ATLANTIC OCEAN

This is the sea lying between Europe and Africa in the east, and the Americas in the west. It is the second largest body of water in the world, after the Pacific Ocean, and covers a sixth of the Earth's surface. It has an area of 31,530,000 square miles, and an average depth of more than 6,000 feet. The Equator divides the

ocean into the North and South Atlantic.

It as named Atlantic after the Atlas Mountains in the North-Western Africa. The ocean lay beyond the mountains and was alleged to surround a legendary continent or island Atlantis.

Although the Atlantic has eastern and western boundaries, it has no definite northern and southern limits, because it merges with the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, respectively. Measured from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle, the Atlantic is about 9,000 miles long. At its widest point, it is 5,000 miles across. A number of important islands lie in the Atlantic. Among these are the British Isles, Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland, the West Indies, the Azores, the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde Islands. Large, open coastal waters lead off both sides of the Atlantic. This includes the Gulf of Guinea, the Bay of Biscay and the North Sea on the eastern side; and Houston Bay, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea on the western side. Major semi-enclosed seas in the east include the Mediterranean and the Baltic.

The bottom of the Atlantic divided into two deep valleys either side of a twisted ridge, the mid-Atlantic ridge, which runs from north to south down the middle of the ocean. It lies at an average depth of about 10,000 feet below the water's surface, but occasionally juts above the surface in the form of islands, such as Iceland, the Azores and Tristan da Cunha.

There are a number of strong currents in the Atlantic. Perhaps the best known of these is the Gulf Stream. This current carries warm water across the North Atlantic from the Gulf of Mexico north-eastwards towards the coast of Europe. It keeps Western Europe comparatively warm and ice-free in the winter months. The Labrador current on the other hand, brings icy water from the Arctic down to the eastern coast of North America, and sometimes carry iceberg that a dangerous to shipping.

There are several parts of Atlantic coastal waters that are particularly rich in fish. Such places are the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, and the Dogger Bank in the North Sea. Large quantities of cohalibut and herring are caught in the Atlantic Ocean.

Water temperature in the ocean deeps is almost near freezing point, but at the surface it varies from 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the tropics to 28 degrees Fahrenheit near the Arctic and Antarctic circles.