The Ocean
If you have been to the beach, or a rocky coast, you have probably seen rising and falling tides and the power of waves as they crash along the shore. The waters of the world’s ocean are in constant motion and play a critical role in redistributing energy and maintaining Earth’s climate. The ocean covers over 70 percent of the planet and has an average depth of 12,100 feet (3,688 meters). This vast body of water is geographically divided into distinct regions, or ocean basins, called the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Southern basins. However, because the waters flowing through these ocean basins are all connected, there is really only one global ocean.
Global ocean circulation is very complex and involves many interconnected parts. In this lesson, you will explore videos that show atmospheric and ocean processes. These videos will help you understand and investigate the processes involved in the movement and circulation of water in the ocean, with a focus on the North Atlantic basin.
Play the video to see the motion and power of the ocean.
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Pause/Play video playback |
| Enter | Pause/Play video playback |
| m | Mute/Unmute video volume |
| Up and Down arrows | Increase and decrease volume by 10% |
| Right and Left arrows | Seek forward or backward by 5 seconds |
| 0-9 | Fast seek to x% of the video. |
| f | Enter or exit fullscreen. (Note: To exit fullscreen in flash press the Esc key. |
| c | Press c to toggle captions on or off |
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