 feet (14 metres) high.[56]

As a tsunami moves into shallower water its speed decreases, its wavelength shortens and its
amplitude increases enormously,[56] behaving in the same way as a wind-generated wave in shallow
water but on a vastly greater scale. Either the trough or the crest of a tsunami can arrive at the coast
first.[54] In the former case, the sea draws back and leaves subtidal areas close to the shore exposed
which provides a useful warning for people on land.[57] When the crest arrives, it does not usually
break but rushes inland, flooding all in its path. Much of the destruction may be caused by the flood
water draining back into the sea after the tsunami has struck, dragging debris and people with it.
Often several tsunami are caused by a single geological event and arrive at intervals of between eight
minutes and two hours. The first wave to arrive on shore may not be the biggest or most destructive.
[54]

Currents

Main article: Ocean current

Map showing surface currents

Surface currents: red–warm, blue–cold

Wind blowing over the surface of the sea causes friction at the interface between air and sea. Not
only does this cause waves to form, but it also makes the surface seawater move in the same
direction as the wind. Although winds are variable, in any one place they predominantly blow from a
single direction and thus a surface current can be formed. Westerly winds are most frequent in the
mid-latitudes while easterlies dominate the tropics.[58] When water moves in this way, other water
flows in to fill the gap and a circular movement of surface currents known as a gyre is formed. There
are five main gyres in the world's oceans: two in the Pacific, two in the Atlantic and one in the Indian
Ocean. Other smaller gyres are found in lesser seas and a single gyre flows around Antarctica. These
gyres have followed the same routes for millennia, guided by the topography of the land, the wind
direction and the Coriolis effect. The surface currents flow in a clockwise direction in the Northern
Hemisphere and anticlockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. The water moving away from the
equator is warm, and that flowing in the reverse direction has lost most of its heat. These currents
tend to moderate the Earth's climate, cooling the equatorial region and warming regions at higher
latitudes.[59] Global climate and weather forecasts are powerfully affected by the world ocean, so
global climate modelling makes use of ocean circulation models as well as models of other major
components such as the atmosphere, land surfaces, aerosols and sea ice.[60] Ocean models make
use of a branch of physics, geophysical fluid dynamics, that describes the large-scale flow of fluids
such as seawater.[61]

Map showing the global conveyor belt

The global conveyor belt shown in blue with warmer surface currents in red

Surface currents only affect the top few hundred metres of the sea, but there are also large-scale
flows in the ocean depths caused by the movement of deep water masses. A main deep ocean
current flows through all the world's oceans and is known as the thermohaline circulation or global
conveyor belt. This movement is slow and is driven by differences in density of the water caused by
variations in salinity and temperature.[62] At high latitudes the water is chilled by the low
atmospheric temperature and becomes saltier as sea ice crystallizes out. Both these factors make it
denser, and the water sinks. From the deep sea near Greenland, such water flows southwards
between the continental landmasses on either side of the Atlantic. When it reaches the Antarctic, it
is joined by further masses of cold, sinking water and flows eastwards. It then splits into two streams
that move northwards into the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Here it is gradually warmed, becomes less
dense, rises towards the surface and loops back on itself. It takes a thousand years for this circulation
pattern to be completed.[59]

Besides gyres, there are temporary surface currents that occur under specific conditions. When
waves meet a shore at an angle, a longshore current is created as water is pushed along parallel to
the coastline. The water swirls up onto the beach at right angles to the approaching waves but drains
away straight down the slope under the effect of gravity. The larger the breaking waves, the longer
the beach and the more oblique the wave approach, the stronger is the longshore current.[63] These
currents can shift great volumes of sand or pebbles, create spits and make beaches disappear and
water channels silt up.[59] A rip current can occur when water piles up near the shore from
advancing waves and is funnelled out to sea through a channel in the seabed. It may occur at a gap in
a sandbar or near a man-made structure such as a groyne. These strong currents can have a velocity
of 3 ft (0.9 m) per second, can form at different places at different stages of the tide and can carry
away unwary bathers.[64] Temporary upwelling currents occur when the wind pushes water away
from the land and deeper water rises to replace it. This cold water is often rich in nutrients and
creates blooms of phytoplankton and a great increase in the productivity of the sea.[59]

Tides

Main article: Tide

Diagram showing how the sun and moon cause tides

High tides (blue) at the nearest and furthest points of the Earth from the Moon

Tides are the regular rise and fall in water level experienced by seas and oceans in response to the
gravitational influences of the Moon and the Sun, and the effects of the Earth's rotation. During each
tidal cycle, at any given place the water rises to a maximum height known as "high tide" before
ebbing away again to the minimum "low tide" level. As the water recedes, it uncovers more and
more of the foreshore, also known as the intertidal zone. The difference in height between the high
tide and low tide is known as the tidal range or tidal amplitude.[65][66]

