ATLANTIC & INDIAN OCEANS
Named after the ancient Romans, the Atlantic it is the second largest ocean. At one point from Mexico to Spain, it stretches to a length of 9,600 km across in a straight navigable route. The maximum depth here is 8648 meters at Puerto Rico. Its average depth is 3660 meters. Fish here are abundant. About 25 percent of the world’s catch of fish can be found here.
Atlantic is frequently hit by storms. And in this ocean only about 100 years ago, on April 14, 1912 the giant passenger ship, Titanic struck an ice berg and sank. Over 1000 drowned and about 700 rescued.
It is also to be noted that the most dreaded ‘Bermuda Triangle’ is here. What is so mysterious about it is that, number of ships, passengers and even the aircrafts that were flying above have vanished into thin air! There were many theories behind these mysterious disappearances, but no one could prove it and unravel the mystery!
An interesting fact is, this is said to be the youngest ocean, about 150 million years old!
Indian Ocean: This is the third largest ocean, with an area of about 73,426,000 sq. km. The maximum depth here is at Java Trench, in Indonesia, which is about 7450 meters. On an average, Indian Ocean is nearly 3900 meters deep.
It is 10,000 km wide at one point, from Australia to Africa. There are about thousands of islands including Maldives and Seychelles. Maldives are very low lying islands. The water currents in this ocean change once in six months due to monsoon influence.
What is very special here is that, coral reefs flourish here in abundant than in any other oceans. Most of the islands in this ocean have coral beaches, too. It is said to be 200 million years old. What is so deadly in Indian Ocean is the continental slope about 10 km away from Sri Lanka. While this slope in other oceans descends gradually from 500 meters or so, in Indian Ocean, it abruptly plunges to 11,000 meters depth at this place!