Most places experience two high tides each day, occurring at intervals of about 12 hours and 25
minutes. This is half the 24 hours and 50 minute period that it takes for the Earth to make a complete
revolution and return the Moon to its previous position relative to an observer. The Moon's mass is
some 27 million times smaller than the Sun, but it is 400 times closer to the Earth.[67] Tidal force or
tide-raising force decreases rapidly with distance, so the moon has more than twice as great an effect
on tides as the Sun.[67] A bulge is formed in the ocean at the place where the Earth is closest to the
Moon because it is also where the effect of the Moon's gravity is stronger. On the opposite side of
the Earth, the lunar force is at its weakest and this causes another bulge to form. As the Moon
rotates around the Earth, so do these ocean bulges move around the Earth. The gravitational
attraction of the Sun is also working on the seas, but its effect on tides is less powerful than that of
the Moon, and when the Sun, Moon and Earth are all aligned (full moon and new moon), the
combined effect results in the high "spring tides". In contrast, when the Sun is at 90° from the Moon
as viewed from Earth, the combined gravitational effect on tides is less causing the lower "neap
tides".[65]

A storm surge can occur when high winds pile water up against the coast in a shallow area and this,
coupled with a low-pressure system, can raise the surface of the sea at high tide dramatically.

Ocean basins

Main article: Ocean basin

Three types of plate boundary

The Earth is composed of a magnetic central core, a mostly liquid mantle and a hard rigid outer shell
(or lithosphere), which is composed of the Earth's rocky crust and the deeper mostly solid outer layer
of the mantle. On land the crust is known as the continental crust while under the sea it is known as
the oceanic crust. The latter is composed of relatively dense basalt and is some five to ten kilometres
(three to six miles) thick. The relatively thin lithosphere floats on the weaker and hotter mantle
below and is fractured into a number of tectonic plates.[68] In mid-ocean, magma is constantly being
thrust through the seabed between adjoining plates to form mid-oceanic ridges and here convection
currents within the mantle tend to drive the two plates apart. Parallel to these ridges and nearer the
coasts, one oceanic plate may slide beneath another oceanic plate in a process known as subduction.
Deep trenches are formed here and the process is accompanied by friction as the plates grind
together. The movement proceeds in jerks which cause earthquakes, heat is produced and magma is
forced up creating underwater mountains, some of which may form chains of volcanic islands near to
deep trenches. Near some of the boundaries between the land and sea, the slightly denser oceanic
plates slide beneath the continental plates and more subduction trenches are formed. As they grate
together, the continental plates are deformed and buckle causing mountain building and seismic
activity.[69][70]

The Earth's deepest trench is the Mariana Trench which extends for about 2,500 kilometres (1,600
mi) across the seabed. It is near the Mariana Islands, a volcanic archipelago in the West Pacific. Its
deepest point is 10.994 kilometres (nearly 7 miles) below the surface of the sea.[71]

Coasts
Main article: Coast

Praia da Marinha in Algarve, Portugal

The Baltic Sea in the archipelago of Turku, Finland

The zone where land meets sea is known as the coast and the part between the lowest spring tides
and the upper limit reached by splashing waves is the shore. A beach is the accumulation of sand or
shingle on the shore.[72] A headland is a point of land jutting out into the sea and a larger
promontory is known as a cape. The indentation of a coastline, especially between two headlands, is
a bay, a small bay with a narrow inlet is a cove and a large bay may be referred to as a gulf.[73]
Coastlines are influenced by several factors including the strength of the waves arriving on the shore,
the gradient of the land margin, the composition and hardness of the coastal rock, the inclination of
the off-shore slope and the changes of the level of the land due to local uplift or submergence.
Normally, waves roll towards the shore at the rate of six to eight per minute and these are known as
constructive waves as they tend to move material up the beach and have little erosive effect. Storm
waves arrive on shore in rapid succession and are known as destructive waves as the swash moves
beach material seawards. Under their influence, the sand and shingle on the beach is ground
together and abraded. Around high tide, the power of a storm wave impacting on the foot of a cliff
has a shattering effect as air in cracks and crevices is compressed and then expands rapidly with
release of pressure. At the same time, sand and pebbles have an erosive effect as they are thrown
against the rocks. This tends to undercut the cliff, and normal weathering processes such as the
action of frost follows, causing further destruction. Gradually, a wave-cut platform develops at the
foot of the cliff and this has a protective effect, reducing further wave-erosion.[72]

Material worn from the margins of the land eventually ends up in the sea. Here it is subject to
attrition as currents flowing parallel to the coast scour out channels and transport sand and pebbles
away from their place of origin. Sediment carried to the sea by rivers settles on the seabed causing
deltas to form in estuaries. All these materials move back and forth under the influence of waves,
tides and currents.[72] Dredging removes material and deepens channels but may have unexpected
effects elsewhere on the coastline. Governments make efforts to prevent flooding of the land by the
building of breakwaters, seawalls, dykes and levees and other sea defences. For instance, the
Thames Barrier is designed to protect London from a storm surge,[74] while the failure of the dykes
and levees around New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina created a humanitarian crisis in the United
States.

Water cycle

Main article: Water cycle

The sea plays a part in the water or hydrological cycle, in which water evaporates from the ocean,
travels through the atmosphere as vapour, condenses, falls as rain or snow, thereby sustaining life on
land, and largely returns to the sea.[75] Even in the Atacama Desert, where little rain ever falls, dense
clouds of fog known as the camanchaca blow in from the sea and support plant life.[76]
In central Asia and other large land masses, there are endorheic basins which have no outlet to the
sea, separated from the ocean by mountains or other natural geologic features that prevent the
water draining away. The Caspian Sea is the largest one of these. Its main inflow is from the River
Volga, there is no outflow and the evaporation of water makes it saline as dissolved minerals
accumulate. The Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and Pyramid Lake in the western United
States are further examples of large, inland saline water-bodies without drainage. Some endorheic
lakes are less salty, but all are sensitive to variations in the quality of the inflowing water.[77]

Carbon cycle

Further information: Oceanic carbon cycle and Biological pump

Oceans contain the greatest quantity of actively cycled carbon in the world and are second only to
the lithosphere in the amount of carbon they store.[78] The oceans' surface layer holds large
amounts of dissolved organic carbon that is exchanged rapidly with the atmosphere. The deep layer's
concentration of dissolved inorganic carbon is about 15 percent higher than that of the surface
layer[79] and it remains there for much longer periods of time.[80] Thermohaline circulation
exchanges carbon between these two layers.[78]

Carbon enters the ocean as atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves in the surface layers and is
converted into carbonic acid, carbonate, and bicarbonate:[81]

CO2 (gas) ⇌ CO2 (aq)

CO2 (aq) + H2O ⇌ H2CO3

H2CO3 ⇌ HCO3− + H+

HCO3− ⇌ CO32− + H+

It can also enter through rivers as dissolved organic carbon and is converted by photosynthetic
organisms into organic carbon. This can either be exchanged throughout the food chain or
precipitated into the deeper, more carbon-rich layers as dead soft tissue or in shells and bones as
calcium carbonate. It circulates in this layer for long periods of time before either being deposited as
sediment or being returned to surface waters through thermohaline circulation.[80]

Life in the sea

Main article: Marine life

Coral reefs are among the most biodiverse habitats in the world.

Marine habitats

Coastal habitats
Littoral zoneIntertidal zoneEstuariesMangrove forestsSeagrass meadowsKelp forestsCoral
reefsContinental shelfNeritic zone

Ocean surface

Surface microlayerEpipelagic zone

Open ocean

Pelagic zoneOceanic zone

Sea floor

SeamountsHydrothermal ventsCold seepsDemersal zoneBenthic zoneMarine sediment

vte

The oceans are home to a diverse collection of life forms that use it as a habitat. Since sunlight
illuminates only the upper layers, the major part of the ocean exists in permanent darkness. As the
different depth and temperature zones each provide habitat for a unique set of species, the marine
environment as a whole encompasses an immense diversity of life.[82] Marine habitats range from
surface water to the deepest oceanic trenches, including coral reefs, kelp forests, seagrass meadows,
tidepools, muddy, sandy and rocky seabeds, and the open pelagic zone. The organisms living in the
sea range from whales 30 metres (98 feet) long to microscopic phytoplankton and zooplankton,
fungi, and bacteria. Marine life plays an important part in the carbon cycle as photosynthetic
organisms convert dissolved carbon dioxide into organic carbon and it is economically important to
humans for providing fish for use as food.[83][84]: 204–229

Life may have originated in the sea and all the major groups of animals are represented there.
Scientists differ as to precisely where in the sea life arose: the Miller-Urey experiments suggested a
dilute chemical "soup" in open water, but more recent suggestions include volcanic hot springs, fine-
grained clay sediments, or deep-sea "black smoker" vents, all of which would have provided
protection from damaging ultraviolet radiation which was not blocked by the early Earth's
atmosphere.[3]: 138–140

Marine habitats

Main article: Marine habitats

Marine habitats can be divided horizontally into coastal and open ocean habitats. Coastal habitats
extend from the shoreline to the edge of the continental shelf. Most marine life is found in coastal
habitats, even though the shelf area occupies only 7 percent of the total ocean area. Open ocean
habitats are found in the deep ocean beyond the edge of the continental shelf. Alternatively, marine
habitats can be divided vertically into pelagic (open water), demersal (just above the seabed) and
benthic (sea bottom) habitats. A third division is by latitude: from polar seas with ice shelves, sea ice
and icebergs, to temperate and tropical waters.[3]: 150–151

Coral reefs, the so-called "rainforests of the sea", occupy less than 0.1 percent of the world's ocean
surface, yet their ecosystems include 25 percent of all marine species.[85] The best-known are
tropical coral reefs such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef, but cold water reefs harbour a wide array of
species including corals (only six of which contribute to reef formation).[3]: 204–207 [86]